The nice thing about marching into a store, of course, is that you can see and handle the cameras. You may even be able to find a salesperson who knows what he's talking about. (It's been known to happen.)
But shopping online can save a ton of money. Price-comparison sites like PriceGrabber.com and Shopping.com make that point painfully clear. You'll plug in some camera's model number and discover that mail-order Web shops are selling the exact same camera for anywhere from $210 to $430.
Unfortunately, some of the shadier Web shops game the system. They advertise a camera at a price that's lower than anyone else'sâlower, in fact, than the camera cost themâand then, after you've placed your order, they call you up and say: "Would you like a battery with that? It's $40 more." Sleazy, man.
So when you shop online, pay attention to the ratings other people have given the shops. At Shopping.com, for example, buy your camera from the store with the Smart Buy logo. It identifies the lowest price from a store that has high customer-satisfaction ratings.
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