Shopping Tips, 2012

This is my shopping advice update for 2012.  Much of it is the same as last year's.  Please be sure to read that first.  Its all still valid and points to way to a lot of discounts.

This year, I want to add three new tips to save you money and stress:

1. Don't bother with Black Friday.
2. Use your phone.
3. Don't forget your points.

Black Friday

No one likes fighting crowds of anxious shoppers.  Good news:  You shouldn't bother.

Black Friday sales actually cost more than routine pricing from online stores.  There are exceptions, but that is not the norm.

Smart Phone = Smart Shopping

If you do decide to go shopping in a physical store and have a smartphone, download a couple of comparison shopping tools first.

There are a number of apps that will use your phone's camera to scan barcodes or even search based on a picture of the product.  They look up the price on Amazon, Google, eBay, and other services.  This is amazingly easy and quick.  Look on your phone's App Store to see what I mean.

Here are a few examples for iPhones:

• SnapTell
• Red Laser
• Price Check By Amazon
• Google Shopper

If you have an Android phone and can recommend an app like these, please put it in the comments below.

Credit Card Points

Lastly, it your credit card gives you "points," consider trading them in for gift cards.  For example, you could trade in 10,000 points for $100 at Amazon and then buy several gifts.  You could also trade in points for several small iTunes or Amazon gift cards.  These would make great gifts for children who are about to receive an iPad or Kindle Fire from their parents.

As stated at the beginning, don't forget to check last year's tips for more advice.

iMovie Storage

Earlier today, I made a small but important change to iMovie.  If you use or intend to use iMovie, please be sure to read this.

Previously, iMovie would try to store to your account's space on the servers.  While that is great for Word or PowerPoint, it makes iMovie terribly slow.  And it fills your disk space, which breaks other things.  And it slows the server down, making the computers slow for everyone else.  Not good.

Now, iMovie will store recordings on the computer that you're sitting at.  This means a few things:

1. Its not slow.
2. Its not "killing" the computers for everyone else.
3. You will be leaving your work behind on that computer UNLESS you export it and copy the movie file to your Documents folder.  (See below)
4. Anyone else who sits at that computer can see, edit, and delete your work.  (See below)

These changes make iMovie work on hundreds of our computers.  Before today, it only worked on a handful.  So this was an overall good change.

If you or your students want to keep a video after you finish editing it in iMovie, please follow these steps:

1. Go to the "Share" menu and select "Export".
2. Next to the name of the file, click on the small blue square with the triangle in it.  This will expand the window and allow you to save to a new location.
3. Select "Macintosh HD" --> "Temporary Storage".
4. Select the file size that you want.  Use the guide to help you pick.
5. Name your file.
6. Click "Export".
7. You now have a video file in the "Temporary Storage" folder on the hard drive.  Copy this to your Documents folder so that you can keep it when you logout.
8. You should now be able to logout, login somewhere else, and keep your finished/exported video.

Lastly, please note the only real down side of this change.  Since its on the computer itself and not the server, that means that the students must sit at the exact same computer as the last time they worked on their project.  For example, if your class is editing video on Monday and Wednesday this week, have each student note the computer that they're using on Monday and return to it on Wednesday.  That will let them continue working without disruption.

Try to avoid very long video editing projects, too.  The longer the project, the greater the chance of a student deleting the work on Tuesday.  (This might happen due to malice or just confusion.)

Also, various computer problems may be fixed by replacing or erasing the computer.  So please be sure to mention any iMovie projects on that computer when reporting problems.

Sale on Apple Computer for Students

Apple just posted a sale on new computers.  In addition to the usual academic discounts, you can get $50 or $100 in iTunes credit.  That lets you buy music, TV shows, movies, books, iPhone or iPad apps, Mac software, rent movies, and more.

More details on their web site.

Apple Sale for College Students

As a follow up to the previous post about purchasing computers for college-bound students, you might be interested in knowing about Apple's new sale.  You can buy a Mac at the discounted/academic pricing and they'll discount an iPod -- including the iPod Touch, which is basically a pocket-sized computer.

EDIT:  I stand corrected.  The sale hasn't started yet.  It has happened every May or June for the last few years, so it will probably start soon.  Sorry if I got your hopes up.  Just try Apple's web site in a few weeks to see if its changed.

EDIT 2:  The sale just began today.

College Purchases

Looking for a computer for college?

Apple offers student discounts year-round, but often offers a laptop-and-iPod deal in the May - August time frame.  Check it out at http://www.apple.com/store and click on "Education Store" on the left.  (Or just go to http://store.apple.com/us/browse/home/education_routing).

Dell offers discounts to college students at http://www.delluniversity.com.

HP offers discounts to students at http://www.shopping.hp.com/academy.

Lots of software can be purchased at http://www.academicsuperstore.com/.  This includes the ever popular Microsoft Office, Photoshop, and others.  These discounts are available to both students and teachers.

Also, keep an eye on deal sites like woot.com, dealnews.com, dealmac.com, and cowboom.com.  You never know when they list a great deal.  You can also check out RetailMeNot.com for coupons.

Lastly, compare prices and read customer reviews of products on sites like Amazon.com, NewEgg.com, Epinions.com, and Google.com/products.

Happy shopping.