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Sure you can set off fireworks in October, but they’re certainly a lot more fun in July. I guess that’s kinda how I feel about the Mac-PC conversation.  It will be interesting to see what happens during the holidays, but it would have been outright fun to stand back and watch a “back to school” fight for market share… but alas…. It’s October so here we go.

Even with the new Windows 7 OS, the big advantage for PC-makers this holiday season will remain its low price point. This season, retail sales are expected to again drop slightly (see Business Week article), and even with sleekly designed iMacs, Apple really does not have a Macbook that fits into the holiday shopping budget of most families. Meanwhile, Netbooks are coming out in the $300’s. With many used laptop garnering $150+ in trade in through services like ours, Netbooks will become an affordable holiday gift for many families.

Still Apple enters the holidays with many advantages. PC makers can and will roll out new models, but Apple will remain the most coveted product on the block. Apple’s four-month-old Snow Leopard OS has better security than W7. There’s that lingering Vista debacle… and while W7 is improved, it’s taking a lot of slack for being difficult to upgrade (you have to back up your files, then reformat your PC, and then reinstalling all of your old programs, assuming you still have the CDs).

Microsoft’s answer?

“For the vast majority of people that get Windows 7, most will move to new hardware,” says Parri Munsell, Microsoft’s director for consumer product management.

Point? It doesn’t need to be easy to install because nobody is going to install it. Could that actually be true? Can PC makers expect that the vast majority of consumers who want W7 will go out and purchase a new computer?

I think so. Netbooks with flashy new features including touch screens will make up ground against Macs cool factor, and as I said considering lower price point for most PC laptops, they’ll win hands down. Windows 7 is looking like an enhanced OS that will inspire consumers to upgrade and I think even start to heal the wounds created by Vista. When Vista launched fewer than 20% of Windows users upgraded. I think this time around Microsoft can expect 50% or higher. Note: This fact does not give MS forgiveness for not stealing the “keep it simple” page from Apple’s playbook. Yes, the majority will not install the OS themselves…. But what about the minority that will?

Gazelle is a great barometer for how product introductions will fair in the market. Consider the new iPhone for example. When it came out, many people looked to trade in their used ones either immediately before or after the launch of the 3GS so they could get maximum value for their phone. We literally got flooded with thousands of phones within weeks of launch. So far laptops and desktops are showing similar pick up. Looking back 45 days, we’ve seen a 30%+ jump in computer trade-ins compared to the previous 45 days. And so far this week, PCs make up 4 of the top 5 products being traded in on gazelle.com.

The Mac-PC battle continues. And coming off Apple record profits, this holiday season promises to be interesting.

Based on feedback and a few questions, I decided to do another back-to-school post with a few tips about graphing calculators.

Depending on the students grade level a calculator can be a big a purchase. Most students, by the time they reach high school, will need a graphing calculator.

o Unless your high school student becomes a mathematics major, a good graphing calculator should last a student well through college.

o Talk to the teacher and find out what features are needed. Graphing calculators start around $100, but go up based on features and capabilities.

• If you don’t expect to need the calculator beyond geometry, trigonometry and the ACT/SAT, consider a basic option such as the Texas Insturment-83 Plus, which starts around $100.

• For more memory and a calculator that will survive calculus courses, try the TI-84 Plus Silver Edition.

• If you have a high school student, make sure the calculator you purchase can be used during ACT/SAT testing- otherwise you’ll be headed back to the store for another big purchase.

• Before you shell out cash make sure to check with your local school to see if they can be rented or purchased at group discounts.

• You can also consider purchasing a used item on eBay since the price of calculators’ drops significantly in the secondary market.  Check out our eBay store for high quality used items.

• Want more info? Check out this site for top questions you should ask when buying a graphing calculator.

I have a daughter who’s just starting preschool- and I can’t believe how a 1st day outfit, new backpack, markers and crayons are adding up to a real household expense.  It got me thinking about parents of older students who also have to think about expensive technology purchases… beyond the great Fisher Price laptop of course…

Everyday I work in the business of extending the life of consumer electronics. Typically this comes in the form of encouraging reuse by enabling consumers to trade in used electronics for cash and then we help the items get adopted into new homes. But today, I started thinking about how I could take this same principle and pass on some things we’ve learned about extending the life of electronics in your own home, while sharing some thoughts about smart buys and about when it might not be the smartest idea to rush out and buy the latest and greatest laptop.

A laptop is probably the biggest technology purchases parents make for their students during this time of year. When it comes to laptops- here’s what you should know:

•    Laptops should last up to 3-4 years so plan to buy one at the start of high school and again at the start of college. •    Maintaining your laptop is critical to having it perform smoothly. Performing software updates, keeping antivirus updated, and minor system upgrades will insure you get the most from your purchase. •    Students shouldn’t be early adaptors. When it comes to laptops, you don’t need to be the first one on the block to have the new operating systems so don’t rush out to be the first to buy Windows 7 for high school or college.

•    If you have an older laptop, consider small upgrades vs. buying a whole new one.

• Add more RAM. RAM has considerably dropped in price over the years and on most laptops. Adding RAM is as simple as swapping out the old for the new. You first want to check what type of RAM your system handles, and then the maximum amount of RAM that can be added. Shop around and find the best price, then maximize your systems RAM capability.
• Bigger Faster Hard Drive: Now that Solid State Drives have come into the picture, prices on standard hard drives have been dropping. A nice upgrade to an older system is a new bigger and faster hard drive. Most older systems probably have 5400 rpm drives with a size of around 80-120gb. For around $60 you can purchase a 500gb 72000rpm drive to dramatically improve your system. If you want an even faster system try installing a Solid State Drive, you will get better performance but at a higher cost. Make sure you check out Apricorn’s ADW-USB KIT ($30) to move your old hard drive data to your new drive quickly and easily.
• High Capacity battery: over time batteries just tend to wear out. Purchasing a new battery that has a higher capacity can bring new life to your laptop. You can find generic batteries on eBay that can save you 50-60% from what the manufacturer price.
• Clean out your System: Most older laptops probably have a ton of unused files. Try going through your installed programs (in control panel) and removing everything you don’t use. Also look for the useless software (crapware) that ships with a lot of new systems. De-fragmenting your hard drive is also another way to speed up your system. De-fragmenting your hard drive basically organizes all your files and puts your drive back in order (like re-organizing your closet)

Many electronics, including laptops maintain between 10-30% of their value even after a few years of use- so when you’re done with your item remember to trade it in and recoup some of the expense. Part of pricing is based on the condition of your item so investing in a good case and taking good care of your technology purchases really does pay off in the end.

Remember the year 2000? When the PlayStation 2 came onto the scene and blew our Sega Dreamcasts out of the water? What about 2005, when Microsoft released the Xbox 360 and ushered in a new generation of game consoles, thus starting the latest round of console wars.

The only thing gaming fans love more than games is to argue about which system is superior. . .

“The Xbox 360 rules!”

“No, the PS3 is so much better!”

“Xbox!”

“PS3!”

“Aren’t you two forgetting the Wii?”

. . .(sound familiar?)  But the numbers never lie.

For Sixth Generation consoles (PS2, Xbox, Gamecube), Sony blows the others out of the water, with almost 140 million consoles sold.  Microsoft’s Xbox had 24 million by late 2007, and, despite the lack of recent sales data, still probably trails Sony by more than 100 million consoles. The GameCube clocks in at a lowly 22 million (as of last summer).

The tides turned, however, with the Seventh Generation of gaming consoles. To date, the Nintendo Wii has sold more than 50 million, the Xbox 360 more than 30 million, and the PS3 almost 23 million.

But even though these sales figures are great indicators of a console’s performance on a global scale, they do not necessarily reflect a gaming system’s worth to individuals. Resale values are much more important to users. Just take a look at these numbers:

As you can see from the above price trend, a perfect 20 GB Xbox 360 is worth a cool $70.

A perfect Wii can be sold for $108.

And a 20 GB PS3 in perfect condition is $119 in your pocket.

Considering that the 360’s original price was $399, the Wii’s was $249.99, and the PS3’s was $499.99, it looks like the Wii has won this round of the gaming wars. But we could have predicted this outcome—without even knowing Nintendo’s massive sales number.

Look at the trends: the average Gazelle offer price for the Wii has stayed remarkably constant, falling only $21 since last October. The PS3 and Xbox 360, on the other hand, have each lost $49 in value. Clearly, time is a gamer’s enemy when it comes to selling those old systems.

Today I got the opportunity to speak with Geoffrey Fowler, a reporter for the Wall St. Journal, about our new partnership with Costco. Post here in WSJ’s Digits blog. I enjoyed the conversation so much that I jotted down a few notes and got to thinking about how life-changing it will be when retailers all follow Costco’s lead, and we all begin to consume electronics (and other products) in an entirely new way.

Our partnership with Costco is starting online at Costco.com, where Costco members can trade in more than 30,000 different electronics from more than 20 categories.  At www.costco.gazelle.com, Costco members get offers on their items and then trade them in for Costco cash. As additional incentive, they get a 2.5% bonus. In just the 10 or so days since launch, we have already had more than 1,500 transactions; I guess that number alone makes it the most successful electronic trade-in program by a retailer to date.

We’re certainly not the first to try trade-in and recycle programs with retailers, but I expect this is the first one that will actually work. Costco’s commitment to the program is driving its early success. With the full support of Costco’s ecommerce team and complete marketing strategy, millions of Costco members are already aware of the service and able to take advantage of it. And there’s a plan in place to continue to drive awareness and utilization.

Like I said in the Journal, we’re turning used cell phones, laptops, MP3 players, etc. into next week’s groceries. And this program is just the beginning. Imagine a world where we buy electronics in a whole new way. Imagine always trading in the old for the new, caring about the depreciation of laptops and smart phones, and simple, easy and reliable ways to recycle. Imagine… no more e-Waste.

To be clear, this is not a recycling program. Recycling is an add-on service at Gazelle, we don’t make money on it and we’re not in the recycling business (about 10% of items that come to Gazelle are recycled). We provide it as a pure service to our customers, allowing us to partner with only the best domestic recyclers. This is about changing behavior – about changing consumption. Soon you’ll buy everything from TVs to camcorders the same way you buy cars. You’ll care about the depreciation value and the ‘gas mileage’ of your electronics; you’ll only own electronics you actually use; you’ll trade in (reCommerce) electronics you’re done using to offset the purchase of new technology; and when electronics reach their true end of life, you’ll be able to simply recycle them and know it’s done safely.

Costco has taken the lead with this first step. Now let’s see who will be next to join the reCommerce revolution!

Mr. iPhone, where did you go?  Down another notch to #8, an all-time low!  RAZRs and Blackberries everywhere.  I suspect we’ll see iPhones back on top when the new one comes out later this summer (if that happens!)

1. Motorola RAZR V3m
2. Motorola RAZR V3
3. Blackberry RIM 7100i
4. Blackberry RIM 7290
5. Blackberry RIM Curve 8330
6. Samsung Instinct SPH-M800
7. Blackberry RIM Curve 8310
8. Apple iPhone 8GB
9. LG VX9700 DARE
10. Blackberry RIM Storm 9530

In non-cell phone news, Dell reigns supreme as usual.  And the TI calculator is hanging tough!

1. Dell Laptops
2. Compaq Laptops
3. Toshiba Laptops
4. HP Laptops
5. Dell Axim X3 Pocket PC
6. Acer Laptops
7. Apple iPod Classic 5th Generation 30GB
8. Gateway Laptops
9. Texas Instruments TI-83 Plus Graphing Calculator
10. Apple iPod Mini 1st Generation 4GB

Taking a look at the crowd at Chicago’s GreenFest it’s clear that “going green” is going mainstream. The Festival expects to attract between 30,000 and 40,000 people and the busy show included high school kids, families, leaders of NPOs,, tourists, and just everyday consumers looking to see the latest and greatest.

I’ll be honest that I spent most of my free time perusing sections that were handing out free chocolate…. Or other sweets, my favorite being Really Raw Honey, which I bought a oversized jar of to bring back home to Gazelle. I also spent sometime talking to the Director of Marketing at EcoScene- a service dedicated to informing consumers to make smarter purchasing decisions by rating green products. And I learned that you can heat your water purely with solar power…. Even during a Chicago winter.

So far it’s been a great day with thousands of people coming by to learn about Gazelle- a special thanks to customers who stopped by to say “Hi” it was awesome to meet you and we hope to see you again soon.

The iPhone hit the lowest spot we’ve ever seen at #7!  Not as many people trading them in right now, we bet it’s that most people are waiting for the June or July release to trade-in.

1. Motorola RAZR V3m
2. Blackberry RIM Pearl 8100
3. Motorola RAZR V3
4. Sanyo Katana II SCP-6650
5. Blackberry RIM Curve 8330
6. Motorola Razr V3c
7. Apple iPhone 8GB
8. Blackberry RIM Curve 8310
9. Samsung Instinct SPH-M800
10. LG Chocolate VX8500

In non-cell phone news, Laptops dominate again.  But kudos to the TI-83 graphing calculator, which made it into the top 10 despite being one of our newest categories!

1. Dell Laptops
2. Toshiba Laptops
3. IBM Laptops
4. Sony Laptops
5. Compaq Laptops
6. HP Laptops
7. Acer Laptops
8. Microsoft Zune 30GB Digital Multimedia Device
9. Palm TX Handheld
10. Texas Instruments TI-83 Plus Graphing Calculator

The temperature here in Boston is finally rising, and along with it is the Motorola Razr V3M, which topped the reCommerce Hot List this week.  Unseating the iPhone, which fell to 3rd,the V3M was joined in the top 5 by it’s cheaper counterpart the V3.  The rest of the top 10 was filled in by the usual suspects, Blackberries, iPhone, the Q etc.:

1. Motorola RAZR V3m
2. Blackberry RIM 8830 World Edition
3. Apple iPhone 8GB
4. Motorola RAZR V3
5. Blackberry RIM Pearl 8100
6. Samsung Instinct SPH-M800
7. Blackberry RIM Curve 8330
8. Motorola Q
9. Blackberry RIM 8800
10. Blackberry RIM Curve 8310

In non-cell phone news, laptop volume has really picked up recently, as people are realizing how much value their laptops still have.  Dell was the runaway hot item of the week, followed by 7 other laptops.  The only non-laptops in the top 10 were a PDA and 2 gaming systems:

1. Dell Laptops
2. Toshiba Laptops
3. HP Laptops
4. Sony Laptops
5. Compaq Laptops
6. Gateway Laptops
7. IBM Laptops
8. Palm TX Handheld
9. Nintendo DS Lite Console
10. Sony PSP PlayStation Portable

Tune in next time as we will probably have to split out laptops into its own hot list!

There’s a new feature on the site that we’re pretty excited about - the Recycler Network.   While we are always champions of reuse as the first option, there are items that simply do have any life left in them and must be recycled in an environmentally sound manner.  We often get requests to take printers, older monitors, and other items.  One challenge here is not to compound the  environmental problem. Shipping e-waste across the country to a responsible recycler keeps e-waste out of the landfill, but how much fuel do we use and how much CO2 are we expelling in the process?  Not to mention the hassle of shipping bulky items.

To help address this, we wanted to create a more localized option to help people recycle without the hassles of shipping.  If you have an item that isn’t in a category we support, such as a big old CRT monitor, or a fax machine, you can search our network and find a local recycling location that will accept it.  Everyone in this network has met our standard as a responsible recycler.

So what defines a responsible recycler? We break it down into 4 basic sets of criteria:

1. A no export policy with regard to the whole unit (unprocessed) recyclable e-waste material to any developing or non-OECD countries.
2. A no landfill policy to prevent any and all e-waste from entering solid waste landfills.
3. No use of prison labor as defined in the Basel Action Network’s Pledge of True Stewardship.
4. Data security policy. Any and all products that contain media containing devices (such as hard drives or flash memory) must be wiped free and clean of any and all personal data prior to destruction.

So if you have electronics to recycle that we aren’t taking online, find a location near you that will.   We’re also working to grow the network, so if you know a recycler, please suggest they join our network.

It’s all a part of the reCommerce revolution.