As we near the holiday shopping season, retailers will soon start rolling out the deals in an effort to entice shoppers to spend their hard-earned dollars. With the emergence of the Internet, and the 24-hour shopping cycle it provides, we have much greater shopping flexibility than we did 10 years ago, but the questions remains: Where are the better deals, online or in the store? And where do people prefer to buy their technology?


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Well, if you trust The NPD Group analyst firm, their research shows that when it comes to tech purchases:

“56 percent of people read up on new TVs at retail websites, but only 19 percent follow through with an online purchase – the lowest number for all included CE. Online smartphone shoppers weren’t too far off though, with 23 percent balking at the concept of purchasing a new phone online. Meanwhile, 52 percent of those buyers had looked up deals and other information on the web.”

So, based on this research, it looks like shoppers rely more heavily on the web for researching their prospective purchases than actually making them. Fair enough, but what if you want to compare prices and get the best deal on a wireless HTCP keyboard or computer to TV streaming kit? What’s the best way to determine the best value available?

For this task, the web has a clear advantage over brick and mortar stores since there are dedicated websites that can help you determine the best possible price for the exact product you need. Short of calling every Best Buy or Walmart in your area and asking for the best prices on a given product, the web is a far more efficient tool for determining value. One site that provides a robust price comparison platform is Pricewatch.com, which provides listings of the best online deals for many computer peripherals and products from tablets and printers to HDMI cables, adapters and motherboards.

Of course, you can always buy direct from the manufacturer by visiting sites like our own Shop.IOGEAR.com, but it’s really just a matter of convenience and how much research you’re willing to put into it.

The bottom line is, the holidays often bring out all sorts of deals. Cyber Monday, Black Thursday, free shipping, cash back on store credit cards and more are all used to motivate us as shoppers. And while these can sometimes motivate an impulse purchase, the best buy is always a well-researched one.

Don’t forget to check out our Twitter deals feed, which we update twice weekly with great IOGEAR deals.

According to In-stat research, the number of Blu-ray players shipped will increase to 105 million by the year 2015. If you’re like most people, you’ve already made the switch to an HDTV, however, if you’re not a PS3 owner, or just haven’t made the jump to a Blu-ray player yet, we have some advice for you courtesy of the sharp minds at HDTV Etc.


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The NFL Football season brings joy to U.S. sports fans like few other sports can. With only 16 games per season and playoffs, it’s a limited window of enjoyment to root for your favorite team, unlike baseball or basketball, where the season’s last for a better part of 8 months.


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Anyone who’s tried to install a video card in a computer knows it’s not a simple DIY project. In homebuilding terms, it’s akin to furnace or electrical work and not something for the inexperienced. However, fiddling with your computer’s internals can be a thing of the past with the new IOGEAR USB to HD Adapter.


A.K.A the GUC2025H, the new adapter connects additional HD displays to a desktop or laptop computer using a USB 2.0 cable, something all computers have (as opposed to HDMI). Throw in an HDMI to DVI Adapter and you’ve got a set-up that will complement almost every modern computer and TV combination.

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If there’s one thing Internet users like, it’s a good list. Whether it’s the top 10 ways to tell if your man is cheating or five killer iPhone apps for foodies, as Internet users, we’re drawn to random bulleted rankings like college kids to dollar drafts.

While scouring the Internet recently, we came across an interesting story by Geoff Morrison from Sound and Vision titled Seven Home Theater Myths Debunked that highlighted some obvious and not-so obvious beliefs people have about the gear and performance that makes up their home theaters or media rooms. Most people know that owning an HD TV doesn’t guarantee your watching HD content. You need an HD equipped source component (like a Blu-ray or HD cable receiver) and the necessary cables. File that under obvious.

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In July, we celebrated our independence, and now with the 2010 CEDIA Expo coming up and our Wireless HD Kit poised to win an award for best new product, we believe the day of independence from wires in your home entertainment setup is not too far away. In the mean time, we must be content with reducing as many wires as possible. In this week’s post we provide some ideas on how to minimize your wired footprint.

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In today’s economy, the average consumer’s budget may not afford a complete home theatre transformation, but there are some affordable solutions that will make noticeable improvements. Today’s topic explores ways to upgrade without the need to downgrade your wallet size.

As always, we appreciate your feedback and experiences, please take the time to share with us here in the blog comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

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Are your holiday gadget gifts still uninstalled? Or worse … still in the box? Have you begun the installations only to find a key cable missing? Are your new gadgets gathering dust alone, dying to be connected and used?

At IOGEAR, we’re here to help! Read on for ideas on how to use our many devices designed to connect, de-clutter, enhance or just help your gadgets reach a new level of cool.

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Following our glimpse of everything great and good at CES 2010, it’s time to cast an eye towards some exciting developments in the TV market. Hot off the heels of Toshiba’s recent announcement of their brand new state-of-the-art CELL TV, the consumer electronics industry is buzzing with speculation on the future of the humble television.

Toshiba’s CELL TV technology promises an enhanced picture quality and precise image accuracy by sampling multiple frames and restoring the native pre-sampling signal curve – put simply, providing more brightness, more contrast, more detail and more 3D capability.

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