friday

Wal-Mart has Black Friday-style deals on Nov. 8, including a $298 laptop

In a nod to the tough economic environment, mega-retailer Wal-Mart is offering a selection of one-day in-store specials, a few of which caught our eye, including a sub-$300 laptop.

A Wal-Mart press release says the company will be offering a "$298 Compaq CQ-139WM 15.4" laptop with 2GB RAM and 160GB hard drive." The Compaq brand name (which HP usually saves for bottom of the barrel junk) is almost enough to scare us off, and we've asked HP for information on this specific model, including what CPU is has. But, if you've only got $… Read more

Friday Poll: How will you replace your election obsession?

If you're like some of us here at Crave, you've spent the last few weeks (if not the last few months) frantically tracking every last nuance of the presidential race on television, the Internet, the radio, and Tarot cards.

Now that the big election has been decided, how will you fill all the free time that you'd habitually come to spend pondering the fate of the swing states? Vote in our poll, and if we missed anything, be sure to let us know in our Talkback section.

Friday Poll: From Netflix to you, but how?

Watching Netflix offerings via DVDs delivered by mail is fast becoming very 2007.

This week brought word that the Xbox 360 will become the first device to allow Netflix streaming in HD when the new Xbox Live experience launches on November 19.

And TiVo's high-definition set-top boxes for digital video recording will by the end of the year be able to stream more than 12,000 movies and TV shows from the video rental site.

What's more, Netflix announced that it will use Microsoft's Silverlight software to deliver streaming movies not only to PCs, but to Intel-based … Read more

Digital Railroad extends photo download time

I blogged on Wednesday about the photo archiving site Digital Railroad's abrupt shutdown, leaving thousands of professional photographer customers confused and worried. On Thursday, I got a statement saying that the site will extend the window time until Friday, October 31, 11:59 p.m. PST, for customers to migrate their photo archives.

The statement comes from both PhotoShelter and Diablo Management Group, the firm in charge of the shut down the defunct Digital Railroad, and reads:

As part of the process of terminating the business operations of Digital Railroad, Diablo Management Group has informed PhotoShelter of its intent … Read more

Friday Poll: How are you prepping for D(TV) Day?

D(TV) Day™ is fast approaching, and according to a new survey, 3 million Americans who rely on analog over-the-air reception will let their sets go "dark" after the transition on February 17, 2009. (Don't worry about them; they'll just sit alone in the dark not watching digital TV.)

But maybe you're not ready to let your 1986 rabbit-eared beauty hop off onto the junk pile. If you're among those still inhabiting analog broadcast TV land, how do you plan to handle the shift to the 21st century? Take our poll, and if none … Read more

Friday Poll: Shopping list, less one gadget

Not too long ago, we told you about a Consumer Electronics Association prediction that sales of some gadgets would actually go up despite the current economic woes.

The CEA said sales of flat-panel TVs and gaming hardware should do well during the upcoming holiday season even as consumers seek to rein in their dollars amid the ongoing financial uncertainty.

Whether or not that proves to be the case, it got us wondering. If you're among the many consumers watching your bank account more carefully than usual, which bit of gadget goodness, if any, will get axed from your holiday … Read more

Friday Poll: Which tech product is Joe Biden?

According to you, readers, Barack Obama's an iPhone, while John McCain is a phonograph, and Sarah Palin is a Hello Kitty assault rifle.

Now, in the final installment of our presidential-race-related Friday Poll, our thoughts turn to Delaware Sen. Joe Biden, Obama's running mate. With so much attention on the other three candidates, it was a little hard to come up with our choices. Luckily, Biden's been around a long time, which gave us some good material to work with.

If none of our poll options quite hit the spot, be sure to suggest your own in … Read more

Friday Poll: Which tech gadget is Palin?

In the wake of Thursday night's vice presidential debate, we return to the important question only you the voters (or you, the underage reader, or you the foreign reader, or you the felon) can answer. Since we started with Barack Obama in the Crave presidential gadget poll before turning to John McCain, we'll give first jabs...er dibs, to Gov. Sarah Palin.

Got any ideas other than the options mentioned in our highly scientific poll? Let us know in our talkback section below. And if you have suggestions for next week's Joe Biden poll, be sure to … Read more

Friday Poll: What would get you to buy a T-Mobile G1?

Unless you've been living in a cave (and as comedian Jon Stewart recently pointed out, that might be the safest real estate investment around these days), you probably noticed that a little phone called the T-Mobile G1 made its debut this week.

Now that you've had a chance to glimpse the first phone powered by Google's Android software, would you plunk down for a G1? And if so, what would be the main factor motivating you to become a G1 owner?

Click here for full coverage of Google Android.

Friday Poll: What kind of gadget would McCain be?

As part of CNET News' election coverage, we thought we'd turn the Crave Friday Poll to a burning question on the minds of so many voters. If the two major presidential candidates were tech gadgets, which would they be?

Last week we asked you which gadget Democrat Barack Obama would be. The iPhone (aka the JesusPhone) handily beat out the other three options, taking 43.3 percent of the vote. Windows Vista was second at 27.5 percent, Facebook third with 19.3 percent, and Baby's First Walkman last with just 10 percent of the vote.

Today we … Read more