Holiday Shopping
Matt Seinberg

I’m not a big believer in shopping at stores on Black Friday. If I can get a good deal on line, I’m all over it. This year Melissa wanted an Apple iTouch just like Michelle and I have. Melissa had a $75 gift card for Amazon. Thus, I was hoping that they would put the 4th generation version on sale, as did Apple, for $228.

I checked in the morning, but the price hadn’t changed from $249. I checked while I was at work, and still no change. When I got home, Amazon finally matched the Apple price. I placed the order: crisis averted.

Melissa was always bugging Michelle to borrow her Apple iTouch; sometimes she wanted to use mine. It was such a pain; it was easier to let her have her own. Now she just stays in her room and plays games on it. That’s one way to keep her quiet, I suppose.

Back in October, I got an email from Groupon, selling a factory refurbished Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Two for $289. At the time, that was $60 less than any other store was offering. Being the deal-minded shopper, I purchased it. Luckily, it showed up on one of my days off. I also ordered a combination leather case and keyboard for it from E-bay, which also showed up on my day off. No one in the house had any clue of what I was doing.

I like to buy one big family gift and present it on the last night of Hanukkah. I did that a few years ago with the Nintendo Wii, and that was a big hit. I thought that this would be an exciting present since everyone wanted an iPad.

I bought the Samsung over the Apple simply because of money. The iPad was twice as much as the Galaxy. I just couldn’t justify spending that much money. Many game apps are free at the Google Play store, but Apple charges for much the same apps. That’s a nice savings right there.

The kids wanted to play with it today and when I got home, I asked how they liked it. They didn’t. I wasn’t surprised because I told them not to download anything. Once there are games and stuff on it, they will have a much better time with it.

If one kid is on the laptop and the other one has to look something up, having the Samsung will make life easier. I know that surfing the internet on the small iTouch is not easy, especially if I have to read something small. Hey, I’ve worn glasses since I was a kid and our eyes only get worse as we get older. A bigger screen is much easier to read.

I see how people get when they shop during the holiday season, and it’s not always pleasant. I do my part and stay out of their way. All I ask is that they stay out of mine, and we’ll all be happy.

If you want to shop from home, get comfortable, put on your sweats, get a cup of coffee and start typing away.