Wal-Mart hopes laptops boost back-to-school sales

A move by Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to offer more and lower-priced laptops could give it an edge over key rival Best Buy Co. in the struggle for back-to-school electronics business.

The world’s largest retailer announced Thursday that it was increasing its assortment of affordable laptop computers – some in limited supply – with the aim of becoming a computer destination for college and high school students. A key offering to be available starting Sunday is a $298 notebook from Hewlett-Packard Co. with 3 gigabytes of memory and a 160-gigabyte of hard drive.

News Tribune news services

Electronics spending spree catches Best Buy off guard

Consumers snapped up surprising numbers of flat-screen televisions, laptops, digital cameras and cell phones during the fourth quarter, helping Best Buy Co. Inc. boost sales by 10 percent, the company said Thursday.

The December-through-February quarter’s sales were strongest in February, and the world’s largest consumer electronics retailer said same-store sales might have been even better if a plan to scale back inventory hadn’t left some stores short of TVs and digital cameras shoppers were seeking.

Microsoft fights Mac’s cool with recession chic

Apple’s Macintosh computers might be cool, but Windows PCs are easier on the wallet.

That’s the recession-sensitive message Microsoft Corp. is pushing in a series of commercials that debuted Thursday. The ads also continue Microsoft’s work to reclaim the “I’m a PC” catchphrase from Apple Inc. and undo the stodgy image its competitor has bestowed on the Windows operating system.

To shoot the ads, Microsoft’s agency, Crispin Porter + Bogusky, recruited unwitting subjects by posing as a market research firm studying laptop purchasing decisions.

Tri-City shoppers brave cold, wet Black Friday

Hundreds of shoppers braved an early morning chill and rain to be at their favorite Tri-City stores on Black Friday, some hunting for hard-to-find deals and others just keeping up with tradition.

More than 500 stood outside Best Buy on Canal Drive in Kennewick waiting for the store to open at 5 a.m., with many of them lured by deep discounts on laptop computers.

Nathan Phelps, 18, of Kennewick, said he had waited since 11 a.m. Wednesday to be first in line to buy a couple of laptops for his relatives in Seattle. His mother Cheryl O'Donnell joined him to help out.

Glance: How Apple's iPad measures up

Apple Inc. says its tablet-style iPad computer represents a whole new category of consumer-electronic devices, ideal for watching videos, surfing the Web and reading electronic books.

Here is how it stacks up with other Internet-connected portable devices that consumers are already using:

- iPad vs. laptop