Best Values in Electric and Acoustic-Electric Guitars

The most popular brands among electric guitar manufacturers include Fender, Gibson, Schecter, Jackson, Dean, B.C. Rich, First Act, Fernandes, Ibanez, Hofner, J. Reynolds, Silvertone, SX, and Steinberger. The instrument can be purchased singly or as a package where the paraphernalia include at the very least an amplifier and a gig bag.

Prices for electric guitars range from $60 to upwards of $10K for certain Gibson, Fender, and Ibanez models. Reasonable beginner guitars and kits start in the $150 range. Below are our best value picks among electric guitars:

Product	Thumbnail	Best Price	Description
Squier by Fender BulletStrat		$120	Basswood body with gloss polyurethane finish. Maple neck with rosewood fingerboard with 21 medium jumbo frets, 3 single-coil strat pickups, synchronous tremolo with cast saddles, master volume with 2 tone controls with 5 position pickup selector switch. Excellent overall value – fret filing may be required on some pieces.
Epiphone LP Special II Les Paul Collection Electric Guitar, Vintage Sunburst		$169	Construction is a combination of Mahogany (Neck), Rosewood (Fretboard), and Basswood (body material). Authentic LP tone makes it a great beginner choice or as a workhorse guitar for pros. 1 tone and 1 volume control.
Yamaha Gigmaker Electric Guitar Package		$260	Excellent craftsman ship and playability in the PAC012 Guitar. 12Watt RMS Amp. Includes Gig Bag, Chromatic Tuner, Guitar Cable, Picks, Instructional DVD, Strap Strings, and Tremolo Bar. Cable and Strap are cheap and will need replacement quickly. Excellent choice for a beginners guitar package.
Epiphone LP Standard Les Paul Collection Electric Guitar in Ebony		$400	Mahogany body, Maple top, Alnico Classic Humbucker pickups, Rosewood fretboard. Epiphone’s flagship model – great alternative to the original Gibson Les Paul guitars that go for a few 1000s.
Gibson Les Paul Studio Electric Guitar in Worn Brown Satin		$800	Traditional Rounded Neck Profile, Mahogany Back and Maple Top, 22-Fret Rosewood or Ebony Fingerboards, Chambered Body for Perfect Tone Balance and Weight.

The most popular brands among acoustic-electric guitar manufacturers include Fender, Gibson, Washburn, Taylor, Takamine, Breedlove, Dean, and Epiphone. Again, the guitar can be purchased in itself or as a kit with accessories such as an amplifier, instructional videos, and a gig bag although options are fairly limited. Besides, many prefer to buy accessories separately as and when needed.

Prices for acoustic-electric guitars can push the $6K range for high-end models from Taylor and Gibson while the lower-end models can be had for as little as $75. Good quality acoustic-electric guitars suited for beginners are available in the $200 range. Below are our best picks among Acoustic-Electric guitars:

Product	Thumbnail	Best Price	Description
Carlo Robelli W4103FCS Acoustic Electric Guitar in Flame Coffee Burst		$150	Excellent Value for Beginners. Flame Maple Top and Mahogany Back. 20-fret Rosewood fingerboard, 20-fret Rosewood fingerboard custom EQ-505R Preamp. Case not included.
Applause by Ovation AE148-RRB Acoustic Electric Guitar		$250	Super Shallow roundback design, multi sound hole, OP-4B Active Preamp.
Yamaha APX500 Acoustic-Electric		$300	System 55T - 3-band equalizer, 1-way piezo pickup. This lowest priced Yamaha APX model is a great value.
Yamaha SLG100S Silent Steel Acoustic Electric Guitar		$560	Maple Body, Mahogany Neck, Rosewood Fretboard, Matte Finish.

Related Posts:

1. Guitars - An introduction to different types.
2. Best Values in Round-hole Steel-strung and Classical Nylon-string Acoustic Guitars.
3. Best Values in Electric and Acoustic-Electric Guitars (this post).

Last Updated: 04/2017.

Printers - Best Values - A Comparative Review

Printers are fast becoming a household name that these days the market is saturated with choices. For a small incremental cost, all-in-one printers with scanning, printing, copying, and in some cases faxing capabilities is a valuable option.

Many households regularly print at home with the majority requiring the flexibility to print in both color and monochrome, ideally with scanning and copying options on the side. They print a sizable amount of color copies (photos, web pages, etc) as well. Inkjet all-in-one photo printers are a great choice for such users –the slightly higher cost per page than with laser printers is justified by the lower cost of the printer and the additional convenience of having both a scanner and copier handy.


Below is a comparison of the best values in this category:

Product	Thumbnail	Best Price	Description
Canon PIXMA MG3620 Wireless All-In-One Color Inkjet		$50	Outstanding Value. Mobile/Tablet functionality. Auto 2-sided. 9.9ppm black and 5.7ppm color.
HP Envy 5660 Wireless All-in-One Photo Printer		$55	Mobile/Tablet functionality. Auto 2-sided. Up to 14ppm black and 9ppm color..
Kodak Verite 55 All-In-One Inkjet Wireless		$75	4800 DPI high resolution printer. 2Up to 20ppm black and 15ppm color. One-touch printing from Apple/Android. Ships with high-capacity color & black toners in the box (worth $50).
Epson XP-830 Wireless Color Photo All-In-One		$100	Fast high-resolution color photo feature. 14 ISO ppm Black and 11 ISO ppm Color. Duplex support. 4.3-inch color touch-screen with gesture. There are six toner cartridges (one black and 5 colors).
Brother  MFC-J680DW Wireless Color All-In-One Printer		$90	Fax support. 2.7 inch color LCD display. Amazon Dash Replenishment. 2-sided. 12ppm Black, 10ppm color printing.

In some households, printers get only intermittent use. Laser printers and LED printers are the practical alternative for such households since it is almost a cinch that with Inkjet printers dried ink will render the print heads useless sooner than later. The problem becomes profound when the intermittent use is spaced further. The pricing on Laser and LED color printers has dived significantly in recent years. For those on a strict budget and with the intention of keeping the on-going costs also down, a prudent decision would be to purchase a monochrome laser printer and avail of the services of a photo lab for color needs.

Below is a comparison of the best values in laser and LED printers:

Product	Thumbnail	Best Price	Description
Brother HL-3170CDW LED Color Printer		$275	17ppm in color or black. Up to 600x2400 dpi resolution. Plain paper print.
Samsung CLP-315W		$185	Outstanding Value! The basic version without wireless can be had for an even cheaper price of around $150. Wireless setup is not intuitive, there is some paper warming & warping in some instance but even with these gripes it is an outstanding value.
HP Color Laserjet CP1215		$139.99	Slower (12ppm & 8ppm for black & color) and lower-resolution (600x600 dpi) for a slightly cheaper price than the Samsung.
Canon MF634Cdw Wireless Color All-In-One Laser Printer		$440	3-year warranty. Fax Support. Upto 19ppm. Single-pass duplex scan. 5-inch color touch.
Okidata 62426904 C3400n (LED)		$230	Color output at 16ppm & black at 20ppm. 1200x600dpi print resolution. No wireless. Designed for high volume.

As frugal consumers, it is no surprise that we chose to go for a laser printer - currently we own a Canon LBP-2900 monochrome printer but have previously owned a Samsung CLP-315 Color Laser Printer. The Samsung color laser was pretty good until the toner ran out - the cost of replacement was prohibitive and the printer reliability and performance went down as well. When replacing, we opted for a monochrome keeping running-costs and our usage pattern in mind - we use color only intermittently and for that a copier shop is a better alternative overall for us.

The best printer we have ever owned was an HP LaserJet 4+ that came gratis with one of our jobs. We held onto it until our relocation – it was still going strong and our neighbor accepted it to replace his old Inkjet printer. The worst printer purchase was made end of 2000 on an HP PSC500xi, an all in one Inkjet from Amazon for $299 – it was not suitable for intermittent use and every time we tried it, the dreaded clogging problem reared its ugly head. It served as a scanner for a while but ultimately was junked. A cheap HP Deskjet purchased a couple of years ago also came close - it never worked reliably...




Last Updated: 04/2017.

First Time Home Buyer – Builder Upgrades vs Upgrading on your own – an analysis

The biggest perk on purchasing a newly constructed home is the opportunity to acquire most upgrades at turnkey. Nearly all home builders offer value added packages that allows the home buyer to choose upgrades at additional cost. The snag though is that a first time home buyer may not be savvy enough to recognize the right upgrades that are the selling points of a house. As a first time home buyer, the tendency is to make a beeline for the standard setup in an attempt to buy the biggest plan affordable. There are many negatives to this approach:

Choosing from the upgrades offered by the builder is almost always cost-efficient compared to improving after handover – improvements after the house is tendered essentially translates to

• Junking the standard offering thereby losing the entire value of the item,
• Scoping the work involved,
• Ironing out the permits required if any,
• Labor costs associated with dismantling, cleanup, and re-installation,
• Increasing carbon footprint.
• Having to finance the improvement. When you choose upgrades from the builder, the cost gets added to the mortgage - this is a boon for many a cash strapped first time home buyer.
  

It is not everyone’s cup of tea to handle home improvements while occupying the same house as it inevitably involves

• Personnel inside the house for a prolonged period of time.
• Dust is a given and could be a deterrent for those with health problems.

Other problems with upgrading after handover include:

• Renting while upgrading is a significant additional cost.
• Some options such as adding recessed lighting where crawl space is limited could prove prohibitively expensive after handover as significant labor is involved to work around the limitations.
• Even for peripheral items such as the garage, yard, and window furnishings involve hassles that can be bypassed by going with builder options.

We became a first time home buyer when we purchased a new home in Alameda in 2003. It had about 30K worth of upgrades. We realized almost immediately our upgrades were conservative at best: we should have added recessed lighting throughout, upgraded the stairways and the upstairs carpet to name a few. Ultimately, we decided to largely live with what we got, except for doing the yard and window dressings. When the house was in the market in early 2004, a similar house with nary an upgrade was also listed – we were pleased when our house sold first at a significant premium over the other house, thereby justifying the value of the upgrades.

Not everyone is on the quest for a brand new home and the condition of the houses generally reflects the market sentiment. In a buyer’s market, the owners usually do a makeover for the listing to standout and attract the interest of the buyer. In a seller’s market, seller motivation is non-existent and the houses sorely reflect that. Even homes cited as “ready-to-move-in” might require significant time and effort before it becomes “livable”, as personal tastes are unique and can be all over the map.

Related Posts:

• First Time Home Buyer - Builder Upgrades vs Upgrading on Your Own - An Analysis.
• Home Improvement - Our Experience.
• Mortgage Refinancing - Our Experience.
• Home Maintenance Schedule - A Primer with a Focus on Costs.
• Flipping Houses in the Bay Area - An Experience.
• Bay Area Home Buying - A Bubble Period Experience.
• Home Ownership Experience in the Bay Area - Lessons Learned.

Last Updated: 03/2012.

Best Values in Unlocked GSM Cellphones - A Comparative Review

Unlocked cellphones are the standard in many parts of the world. In the US, the major service providers use a subscription revenue model that relies on heavily discounting the upfront cost of a cellphone and making it up by tying customers to a long-term contract (2 years or more) that assures a steady stream of monthly revenue. To prevent customers from using the phone with a competitor’s service, they lock such phones. For consumers, there are several disadvantages to this approach including the fact that one has to jump through hoops to use it outside the country. For this reason, unlocked cellphones are a popular choice among a small segment of the population.

Service providers have prepaid options that allow these phones to be used with AT&T, Verizon, and other service provider networks. Unlocked GSM cellphones are a popular choice because they can be used outside the US more easily – use a SIM card from the local provider. These work with GSM providers in the US such as AT&T and T-Mobile. It will not work on CDMA providers such as Verizon, Alltel, and Sprint.

For a best-value comparison, we used the spreadsheet below sorted in ascending order by price:

Model	Thumbnail	Price	Features	Comments
Motorola Motofone F3		22.99	Dual-band GSM – will work in USA but not in Europe and Asia. Ink Display – easy to read even on direct sunlight, GPRS, 250 contacts, clock, alarm, 4.5 hour battery. 3.8 x 2 x 0.8 inches ; 4.3 ounces	Excellent Value. Consider quad-band GSM cellphones, if you plan to travel outside the US frequently. The same model sold in Europe and Asia also has dual-band but covers the other two frequencies used there (900/1800) instead of the two (850/1900) used here.
Motorola V195		$50	Quad-band GSM – will work globally. Classic clam-shell design in the legendary v300 style, GPRS, dual-LCD, polyphonic ringtones, Bluetooth – hands-free calling, SMS/MMS, 10MB memory (not expandable), 8-hour battery, 1.8 x 0.9 x 3.6 inches, 4.4 ounces	Excellent Value for global use. Close-out pricing may be available on the V191, the older model.
Motorola SLVR l6i		$139.99	Quad-band GSM – will work globally. GPRS/Edge Data, FM Radio, Camera, Bluetooth – hands-free calling, Speakerphone, Polyphonic ringtones, mp3 ringers, SMS/MMS, 10MB memory (not expandable), 5.8-hour battery, 4.33 x 1.93 x 0.41 inches, 2.82 ounces	Rip-off.
Nokia 5030 XpressRadio		$79.75	Quad-band GSM (850/1800/1900) – will work globally – one of the most popular models in the Asian market – Nokia OS, 4.3 x 1.8 x 0.6 inches; 2.9 ounces	Excellent Value.
Nokia 5300 XpressMusic		$89.75	Tri-band GSM (850/1800/1900) – will not work globally – older networks in many parts of the world use the 900-band were it won't work. MicroSD Slot (2GB Max), MP3 player, Camera, Bluetooth, Java Games and Apps – Nokia OS, 6 x 9 x 12 inches; 3.6 ounces	Good Value, if you need a single-device to handle phone, music, and camera needs.
Samsung Blackjack i607		$119.99	Windows Mobile Smartphone with QWERTY keyboard, 3G – UMTS/HSPDA, Quad-Band GSM – works globally, Camera, MicroSD Card Slot, 5-hour battery, 4.45 x 2.32 x .46 inches. Weight: 3.5 ounces.	Excellent Value for a 3G phone. Lacks Wi-Fi, but users on a 3G data plan won’t need it. No touch screen but the below $100 pricing is outstanding for a smart phone with the full feature set.
Motorola SLVR l9		$289.99	Features of Motorola SLVR l6i PLUS better camera, FM Radio, Expandable Memory, digital/video player, noise cancellation, 6.7-hour battery, 4 4.4 x 1.9 x 0.4 inches; 3.4 ounces	Rip-off.
LG KP500		$99.99	Features of Motorola SLVR l9 PLUS 3-inch touchscreen, better camera and camcorder, Bluetooth Stereo Music, 8GB MicrosSD exapansion slot, 3.5 hour battery, 0.5 x 2.2 x 4.2 inches ; 3.2 ounces	Excellent Value. The pricing is outstanding. So, go for it!
Nokia X3 Slider		$139.99	Features of LG KP500 PLUS 24 hours of music playtime, direct access with camera key, over the air software updates, up to 7.5 hours talk time, 3.78" x 1.94" x 0.56", 3.63 oz	Good Value.
Nokia E63-2		$169.99	Features of Motorola SLVR l9 PLUS Wi-Fi, 3G (UMTS), Access to corporate/personal email; QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth Stereo Music, Better Camera and Camcorder, Media Player, MicroSD Slot (upto 16GB), Text to speech, IEEE 802.11g wireless, Symbian OS 9.2 – Java Apps, Email – POP3, SMTP, IMAP4, GPRS/EDGE – Class 32, WAP 2.0, 10.5 hour battery, 2.3 x 0.5 x 4.4 inches; 4.4 ounces	Excellent Value for global business use.
Nokia 5530 XpressMusic Tourchscreen		$189	Features of Nokia E63-2 PLUS Touchscreen Display, one-year unlimited music download, Better Camera, newer development platform, TV output, lighter MINUS 3G capability, slightly lesser talktime (battery).	Good entertainment oriented phone.
Nokia 5800 XpressMusic Tourchscreen		$219.99	Features of Nokia 5530 PLUS 3.5G, Integrated GPS, Geo-tagging, Accelerometer Sensor, Better Battery.	Excellent value for entertainment oriented phone with touchscreen Wi-Fi and integrated GPS. Also, the one-year unlimited music access is unique to Nokia's "Comes With Music" Edition phones.
Nokia E71		$227.54	Features of Nokia E63-2 PLUS GPS, Metal Casing, Better Camera, and 3.5G Network (HSDPA).	Good alternative to E63-2, if you need GPS.
Blackberry Curve 8900		$319.99	Features of Motorola SLVR l9 PLUS Wi-Fi, GPS using Blackberry Maps, Trackball Navigation, Access to corporate/personal email; QWERTY keyboard, Bluetooth Stereo Music, Better Camera and Camcorder, Media Player, MicroSD Slot (upto 16GB), Text to speech, IEEE 802.11g wireless, Blackberry OS–Apps, SMS/MMS/Email/IM, GPRS/EDGE – Class 10, WAP, 5.5 hour battery, 4.3 x 2.4 x 0.5 inches; 3.9 ounces	Expensive but is a standard among business users.
Nokia N97 Mini		$369.99	Features of Nokia E71 PLUS Wi-Fi, Resistive Touch Screen, 3G (HSDPA), Storage – 8GB Internal , expandable to 16GB through external MicroSD slot, 5MP Camera, Geo-tagging, Symbian OS v9.4 – Java Apps, A-GPS with Nokia Maps, FM Visual Radio, N-gage, 4.2 x 2.2 x 0.6 inches, 5.29 ounces.	Good alternative to iPhone with no contract!
Nokia N900 Mobile Computer Smartphone		$399.99	Features of Nokia N97 Mini PLUS Maemo 5 Linux Based OS, 32GB storage, 1GB Memory,Fast Multitasking, Full QWERTY keyboard, 4.4 x 2.3 x 0.7 inches, 6.38 ounces.	Excellent alternative to iPhone with no contract!

Summary:

There are plenty of choices in the unlocked GSM phone market. A basic phone that can be used globally can be had for around $50. On the other end of the spectrum is smartphones like the Nokia N900 that pack a large number of features along with touch-screen, apps, and GPS functionality for a premium price. We chose Nokia E63-2 during this holiday season – our requirements were for a smartphone that could be used globally for a reasonable price and this Nokia fit the bill nicely. For consumers who want an unlocked Apple iPhone, buy.com has those but the pricing is steep at about one grand. HTC Nexus One by Google is the newest entrant in the market – it has a nice feature set that should give the high-end products a run for their money in the coming months.





Last Updated: 08/2010.