Deals Report

One score and one miss.

I will start with miss first.   I know that some of you are likely looking for a quality laptop this year.  You know how I rave about the Lenovo Thinkpad (IBM’s old line) and the Dell Latitude systems.  In fact they are better than the current crop of Mac Books.   For what seemed like this weekend only, Lenovo was offering an unbelievable $629 price on a fully decked out Thinkpad T480. It was brand new, even though the T480 was the 2018 model.  I wish I could have gotten this information out to you sooner but I just wasn’t able to.  By Monday morning, the price had jumped back to $2029.   This 14 inch laptop is every bit as high quality as a 13 / 15 inch Mac Book Pro and in my opinion better. 

I am pleased to report that I was successful in helping a client save big money on their Comcast bill.  I was able to get them an annualized savings of $576, with monthly pricing going from $268 to $220.  The name of the Comcast package was called Select Triple Play.  The particulars that influenced this deal included a phone modem rented from Comcast ($14 – 15 approx.)  2 cable boxes, and HD service was included in the deal.  The Select Triple Play includes the Digital Preferred cable TV package, one level higher than the “standard” TV package, and Blast internet (300 mbps).   This deal is apparently an everyday price, no strings had to be pulled and no arms had to be twisted.  Fees can go up in the future, as always.   Please see my last update.   In this scenario, the client could save the modem rental charge by buying their own telephone capable modem (approx $200) but it would take about 1.5 years for the cost savings to equal out.  Given that this particular client’s house is known for lightning strikes and modems have been replaced in the past — renting is likely the best option. 

If you are wondering about the Standard Triple Play, pricing will be a little less.   If you can get a promotion guaranteed for 12 or 24 months, pricing will be even lower but you will have to sign a contract on those promos.   What I can say is this, if you are getting all 3 services from Comcast not including any extra packages – $175 to $225 is very normal these days.  As with the computers, promotional packages can be here one week and gone the next. 

Preview:  Cell Phone Market is Changing

I am going to get into this more in a future update.  However, I see the cell phone market changing a lot as we move to the end of 2020 and beyond.  Old networks are being shut down and the carriers are going to rely exclusively on advanced networks like LTE and 5G.  There have been a ton of layoffs and I think this has put a lot of strain on delivering positive customer experiences.  

Based on personal experiences and helping clients, I would say my ranking of best providers in terms of customer service are

1. Consumer Cellular (ATT Network)

2. T-Mobile

3. Xfinity Mobile (there will be some changes coming Feb 1, however)

4. Verizon

*Verizon has really fallen in my opinion.   I also don’t have a lot of data to go off of with ATT directly, that is why I did not mention them.  A provider can have great service on technical merits, but I think what my typical client (age 60+) cares so much about is the level of customer care provided.  No one wants to wait on the phone for 2 or 3 hours to be heard. 

Technically yours,