[ Music ]
^M00:00:06
>> Hello, everyone. Welcome to the CNET Holiday Help Desk. I'm Molly Wood; I'm here with Brian Tong. We have Tristan Reinhart from Shopper.com and we are doing, it's cracking him up. What, I don't know. Just because I said his name, that made him laugh so hard.
>> I was just ecstatic, I was frozen in happiness.
>> He was so excited.
>> I'm glad to be here.
>> He was like, oh crap, I'm on camera.
>> The show started, my god.
[ Laughter ]
>> Oh no.
>> Good lord.
>> Here we are again, answering your calls, the emails, the questions, the shopping deals.
>> I'm not feeling the energy from you Molls.
>> What?
>> I want.
>> Wait.
>> The deals, the emails, the calls. Thank you.
[ Laughter ]
Thank you. All right, so this is going to be show number.
>> I can do it.
>> I know you can, I can too. This is show number 18 of 22, Holiday Help Desk. We've been gees doing it all the time. Tom, Brian, me, Molly, we're going to be doing them until December 23rd, which is our last show, which Molly and I will also be doing.
>> I know.
>> We're saving the.
>> Oh, we're closing it out.
>> Saving the best for last.
>> Yeah.
>> I didn't say that, but, you know. So you guys can watch it live with us like you are right now or watch them on demand later on through CNET TV's website.
>> Yeah, definitely. If you need that shopping advice up until the last second and I know you do because I am one of you, then we'll be here. We're here for you. We're here for you.
>> We got you.
>> That's right. And I am told that actually Cooley claims that he and Tom are the A Team of the Holiday Help Desk.
>> He said that yesterday, let me tell you.
>> Which.
>> Did he say the A Team or the Aged Team because that's, you might have lost it in translation.
>> And that is how you start a blood feud, right there.
>> I'm just saying, I'm just saying. All right, so you guys know you guys can call us at 1800, 1 triple 8 900 CNET, that's 2638. Also give us an email at holidayhelpdesk@CNET.com or come to our site at CNET.com/live and you'll find us jibber jabbering.
>> That's right.
>> So, should I jump to our little great giveaway?
>> I think so, absolutely.
>> Obviously, we're giving you free stuff all the time here, so what we want to showcase this week or today, today is the Crave giveaway. It's the Belkin gigabit power line AC starter kit. So what this is is it's essentially two modules. It's using your power lines that you have at home and one of them you'll connect to your power line and then plug into your router at home and then the other module you'll connect somewhere else into a power line. So it kind of using your power lines as the wires so you don't have to be dragging cables around. But the main thing about this packet specifically is to deliver a video or streamed video from multiple sources like two other computers. So it's not, this is not for Internet use.
>> Right.
>> I made sure I, initially in this description it says it's from online gaming, no. This is to deliver online video let's say from your PC to let's say another computer and to multiple, multiple video streams at once through your power lines.
>> Interesting. Online technology is so interesting and kind of confusing.
>> Yeah.
>> I'm glad you know what this is. It does say it reduces online gaming latency and provides large bandwidth making it ideal for online PC gaming. That's what Belkin says.
>> So it does, yeah. The, the, but this must have been, I double checked, this specific product is just for delivering streaming video.
>> Hence the HD name.
>> Yes, exactly. Now the key thing, it says it's a gigabit transfer but from all reviews I've read and seen, it doesn't necessarily hit those gigabit speeds because of how your house is designed, where one transmitter is to the others. But its, ultimately it's to send wireless video. This is a killer package, you know, we haven't, we haven't put anything up.
>> Yeah, 150 dollar value.
>> Yeah, we haven't put anything up like this for Crave. So remember, just go to our website, sign up. We have over around 2700, 2800 commenters, potential winners.
>> Trying to win it.
>> So this goes until tomorrow, what is it? 7 am? Eastern Time.
>> Eastern Time, yeah.
>> So, give your submissions in.
>> Somebody knows what that does and wants to win it. All right.
>> And will use it, I know because exactly.
>> All right, let's, let's get to our shopping deals with Tristan. We are so techy over here.
>> Oh yeah.
>> That confuses me. Do you want it? I want it.
[ Laughter ]
Let's find out what is happening on Shopper. Tristan, what kind of deals are you bringing us today?
>> So, we have a lot of good deals on the Shopper Blog. But one that I.
>> I know.
>> One that I notice, this one stands out. I mean there's good, but there's this. There's the IO Mega Mac Edition Ego portable external hard drive. And it says it's a Mac Edition, I suspect because it has Fire Wire ports.
>> It's also because it's probably more silver than other of their products, so they were like, hey let's just call it the Mac Edition.
>> A lot of them say that, yeah.
>> Well they come in different colors.
>> And I think it comes with Mac software, but everybody knows that you should just ignore the software that comes with your drive anyway.
>> Forget that, yeah.
>> So anyway, isn't it like a terabyte.
>> It's 500 gigabytes. This is one of those deals where it has a really good review, but then it got dinged a little for being too expensive. Well now, the price came down. So now, it's just full fledged, real good.
>> There you go. 120 dollars it looks like after a 20-dollar savings, so not bad. Actually, 120 bucks is not bad. It is a network, network attached storage?
>> It is not.
>> No.
>> Just a portable laptop drive from what I can see.
>> Ok.
>> But it's USB 2.0 and that's good, I use that and it's faster.
>> It's an editor's choice product.
>> And it is an editor's choice product, that's true, yeah.
>> And I'd also like to point out, a lot of people have Netbooks now a days and those are really nice and light, but they don't have storage.
>> Yeah.
>> So this is, when you bring it home and you have this at home or even if you're going around town, it's thin and light enough to bring with you, with your Netbook.
>> Those are pretty cool, I have to admit.
>> Yeah.
>> Any other good deals that you want to highlight or is that the best one today?
>> That's, that's the one I'm gaga for.
>> All right oh gaga.
>> You're lady gaga.
>> He's gaga. He's a paparazzi for that deal. All right well then let's keep the deal train rolling and find out what our cheap skate Rick Broda has for us, Rick how you doing in the lair?
>> Hey there guys. I just want to point out one thing. I'm the only one who's been here for every single show, so I'm actually the A Team.
>> All by yourself, wow.
>> I think you might be the B Team for Broda, but that's ok. We're just going to.
>> Broda is the A Team and the hotness.
>> You can't be a team when you're yourself.
>> And he lives in a lair.
>> You can't be a team when you're by yourself.
>> There's no I in team.
>> Actually, I do have to point out that also Jason has been here for every show. And so has Bonnie, been over there in the corner telling us what to do. Like you see Jason's little head, there.
>> That means that Rick, Jason and Bonnie.
>> We are the A team. We are the A Team, I'm just the team leader.
>> You've been on there for five minutes.
>> You guys build yourself up, we're going to tear you down, ok?
[ Laughter ]
>> Da, da, da, da, da.
>> Ok, we're going to give that for the background while you go deal.
>> All right.
>> Go Rick, go.
>> Right.
[ Laughter ]
Ok.
[ Laughter ]
Stop.
>> All right.
>> Oh, all right.
>> You're so not fun Rick. The A Team would totally go with that.
>> I know we were like come on dude, we get you, we get you background beats. And you give us nothing.
>> We're bringing the noise.
>> I want a different team.
[ Laughter ]
>> Oh.
>> Well, well Rick be careful what you say here you know.
>> Yeah, ok, Rick is switching teams.
>> Yeah, that's right.
>> Alert the press. Ok. So, anyway.
>> There's the door right there.
>> About the deals, about the deals.
>> All right. The deal, oh we ran out of time, didn't we? The deal for today is actually very, very nice. It's an Xbox 360 Arcade, which normally I wouldn't really be pushing because it has no hard drive. However, Mac Mall is bundling an Xbox 360 Arcade with a 20 gig hard drive. So it's like getting an Xbox 360 I guess pro would be the closest equivalent or the old Xbox 360, nothing after the name, Xbox. And that's 13499 plus about 12 bucks for shipping. And it is a refurb, so you only got a 90-day warranty but it's still I think got to be the cheapest deal on the Xbox with a hard drive that I have ever seen.
>> Yeah, yeah this is killer. And that's the thing, first of all, his deal is in stock. Normally non-refurbed these are 199 without a hard drive.
>> Oh really.
>> Yeah, so this is a.
>> Wow.
>> This is a real sexy deal for anyone who wants to get a little gaming on.
>> That's a good, a really good price. And then I do, I want to mention your backup deal Rick because this is a very cool thing that I just found out about yesterday. The free shipping day.
>> Yeah, who knew. It was free shipping day. I, sorry, I didn't get you anything, but it's a holiday.
>> I sang the A Team song for you? I called you the hotness that one time? Yeah, no, this is actually pretty cool. It's like a whole extra Christmas bonus. It's like 700 merchants at freeshippingday.com and they're all partnering up to give free shipping and promising delivery no later than December 24th. So for last minuters such as myself, this is super deal. That's very exciting.
>> Yeah, very cool. Unfortunately, Mac Mall is not one of the participants, which would have been great, but still, 12 bucks for shipping is not too bad.
>> Yeah, that's pretty good.
>> Sweet. That is a nice, nice deal.
>> All right, thanks for scouring for the deals even if you don't like the background music.
>> That's guys.
>> All right, talk to you tomorrow. Bye Rick.
[ Laughter ]
>> He's just like why, why am I on this show?
>> Yeah, he's like I don't, I really don't want to do this anymore.
>> Why do I come here?
>> I don't think I want to hang out with those guys anymore.
>> Those guys are not cool.
>> They're not that awesome. All right, I think it is time for some questions, don't you think? Give us a call, 888900CNET, 2638, there are a couple lines open. But we do have some callers on the line who need our help. I think we should go for an easy one to get us started.
>> Why don't you go for it and let's see what we've got.
>> Let's go for Ben calling us from Canada. Are you there Ben?
>> I am here.
>> Hey, what's your question for the Holiday Help Desk?
>> My question is and sorry guys, I just have to say that I listen to you guys every day. I love the podcast and the one time I think you guys didn't do anything, which was on the Thanksgiving, American Thanksgiving.
>> Yeah.
>> I could not go to sleep. I was having trouble. My whole thing was out of whack, so keep up the good work.
>> We're like.
>> Can't sleep baby.
>> Oh.
>> Ok, I'll stop that.
>> Now I'll have nightmares I think, but.
>> I know, totally. We can sing to you too. We sing you to sleep.
>> Very awesome. My question is I have a small condo, trying to save some space, wanted to know if I could use a 1080p LCD HD TV as both a computer monitor and as a TV, whether that HD TV would be good enough to stand up to some games on the PC as well.
>> I mean, that sounds like a pretty awesome computer monitor to me.
>> Yeah the.
>> I don't see what the drawback might be.
>> Yeah, the only drawback is you know if you're really specifically trying to use it for a gaming and obviously I would assume this TV that you're looking at has either an HDMI port or a VGA port that can, that can connect to your computer?
>> Yeah.
>> Gaming wise it should be fine but a lot of times when you connect your actual computer to a large screen monitor, the, the text and like actually navigating using it for web browsing and what not doesn't necessarily translate as well because the matching of the resolutions. But for gaming it actually, if that was your specific use, it probably would look pretty good.
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah, I mean it's definitely it is going to look a little blown up, right? And then, and then I think you'll need a video card, your video card will have to have HDMI.
>> Yeah.
>> Or whatever you machine is.
>> That'll have to be able to help output it.
>> You'll have to be able to output HDMI.
>> Yeah.
>> Other than that, I don't know.
>> That's a reasonable.
>> Yeah, right?
>> Yeah.
>> I mean most new machines do. Other than that, I'm trying to think of any other technical kind of issues that you're probably going to run into.
>> If I can avoid a desk and a computer monitor as well as the TV, I'll just go with the one screen. That sounds good I think.
>> Yeah, exactly. So do you already have the TV? Because one other thing to consider is of course like an all in one PC. Which isn't as big a TV obviously, but you know I mean that, the new iMacs are huge, what are they? 24 inches.
>> Yeah.
>> And then there's like that HP Touch Smart 600, which I think is a pretty sweet little machine.
>> One, one obstacle you know with the LCD TV, is this an LCD TV you currently own or are looking to get?
>> Looking to get.
>> Ok, looking to get. So I don't know if it's that big of a deal but also you probably want to get one if you're going to be using it for gaming, because it's really more specifically for TV with a higher refresh rate, because a lot of times with gaming specifically you need a better refresh rate, with the graphics moving quite quickly. If you had like a 60-Hertz screen, you're going to see a lot of ghosting effects. So you'd probably want to look for either a 120 or 240 Hertz LCD which is a lot more common. If gaming was your priority. So.
>> You think that LED backlight is necessary? Because that's kind of latest thing now. Or can I just stick with an LCD?
>> You know you could go either way. A lot of times from what we've heard with LED backlit displays, it's really more of an energy consumption issue.
>> Right. And that's still.
>> Than it is a performance, you know.
>> They're still a lot more expensive.
>> Yeah, yeah.
>> I'm just not sure. I think that price is going to come down and it doesn't, to me it doesn't seem worth it to spend that much right now.
>> Ok.
>> Yeah, thanks guys, enjoy the show.
>> Sure, good luck.
>> All right.
>> Happy sleeping.
[ Laughter ]
>> Sleep tight Ben.
>> All right, happy holidays Ben.
[ Laughter ]
All right, should we do another call?
>> Yeah.
>> Yeah, you got a preference there Brian Tong?
>> No, I think we can just do one, let's go with the Bluetooth headset guy because some people have asked before, we haven't really answered that questions.
>> Yeah exactly, looks like we got a lot of questions about this. Chris, are you there?
>> Yes.
>> Hey, how's it going? Welcome to the Help Desk.
>> Welcome Chris.
>> Thank you, enjoy your show.
>> Thank you.
>> I'm looking for a stereo Bluetooth headset that's over the ear style. That's got decent sound for you know make, you know answering the phone calls.
>> Right. None of them do. No, I'm kidding.
[ Laughter ]
To me that's been the big drawback of the Bluetooth headsets. I feel like there aren't that many out there that really deliver. The one that I have heard, just anecdotally, the one that people seem to like the most is the Blue Ant.
>> Yeah, the Blue Ant B1, the Blue Ant B1 is a very popular headset. I don't know what it's priced at now. I think it's around 79 to 99 dollars the last time.
>> Oh, but that's not a stereo headset. Sorry, that's a, well I guess it is.
>> Well, he mentioned he was looking to make calls, is that correct?
>> Well, you know I want to listen to my you know podcast etcetera and be able to take a call and I have some podcasts that are in stereo.
>> Right. So it looks like LG, Samsung makes one that is ludicrously expensive, the SBH600 and that's 170 dollars, which seems kind of crazy. I'm pretty sure we can do better than that. And then it looks like LG makes a couple. There's the HBS250 which we said was just really lightweight and comfortable. And that's about 50 dollars. Or there's the HBS200 which is older and down to about 20. And let's see what else we can, you know Plantronic, the chat room is recommending because those are just, those are actually.
>> Yeah.
>> The most reliable [inaudible].
>> I just need a quick clarification because are you looking for a stereo Bluetooth headset that's good for listening to music that can also have the ability to take calls? Is that what you're looking for?
>> Exactly.
>> Ok, ok. So do you care about any call control on the headset at all or you just want it to be able to essentially pair with your, with your phone?
>> Well just want to be able to pair and you know hit the button and answer the call, hang up and that's pretty much it.
>> Ok.
>> You know I will say I had, I had a pair of the Samsung SBH I believe it's 500. And it actually sounded pretty good. It had good call quality, people couldn't tell the difference when I was talking to them, driving down the road. But they're plastic and you know I guess the T it cracked and you know one of the ear pieces broke.
>> Oh.
>> Hanging by the wire, so you know, kind of in the need to get one and can't get them anymore.
>> I think you know one of the main challenges that you have also is I talked to Jasmine about this even last week is if you want a headset that does both, typically with Bluetooth headsets right, the audio quality of your music experience is not going, you're kind of going to sacrifice that if you want to be able to also use it you know to take calls. It's just, the sound quality isn't as good as a wired headset, even a really cheapy wired headset typically is going to sound better than anything through wireless transmission.
>> Yeah, are you mostly using this in your car?
>> Yeah, I usually listen to it in the car for podcasts and audio books.
>> Because I've almost, I, well but then, I mean I almost feel like, you know this is obviously a slightly bigger investment, but I, now I've got a Bluetooth equipped stereo in the car. And I just feel like that is so much of an easier way to go, to have a Bluetooth receiver in the car and then use an Aux jack for my media player. And just use the, you know play the media through the stereo which is really easy and then just get you know they've got a little Bluetooth receiver that sits up in the windshield. Let me, I'm trying to remember who makes it. And then, and then you're doing kind of hands free just in the car and this, and to me the sound quality is not that much worse. It still sounds a little bit like you're in a tunnel but it sounds like that all the time anyway. And then you get you know the good audio over, over the Aux connection. So that might be another way to go.
>> So, you're hearing your callers over the car speakers?
>> Yeah. That's just.
>> Which feels kind of awesome, I have to admit. So you can get the Bluetooth receiver built in if you get an aftermarket stereo and then Parrot, I think it makes a hands free car kit that just goes in the car. Parrot is the company, like the bird. They make a whole bunch of different car kits that go in the car and basically just let that audio go through your car speakers. It's cool.
>> Ok, cool.
>> Yeah. All right.
>> Thank you.
>> So several options and good luck. Merry Christmas to you.
>> All right, thanks for calling. So I guess we're going to jump to break and we will be back in a little bit. Enjoy this great battery ad.
>> It's awesome.
^M00:17:00
[ Music ]
^M00:17:05
>> If you think all batteries are the same, consider this. These Duracell batteries were given to the Mattel Children's Hospital at UCLA because when it comes to kids and healing, you're not just powering a toy. You're powering a smile. Duracell, trusted everywhere.
[ Music ]
>> Everywhere you look, new gadgets are popping up.
[ Music ]
To get the real story on them, there's really only one place to go, CNET.com. Discover something new at CNET.
>> Last FM now on Xbox Live. Discover more music and explore endless personalized radio stations.
[ Music ]
Find out more at www.lastFM.com/Xbox.
[ Music ]
>> All right, we are back. So what we're going to do right now is show you, show you a little bit of a first look for a touch screen PC obviously perfect for the kitchen, a little interactive, so why don't you guys check this out and we'll be back in a bit.
^M00:18:07
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>> Hi, I'm Rich Brown, senior editor for CNET.com. Today we're going to take a look at the HP Touch Smart 600. So this is HP's first Windows 7 based all in one. Comes with multitouch functionality and all kinds of other features. We're going to go through some of them here. We definitely will not hit all of them though so be sure to read the full review online for the full scoop on this system. So this particular configuration costs about 1600 bucks, you can configure it online with various different components, driving the price up or down depending. This config though comes with a blue ray drive, a dual core Intel chip as well as a 750-gigabyte hard drive. Now in our performance test, we actually found this system was not as fast as some of its other all in one competitors in this price. Fortunately for HP, there's a lot more going on with this system outside of its performance. So one of the things this system is particularly well suited for is video. We mentioned it comes with a blue ray drive. There's also a TV tuner and like we seen from Sony, there's a dedicated input for HD lines at the top as well as a set of composite video and audio ports. There's a button up here that lets you swap very easily between those three inputs. That means you can plug a camcorder, a game console, even a cable box into this system and swap between the various sources really easily. Now the other notable feature of this system is its touch input. Now we're going to see a lot of all in ones this season following the launch of Windows 7 that have touch or multi touch capability. That's really not unique. What is cool though for this system is its software. We don't have time to go over every app that HP is designed to touch with this system, but we can show one of the highlights which is the recipe box. So you have a pretty simple interface here. You notice the button down there that says browse for a recipe. Click the button, it takes you to a web browser. So once we get to a browse, we can go to almost any food site. We've tried Ed Curious, Martha Stewart, Food Network. There's a few that don't work, but the big ones seem to. Now on one of those sites, when you get to a recipe, you can click the extract recipe button and then the software automatically formats the recipe into a touch friendly interface. You can see here I can scroll up through the ingredients. So you can see over here there's this enable speech commands button. If I check it, off and say beginning.
>> 6 large eggs.
>> Now, the voice activation isn't perfect. Sometimes you have to repeat a command. It doesn't really hear other people. That can be a good thing or a bad thing depending. But even without the voice software, we think this system is the best kitchen PC we've seen so far. Now there are a few other apps in the touch carousel that we should point out. HP is partnering with Net Flix, Hulu and Twitter to design interfaces for those services, most of which are pretty useful. Fortunately, HP has a wall mounting capability built into this system. You can take the back off as well as the stand, hook it up to any baseless standard wall mount. There are a few other features we like around the system, the web cam has a nice little lever in back here that lets you change the angle. That's unique for an all in one. Up until now, we've been a little bit skeptical of the touch interface. The software hasn't really been compelling enough to make us recommend it. Now there's still more work to be done, but between the recipe software and the various partnerships HP has put together for this system, this is actually a touch base system we feel comfortable recommending. So I'm Rich Brown, this is the HP Touch Smart 600.
[ Music ]
>> I think that thing is awesome. I have to admit, I totally want it. I don't have anywhere in the kitchen, I actually almost bought it, but I don't have anywhere in the kitchen. But you should know that he says it's 1600 and, and because apparently all we do is deal on this show, it's now more like 999 I think. I found it as low as 999.
>> That's sweet.
>> And, and you know about 1100 in some other places. So actually not a bad price, because before it was like cool but novelty price.
>> Yeah, the and the built in software is actually pretty nice on that, on that product.
>> Yeah.
>> It's very easy to use, so.
>> I love that thing. It's the PC of the future. All right now we have our special guest for the day, our, our deal train keeps chugging. Chug, chug, chugging. I was reading a little Thomas the Train with my son earlier today. Anyway, we're talking to Lonnie Paul at Comp USA, are you there Lonnie? Hey, there you are.
>> Ut, oh.
>> Oh, we don't hear Lonnie but we're going to let him like lip synch for a minute until we can.
[ Laughter ]
Until we can get some audio. Oh.
>> Here we go.
>> Hello?
>> Oh Lonnie, Lonnie.
>> Ah, there you go.
>> There we go.
>> That was a quick fix. Well done.
>> It's the advent of all this technology. I don't know what it's doing.
>> I know, it's hard. It makes everything so much more complicated.
>> Everything, there's so many buttons and you know you guys were just playing with that Touch Smart and I think Touch Smarts are amazing. But is life going to be where we just touch and slide our fingers on everything to control the world?
>> Hopefully.
>> Yeah.
>> It is going to be kind of a schmutzy world though.
[ Laughter ]
It's going to be a grease smeared world that we live in.
>> Yes it is. We're going to need those little shiny cloths everywhere we go.
>> Exactly, everyone's got their like built in, oh we could get microfiber fingertip implants.
>> Hey.
>> You can, you can have those.
>> Bioengineer them.
>> I'm not going, I don't want those.
>> Right, I love technology, just on the little pinky.
>> I don't want microfiber fingers.
>> Microfiber finger, [makes noise].
>> Just think that'll be nice, you know you can touch your wife and it'd be soft on her cheek.
>> Whoa, that's a little weird. Ok.
>> Yeah, that is a little weird.
>> So do you have any, do you have any great deals on microfiber finger implants at CompUSA.com?
>> No but we are working on them very hard right now as we speak. You know, people are going crazy still shopping. I don't know about you guys, but I'm one of those guys that always waits to the end. I don't know why, I guess it's because we work so much. But you know and you'd think at the end there's no great deals left after Black Friday. But they just, somehow just keep on coming out.
>> Yeah? Alright, yeah I actually have noticed that because I am also shopping kind of late, kind of late. So anything extra do you see that you want to, that you want to especially tell people about?
>> I will tell you what is flying out of the door today and that is the 24-inch Ceptor LCD that is on the homepage of CompUSA.com. It's worth like 250 bucks right now, it's got free shipping, it's 159 dollars and they literally are flying out of the warehouse. It's unbelievable. Everybody wants a bigger monitor and you know Ceptor makes great monitors, it's 1080p, gives you all the things you need. I mean, I don't really watch television. I don't know if you guys do. I watch everything on Hulu. And this is a great monitor for your bedroom to sit and even just watch TV.
>> Yeah and 160 bucks for a 24 inch LCD is not a bad price.
>> Very nice.
>> I remember when these were 400 dollars. I mean, that Dell, it was the Dell 24p or whatever and it was just like I need that but I'll never have that 400 dollars.
>> Or think of when the Apple monitor came out. It was ridiculous. Wasn't it like 2000 dollars?
>> Yeah, it was around 2500 bucks.
>> Oh yeah. I think it's, I think it's at least 900 dollars still. No, I'm only kidding, I don't know.
>> Yeah and I'll tell you something else that's going on is you know with the challenge now for every kid needs their own PC it seems like, you know, since the Netbook came out of course. Every child has to have their own computer. But some people still like traditional desktops and we've got some unbelievable values on some eMachines desktops for 149 bucks. 1.6-gigahertz processor, 2 gigahertz of RAM, 160 gig hard drive, even a DVD burner, 150 bucks.
>> I got to have that.
>> It's on the front page here. I see that one right on the front page.
>> Pulling it up right now for you guys to take a little peak, there you go.
>> And the crazy thing is that is a screaming deal. That is also only 50 dollars off. Like this is already a 200-dollar machine and 150 bucks for that much computer.
>> Solid.
>> That is ridiculous.
>> It really is and when you think about it you know you got to keep replacing your grandparent's computers, your aunts and uncle's computers and it's never going to stop and they've always got the grandkids over and playing around and getting stuff on the keyboards. So what's better than to get a desktop that's incredibly affordable, it's going to last you two, three years. But whenever it's time for replacement, it's really not painful anymore because the price to get there was so cheap anyway.
>> Yep.
>> And I'm seeing free shipping badges on some things but not others. What's your, what's your shipping situation?
>> You know what? The last I heard, there's free shipping on almost everything. I think it's under a certain weight and over a certain dollar amount. And I wish that I was smart enough to sit here and tell you that I knew what it was but I think it just changed.
>> Yeah, it looks like, oh yeah, orders over 100 dollars with a weight of 35 pounds or less.
>> There you go.
>> All right, so free shipping on a lot of stuff.
>> Free shipping on a lot of stuff. And you know like I said, people have waited this year and the warehouse is just going insane. You know people have been coming into the Comp USA retail stores around the country. I don't know you guys don't have one out there in California. Hopefully they'll be back there someday soon. But until then you know the web is a great place to go. You get it in, get it out, usually if the order is placed by 5 or 6, the same day it'll get to you and out of the warehouse that day.
>> Nice.
>> So, they're working fast, like little monkeys.
>> There is still time.
>> Oh.
>> Like little, little elf monkeys.
>> Monkeys? Monkeys are a lot nicer looking than elves, I was going to say.
>> Yeah.
>> And they, they're much more simplistic with their clothing.
>> They're comforting. Monkeys are comforting. Elves are. Lonnie, thank you so much for telling us about the Comp USA elves.
>> Thank you and have a great Christmas.
>> Happy holidays and good luck this holiday.
>> Do you think we should go get, hit the calls?
>> I think we should.
>> I don't think people want to hear us about monkeys no more.
>> Yeah, people are like, seriously? Monkeys? Like I need help.
>> We are sick people here.
>> I need help.
>> You sick. All right, I'm going to go.
>> Call somebody.
>> Let's go to Ross, Baltimore, Maryland. What's going on Ross?
>> Hey guys, how's it going?
>> Going good.
>> How are you?
>> Going good.
>> Well I am looking to get a present for my girlfriend. She has a Mac Book Pro and wants to get a monitor for it. And she's in love with the Apple LED Cinema display.
>> Of course she is.
>> Aren't we all, yeah.
>> Yeah. And it's gorgeous but it's just so expensive. So I didn't know if there was an option that would give, you know give her the same kind of performance but for maybe not as much cash?
>> Yeah Ross, I can help you here. I've been looking this up. Kept very familiar with your situation because my parents recently got a Mac Book Pro. When they were looking at monitors, currently the 24-inch LED display that he's talking about is 899. The disadvantage about this is.
>> Hey, that's what I said, 900 dollars.
>> I know, you're right on the money girl. Bu the disadvantage about this screen is you can only connect it with Apple's proprietary mini port display adapter that goes with the laptop. You cannot connect this display current to any other device. So it really limits its versatility, sure it's great. It's an LED display, it looks beautiful. It's integrated specifically for the Mac Book, that's all. So from a flexibility standpoint and a price standpoint, you can do a lot better. So what I want and Molly is nodding her head, yes, you can do better.
>> Yeah, well come one, that's ridiculous.
>> Obviously. So what I wanted to look around and just find something within the 500-dollar price range is recently Dell released their Ultra Smart, the U2410. This is an editor's choice 24-inch monitor, LCD display. The main, the main thing, the main thing about it is that it has multiple connections. We're talking about DVI, VGA, HDMI. You can use this not only on your Mac Book Pro because all you have to do is buy like a 20 dollar dongle that goes from mini display port to one of these connections that will go to this Dell screen. But you can connect it to a variety of other sources in the future as well. So that's, this, I would recommend you look this way. Also.
>> Ok.
>> You know we were just on Comp USA, they were talking about you know some of the deals they have for that 24 inch monitor that was like.
>> Yeah, let me pull it back up.
>> Whatever it was, Ceptor.
>> That was, it a Ceptor and it's an off brand but it was 160 dollars. So this Dell is going to run you about 550 is the lowest I see it, so it's still pretty expensive. But it is definitely the top of the line monitor. I urge you to watch the video too, our First Look video.
>> And it is in your 500-dollar price range so to speak.
>> Just barely.
>> Ok.
>> Yeah, more than anything it's versatile. Same size, 24 inches, but I would really try to push you away from getting that Apple display because it just locks, you can't do really anything with it other than use it on the Mac Book Pro.
>> Right. Ok.
>> Yeah, so yeah, I would say check out that Dell and then look at that Comp USA thing. Maybe, maybe you want to go you know a little cheaper on an off brand monitor and then get some fabulous jewelry.
>> But if you really love her, then get the Apple display.
>> I'm sure she would love that.
>> I'm just kidding.
>> Oh no, you did not.
>> I'm just, you know how it is with women.
>> If you really, if you really love her you will get her something useful.
>> You know how it is. Oh, women want useful things all the time? Come on.
>> Don't even. Don't even.
>> Come on, we know where this goes.
>> You want to watch out.
[ Laughter ]
Yes you do.
>> Your arm doesn't reach that far, that's why I'm saying this right now.
>> Oh, it can, I can get a monkey arm up in here.
>> Oh no, no.
>> And come right across this desk.
>> Not the monkey arm.
>> All right, Ross we're kind off the rails because you sparked a little gender war, but we hope we've helped you here on Holiday Help Desk.
>> Definitely have.
>> Thanks for calling and we'll.
>> Thanks very much.
>> Talk to you later, ok.
>> Should we take this last call today?
>> Last call today.
>> We've got to help out, this is.
>> One last call.
>> Up in the air, Chris, how you doing man?
>> Hello, hey, what's going on?
>> Hey, what's up? How's it going?
>> What's up? We won't attack you with our monkey arms, we promise.
>> We will not, no. No monkey arms.
>> I appreciate that.
[ Laughter ]
I had a question. My, my dad, he's a completely computer illiterate. And he has no idea what he's doing at the computer, any kind of technology.
>> Kind of like us.
>> All right.
>> Yeah. But I'm looking for something, I'm looking for a gift for him to, you know around 100 bucks that can kind of maybe spark his interest a little bit. I mean, he's big into music and all that, but something that'll kind of, I don't know.
>> Like towards a computer situation? That's what you kind of want to get into, just messing with some sort of computer like device around 100 dollars?
>> Well I mean he's a construction worker so you know I guess he could mess around with stuff with his hands, but he, I mean he has a laptop and but he calls me every day, Chris what was my, what was my password to get into my, for my email.
>> Oh we know that.
>> I think I know.
>> Shut up.
>> He has no idea what he's doing. But I'm looking for something that's kind of simple that can kind of just get him, you know interested in it.
>> Ok, here, here's my suggestion.
>> Yeah, throw it out there.
>> You might think I'm a little crazy, but I'm going to say you should get him a RoCu box. Because.
>> Oh, ok.
>> It's 99 dollars and then he can stream movies and he can stream TV so he'll be like wow, I can just turn this thing on and like watch movies. You might also want to encourage him to get a Net Flix subscription. But he can get Amazon video on demand movies that you just pay for one at a time. Then they have free streaming television and they have little channels. I think you mentioned he was into music and they have like a Pandora channel.
>> Right.
>> So he can create his own radio stations and stream those. I mean, there's a little backend work because he is going to need like DSL or cable Internet.
>> Yeah he's got, yeah he definitely has cable Internet.
>> So as long as he has the Internet, I think the RoCu box, that is the kind of thing that could get him interested in kind of a whole range of things, yeah. And then maybe later you could get him a Net Flix subscription for like his birthday.
>> Yeah, yeah, ok I'm looking at it now, 79 bucks, yeah.
>> Oh yeah, it's down to 79, that's just nice and it's just, it does cool stuff. It's kind of like it's not confusing like a computer, but it's a little techy thing that does neat things.
>> No, absolutely because honestly in the 100-dollar price range, it's really hard to find stuff that someone could really, most of the time that's like accessories like a headset or a mouse. But the RoCu.
>> Right.
>> At that price, could play with the tech, I mean, you're right on the money Moll.
>> Yeah?
>> I got to give you prop.
>> Thanks.
>> Yeah, that's definitely something he would dig.
>> Ok.
>> I mean he goes to the movies every weekend and, and yeah he could definitely get into this.
>> I was going to suggestion four different mouse pads, but you beat me to it.
[ Laughter ]
>> Or, all right.
>> He can barely handle one, so.
[ Laughter ]
>> The RoCu is officially my number one non-techy person gift pick.
>> For under a 100 bucks.
>> For under 100 dollars.
>> Thanks a lot Molly.
>> That's really good.
>> Because I think that could be pretty awesome.
>> All right, Chris.
>> Let us know how that goes. Email us later, holidayhelpdesk@cnet.com and let us know.
>> Yeah, definitely you guys, hey I appreciate it, a big fan, you guys have a happy holidays.
>> All right thank you.
>> Thank you, you too.
>> Thank you very much.
>> Later.
>> Bye. All right, awesome. We got to wrap it up, but we get to announce the winner from Wednesday's Crave give away. Who will it be? Who was it? Mind mouth-twisting name.
>> What did they win?
>> It's ok. They won, I'm getting up to the whole, that was me stalling while I open up the sheet.
>> You should have just, I could've did it, I could've helped you out.
>> I was dancing. They won a Cannon Power Shot SD940is.
>> Hello, hello.
>> Nice. Basically the nearer version of the camera that both Brian Tong and I have, so you suck.
>> Punks. But beautiful, the slimmest Cannon out there.
>> It is so tiny and cute and adorable. The winner is ABS9240. Woo.
>> I don't think that's the person, I think the person's name is Abs 9240. Well you got to do those crunches baby. You want to do those crunches?
>> Abs, right on abs.
>> Do the crunches for the Cannon Power Shot.
>> Hey Abs, send us a picture of your abs when you get your camera.
>> Totally, not to me, to Molly.
>> You should already have received an email from CNET, don't send that because the cops will come. They think it's like a stalker thing.
>> Don't send that to me, I don't want to see that.
>> You will already probably have an email from CNET with directions about how to claim your prize. If you don't see it, check it in your junk mail, because it's there Abs. Absolutely.
>> Oh no, stop. I'm not, I'm not even here. Ok? Tomorrow Molly is going to be back here with Tom, she's going to hear some really bad funny things like that. Yeah, oh yeah, the two of us in the same room. Hallelujah.
>> We're going to be bringing Craig Vermin with Amazon.com, so he'll be taking our calls and our monkey arms. And if we didn't get to your call today, please call us at 1888900CNET, 2639, 1 pm Pacific, 4 pm eastern time. We will see you then.
>> Bye.
^M00:34:35
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