If It Prints, I'll Let You Know

We have done quite a number of posts about the ongoing court – and ad – battle between AT&T and Verizon, and we now bring you the latest installment to the “drama”.

Judge Timothy Batten has denied the request for a temporary restraining order filed by AT&T to temporarily stop Verizon ads form getting air time. The denial was given through an oral statement during the hearing in the Federal District Court for Northern Georgia in Atlanta that lasted for nearly two hours.

Since AT&T first filed suit against Verizon on November 3, more people seem to have become interested in the ads and what they meant to consumers. In addition, Verizon got busy and managed to churn out three more TV ads with a Christmas-y feel. This is on top of the first ad that earned the ire of AT&T as well as the one where an iPhone was “banished” to an “Island of Misfit Toys,” which we also featured in a previous post. There are now a total of five TV ads that revolve around the issue of 3G coverage, along with associated radio and print advertising.

One of the points that AT&T tried to make was that the ads brought about “confusion” about AT&T’s coverage in general, at least based on a study that they had reportedly commissioned. The results of that survey reportedly showed that the viewers who saw the original Verizon ads thought that the maps were referring to network coverage in general and not just 3G coverage in particular.

The full lawsuit is still in court and a preliminary hearing has been set for December 16.

Last week, Printer Geek shared that HP did a bit of updating to its Photosmart printer line, and mentioned the HP Photosmart A646.  This compact printer comes with Wi-Fi and a touch screen, as well as the added convenience of direct to camera connection via Bluetooth technology.

This time, we are sharing with you more information that we got about the HP Photosmart A646. With the holiday shopping season literally just around the corner, this may just be something that is worth adding to your list, either as something to wish for or something to light up someone’s Christmas with.

When considering printer features, the HP Photosmart A646 may have a lot to offer for the price that you have to fork over for it. The versatility, however, seems to come with a price, as most reviews have found that the model falls a little short as far as speed, print quality and ink costs are concerned.

Among the features that the review found impressive was the printer’s ability to accommodate more than just the usual 4×6 media; in addition, the printer can print on 4×12 (panoramic view) and on 5×7 photo paper. Being a photo printer, the ability to print directly from memory cards is important, and the A646 is equipped with media slots that can read from a Memory Stick, an SD Card and an XD-Picture Card. That being said, the machine also comes equipped with a PictBridge port – certainly a must-have for any printer being marketed as a photo printer; then, of course, there is the already-mentioned Bluetooth capability.

Also present is a 3.45-inch color touchscreen LCD.

Running out of ink on your printer is probably one of the computer user’s most dreaded things, especially if in the process of printing something important. While it seems easy enough to go out and buy an ink cartridge, it’s not as appealing when you find yourself strapped for cash. Those with a limited budget may find themselves buying a compatible ink cartridge, which is far cheaper than their OEM counterparts, but what do you do if your printer doesn’t recognize the compatible cartridge? Was your money ill-spent?

You can try checking your cartridge’s ink first. Is it really incompatible with your printer? Printers today are programmed to accept only certain kinds of ink, which are often specifically made only for one printer type. Factors such as ink viscosity and thickness can affect the way it flows down the printer’s nozzles, and using the wrong ink type can damage your printer.

Also anticipate the possibility that your cartridge might not have the exact ink type for your printer. Clean the printer heads before you install the cartridge, as this can improve the chances of your printer accepting the compatible ink cartridge. Clogged printer heads can be a problem, especially if the printer has been sitting idle for quite a long time. Dried ink can lead to problems later on, and even if you have full ink in your cartridge, it will not flow down to the paper because of the clog.

There are also instructions on how to best install your ink cartridge. Make sure that you follow them exactly as prescribed, since doing so greatly increases the probability that your printer may accept the compatible cartridge.

One generally does not have the time – probably, nor the energy – to go store-hopping on Black Friday. Everyone will have stores on their priority list, depending on the kind of deals and stuff that they would like to enjoy and purchase. In our case, we usually go to two stores on Black Friday — Best Buy and Wal-Mart, in that order.

And as far as doing one’s Black Friday homework goes, we find one site helpful — Black-Friday.net. And for those who intend to troop to the nearest Best Buy or Wal-Mart, here are some of the deals that we will most probably be going for:

Wal-Mart has a huge array of goodies, and you may laugh at us but one of the bins we usually make a beeline for are the DVDs. Prices range from $2 for titles such as Blood Diamond, Casino Royale and I am Legend; $5 for Kung Fu Panda, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and The Dark Knight; and $9 for Marley and Me, GI Joe and 17 Again. Some Titles, such as Braveheart, Gladiator and Harry Potter And The Half-Blood Prince are available in Blu-ray for $10.

Wal-Mart will also have sales on home items and apparel, as well as electronics. There is an HP 15.6” Notebook with Intel Processor, 3GB Memory and 250GB hard drive for $298, a Sony Cyber-Shot 10 MP camera digital camera for $79, an Apple 8GB iPod Touch with a $50 iTunes GC for $195, and a 46” Sony Bravia HDTV for $798.

Best Buy’s deals will reportedly include a 13.3” Macbook with 2.26GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB DDR3 Memory, 250GB Hard Drive and a $150 GC for $999, a Canon EOS Rebel T1iD-SLR Camera for $699, the 8GB iPod 5th generation Nano for $159.97 and the Epson Stylus NX110 MFP for $24.99. Smallville fans can also purchase DVD sets of the show from seasons 1 through 8 for $9.99 per set.

Since early this week, we have been reading about an excited frenzy over big, big discounts from the one company that rarely gives them out – Apple. Something inside just clicked and said — well, this thing looks too good to be true; and experience tells us that when something is that good, then it most probably is just a figment of someone’s imagination, or wishful thinking gone wild.

So, what kind of discounts were we supposed to look forward to from Apple? The discounts will reportedly be available on “Select Apple Stores” – no mention of the online store – starting at 6 in the morning on November 27th only. Consumers can look forward to “up to” 30% off on ALL iPods, 25% off on ALL Macs and 15% of on ALL accessories, Apple software and Apple hardware.

We would have been okay with the “up to,” which means there will probably be a great deal or two on models that people do not really go for all that often, and then 4 to 5 percent off – or even less – on the more popular stuff. But to say that discounts will be given across the board? It will always be on selected models – it always has been; we just don’t think that any company can afford to offer discounts across the board.

And we cannot help but wonder whether Apple stores are prepared to handle an even bigger-than-expected influx of consumers come November 27 if these rumors are, indeed, true; this is considering they run out of regularly-priced items.

We have not seen a feature that absolutely discredits the rumors, nor has any official statement from Apple stores been released as of this writing. If anyone has information about that, we would certainly appreciate a shout-out or a link. For the moment, though, we will personally dismiss these rumors as something not worth watching out for; what about you?