expensive

Are audiophiles wasting their money on expensive gear?

Let's face it: our "indulgences" can get expensive, so whether we go to sports events or concerts, buy flashy clothes or jewelry, gamble, drink, or take lots of vacations, those things can add up to a lot of money. Smoke a $6 pack of cigarettes every day, and you'll see close to $22,000 go up in smoke over the next 10 years. In that context, dropping serious cash on a great hi-fi doesn't seem out of line.

Middle-class audiophiles with $10,000 hi-fis might appear to be a wee bit over the top, but … Read more

$8 million speakers? Home theaters fit for a king

For some people, an ordinary old giant flat-screen television and Blu-ray player just aren't enough.

How much would you spend for the best of the best? Some hard-core videophiles and audiophiles dump incredible amounts of cash on home theater equipment (and fancy home theaters) that can cost as much as the average car or house. … Read more

Cuba debuts Internet centers, but can people afford them?

One of the most closed-off countries in the world has finally started to roll out Internet for its citizens. The Cuban government has officially opened 118 public Internet centers across the country, according to the Associated Press.

Up until now, computers with Internet access were sparse on the island. Besides a few universities and employers offering access, some of the only places to get online were tourist hotels that charged up to $8 an hour for erratic Wi-Fi, according to the Associated Press.

The Cuban government estimates that only 2.9 percent of the country's citizens get online, according … Read more

Review: Expense Manager puts users in charge of cash flow

Expense Manager takes a lot of the effort out of budgeting so you can focus on other things. It's a stylish app that lets you clearly figure out where exactly your money is going. The only way it could be better is if it actually helped you make more.

Expense Manager does most of its work from a menu that fits right in with stock Android. It looks like Google, itself, designed it. The app lets you color-code your spending and view it in several different ways. There are a few preset spending options, but there's also an … Read more

Coffee with Tim Cook auction holds at $605K with a day left

There's less than a day left in the auction that will net one individual a brief, and very expensive, sit-down meeting with Apple's top executive.

CharityBuzz's buzzy auction for a coffee meeting with Apple CEO Tim Cook ends just after 1 p.m. PT on Tuesday, bringing to a close what is currently the group's second-highest auction ever at $605,000.

"We're truly amazed by the support for the RFK Center for Justice and Human Rights through our coffee with Tim Cook online auction," Coppy Holzman, Charitybuzz CEO and founder said in a … Read more

France Telecom CEO: iPhone too pricey for Europeans

There may be a reason why Android devices are more popular in Europe than Apple's iPhone: they're cheaper.

The CEO of one of Europe's largest wireless carriers said today that European customers are becoming increasingly more pennywise, which is putting a damper on sales of costlier mobile phones. Hence, this should sound as a warning call to Apple.

"Customers are more focused on price," France Telecom CEO Stephane Richard told Bloomberg. "Except for a few hundred thousand people who will buy the latest iPhone -- except for that category of people -- the majority … Read more

Are expensive speakers worth it?

I worked as a high-end audio salesman for 16 years and spent another 16 reviewing audio products. Here's what I learned: The very best gear is always expensive. Sure, there are occasional examples of affordable products that are remarkable, but they never get remotely close to what true high-end gear can offer. Beyond price the main thing that separates high-end companies from mass-market brands is high-end designers are all about maximizing performance. Mainstream audio companies rarely try to make the best possible sounding gear. They know that features, wireless connectivity, styling, compact size, cheap pricing, marketing, distribution, etc. -- … Read more

Plan your activities with Almejandro's Daily Planner

We expect planners to be easy to use; they're supposed to make our lives easier by helping us keep track of events and appointments in a straightforward way. Almejandro's Daily Planner takes a more complicated approach to this task. It's not the most intuitive program we've ever used, but it does offer some interesting features in addition to the basic datebook functions.

We had to spend some time looking at the planner's interface before figuring out how to proceed. There's a monthly calendar and a list of daily tasks, which made sense. There was … Read more

Manage housemate expenses with Conmigo for Android

Sharing a living space usually means you will be sharing resources and bills, too. Groceries, toilet paper, laundry detergent, Internet, water, and electricity bills are just a few of the major costs that you'll be dividing. But when it comes to keeping track of who owes whom and for what is when you might be setting yourself up for a dispute. That's why an app like Conmigo exists.

Conmigo will help you keep a monetary record of all transactions that you and your housemate(s) share. Think of this app like an upgraded accountant's log, except you … Read more

Most expensive Starbucks drink in the world?

Do you gripe about the high prices at Starbucks? Some people try to avoid paying a large sum of money for a drink at the popular coffee shop, but Logan Warren went a different route.

"Armed with my Starbucks Rewards card, I decided to take the opportunity to find out just how much money I could pour into a Trenta--Starbucks' whopping 31-ounce cup," Warren says on his blog. … Read more