Reason #478 why you shouldn't buy pricey wine

This story below is precisely why I don't spend more than $20 on a bottle of wine.

It turns out that France was selling the U.S. fake bottles of Pinot Noir. In particular, they were sold to California giant E&J Gallo Winery, who in turn sold it to consumers under the ubiquitous "Red Bicyclette" Pinot Noir label. (More wineries are also suspected of buying this fake pinot noir).

So what were people drinking instead of Pinot Noir? A mix of Merlot and Syrah, which are typically less expensive. And no one noticed the difference!! Not a single person complained. Not the "wine experts" at E&J nor the consumers. The only red flag came when someone noticed that the amount of Pinot Noir being sold to E&J far exceeded the possible supply of Pinor Noir from that region of France.

The lesson — don't overpay for your wine. This is how I save on my wine and here are some extra expert tips on how to find an excellent bottle on the cheap.

The $1 million dollar comic

Every kid dreams of one day selling their comic book(s) for a million bucks, and I guess, well, sometimes it happens. The first Action Comics book (which features Super Man's debut) recently sold for $1m on ComicConnection. That's $1,000,000. Pretty crazy, huh.

I myself have a massive comic book collection from back in the day, so I visited the site out of curiosity. To be honest, I was both intrigued and turned off by the site. I was intrigued because I saw two Spider-Man comics that I think I own up for auction. (This one and this one.) But I was turned off 'cause, well, the site comes across as a little snooty.

On their "welcome" page they require buyers have a minimum of $10,000 to invest for a personal consultation. Click a little further to their "Why Sell" page, and you'll find a huge rant against eBay. While I agree with everything they say about eBay, it's not very professional on their part to trash them as openly as they do. (In fact, it just makes me wonder if eBay is a viable alternative.)

The other turn off, unless I'm reading this wrong, they charge a minimum of $100 to "grade" your comics. Seriously? $100. I think a trip to the doctor costs less than that. (I think.) Another "of note," ComicConnection takes 10% from each of your sales. (How eBay of them.) So they're getting $100k out of that $1m deal. I don't know if 10% is high or low when it comes to comic books, but it feels high to me.

I'm still curious what a few of my old comics can fetch. Like every other kid, I have "that issue where Venom kills Spider-Man" and that "collector's issue" which has "collector's issue" written all over it. But I also have some 60-cent and 50-cent comics that might be interesting to sell. Stay tuned!

Weekend Picks #4

Under the Munka Moon Selection by Alice Russell
Bluesy, jazzy, soulful. This CD is awesome. It's from a UK-based performer by the name of Alice Russell. I discovered her this weekend via Slacker. Her voice instantly got me. Classier than Winehouse, better than Joss Stone. To be honest, they're not even in Russell's league. (They just happen to be two other UK "soul" singers.) But Russell has such a stronger voice, She pours her heart out in almost every song on this CD. My personal favorite songs are Sweet is the Air, which has a gorgeous bossa nova-like sway and Hurry On Now, which sounds like the kind of song you would've heard back in the 60s inside a smoke-filled jazz club in Harlem.

Like Stars on Earth
It's not often I watch the same movie twice within a 2-week timespan. In fact, it's not often I watch the same movie twice within a month. But I watched Like Stars on Earth again this past weekend. I thought maybe this time around I'd like it less or it'd feel "less special," but man was I wrong. If anything I liked it more. Brilliant movie. It's not a nail-biter and it's not a thriller, it's just an excellently written, excellently shot Bollywood film about childhood.

Panasonic to customers: Buy a new TV

Panasonic has been committing a bunch of blunders these past few days. It all started when some folks at the AVS Forums noticed the black levels on their Panasonic plasmas were deteriorating. (Get the full background story in this week's podcast.)

And now comes news from CNET that old Panasonic TVs with Viera Cast will not be able to stream Netflix movies like the new 2010 models. Likewise the new Skype app, which will come pre-installed on Pannie's 2010 TVs, won't work with the older sets. On the flip side, Panasonic said that old Viera Cast models will get the Fox Sports, Twitter, and Pandora updates that the new models will come with natively.

Still, it's a bit of a bummer regarding Netflix since we've been led to believe by manufacturers that all of these Web-enabled TVs are fully firmware upgradeable. Not to mention Netflix can be found on pretty much every Web-enabled TV (both new and old) out there. Once again the early adopters are getting burned. Take heed, TV shopper.

Weekend Picks #3

My picks for this past President's Day weekend.

Electric Shadows
I liked this movie a lot, but I felt it had a slow beginning. Set in China, it's about a little girl whose father abandons her. To replace the void, she relies on movies and dreams of being a famous movie star. The story is told via flashbacks and it's not until it gets into her everyday life that it's actually compelling. (She's bullied in class, makes various sacrifices for her family, etc.) The ending ties everything together perfectly and makes up for the "slow" beginning. Overall, great movie. It's short — about an hour and 30 minutes — but stick through the slow start and you'll get a nice payback/ending. Chinese with English subtitles.

Vampires in Havana
I have to admit, it was the title and artwork of this movie that attracted me to it. Otherwise, I never would've seen it. It's a cartoon about a vampire scientist, Wolfgang Amadeus von Dracula, who discovers a formula (called Vampisol) that allows vampires throughout the world to walk in the sunlight. He tests it on his young nephew, Pepe, and it works so well, that as he grows up, Pepe doesn't realize he's a vampire. The scientist, who lives in Cuba, wants to give this formula to the world for free.

Now, here's the conflict. There are two vampire families (more like mafia families) in the world, the European family in Dusseldorf and the American family in Chicago. The Chicago family has created a network of artificial "beach" theme parks specifically for vampires, so they're afraid Vampisol will hurt their profits. Meanwhile, the European family wants to steal the Vampisol formula so they can sell it and make a killing with the profits. All craziness ensues. In retrospect, the cartoon is very political, but it's still a very fun flick. Spanish with English subtitles.

Casa Julia Carmenere
This is a great value wine if you like reds. It's a carmenere from Chile (as most camreneres are.) You can usually find it for no more than $12. (I usually pay $10.) It has a nice fruity flavor without being overly tannic or dry. It's a great "party" wine when you have friends over (so far all my friends seem to love it) and it's also a great "weekend" wine if you're craving some red.

3D Arrives!

Today we posted our first ever 3D TV deal on dealnews. It's for Samsung's 7000 Series, which were announced last month at CES. (There's no ship date, but the TVs are available for pre-order.)

A few weeks ago I stated why I'm anti 3D, and this chart here is yet another reason. Based on the LCD TV deals we've listed here at dealnews, it shows what you can expect to pay for a 42" LCD HDTV in the following categories (listed below). See that purple star all the way up top. (Click on the chart to enlarge.) That's the entry-level price for a 40" 3D LCD TV. Ouch! So here's where the prices stand (as of Feb 10) for a 42" set.

42" 1080p LCD HDTVs
60Hz: $499
120Hz: $700
240Hz: $999
LED-backlit: $999
3D: $1,800

(42" Plasma: $515)

NES Flashback

Wednesday is going to be a non-stop snow-fest here in New York City with up to 18" of snow expected to fall when all is said and done. Back when I was in elementary school that meant one thing. Snow day! Which in turn meant 24 hours (or as many hours as my parents would allow) of non-stop NES games.

Unfortunately, adults don't have snow days, but that doesn't mean we can't reminisce! I stumbled upon this video on YouTube the other day. I was a huge Wizards & Warriors fan as a kid and I'm proud to say I beat both games (I also beat the GameBoy version, Fortress of Fear). To this day, I think Ironsword (Wizards & Warriors II) had the best music of any NES game I ever owned. Closely tied with Ninja Gaiden II (I still get goosebumps watching that intro!)

So here's to the snow days of the 1980s and 1990s. Now those were games.

Weekend Picks #2

Latest Netflix rental and claypot casseroles galore....

Like Stars on Earth
This is quite possibly one of the best movies I've ever seen. Period. It's also my first Bollywood movie. The plot is simple. It's about a boy with dyslexia. The thing is, nobody knows he is dyslexic and no one really knows what dyslexia is, so his teachers think he's lazy, his parents berate him, and well, the world just writes him off as a failure. That's the simple plot. But as you're watching the movie, you realize the director/writer is saying so much more. It's about adults and how out of touch they are with the world. It's about parents and how they impose their own dreams and aspirations on their children. It's about work-life, and how conditioned people are to their weekly routines that they don't even realize they've stopped living.

I can't say enough about this movie. It's amazing. Tear-jerker too, not so much in a sad Old Yeller kinda way, but more of a "wow, that was a beautiful scene/message that reminded me of my childhood" kinda way. Oh, it's also a semi-musical. Personally, I despise musicals 'cause I feel the music disrupts/slows down the story. Not in this case. It actually works. There are one or two moments where the movie feels happy-go-lucky (I hate overly optimistic movies), but the writer did a great job and it doesn't feel Hollywood-ized. In Hindi with English subtitles. Worth buying, not renting.

Yummy Noodles
There's nothing fancy about this place. And despite the name, they don't really specialize in noodles. But the clay pot rice dishes here are great. Nice big portions and they're generous with the seafood/meat. (They're easily shareable and most are under $9.) The place is in Chinatown at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge so you'll see more locals than "trendsetters." And my favorite part — it's very cheap.

So you want a new 42" LCD...

Each month I update our price trend features. If you haven't seen them, they're like a geek's version of the stock market. For gadgets, naturally.

We track the prices for 60Hz LCDs, 120Hz LCDs, 240Hz LCDs, LED-backlit LCDs, plasma TVs, netbooks, 15" Core 2 Duo laptops, and Blu-ray players. That's a lot of prices (and a lot of info) to take in at once. So we usually chop up the charticles so as to not inundate anyone with too much info. (No one wants to read a messy Excel chart.)

I finished updating the batch today and it got me wondering. If I was in the market for a 42" LCD TV, what would be my cheapest option? Well, that's where this chart comes in. (You can click on it to make it bigger.) It shows you the price trends for 42" LCDs. All kinds of them.

So the cheapest 42" LCD you can buy is a 60Hz panel. They are hands down the most affordable LCD. (At least when comparing 42" screens, believe it or not, but they're not the most affordable panel when dealing with other screen sizes.) But how much more would I have to pay for a 42" 120Hz LCD? 240Hz? LED-backlit LCD? As you can see, the price difference between 60Hz vs 120Hz is small. From 120Hz to 240Hz is also negligible. But to forgo a 60Hz panel for an LED-backlit panel....well, that's gonna cost you. A lot.

There is some good news though. If you look at the deals for 240Hz sets, they're on a collision course with 120Hz LCDs. (Why get a 120Hz set when in a month a 240Hz set might cost you the same?)

So in closing, here are the ending LCD deal/prices for the month of January. And just for kicks, I also added the best deal we saw for a 42" plasma in January.

60Hz: $499
120Hz: $600
240Hz: $715
LED-backlit: $1,050

(Plasma: $495)

Gazelle coupon

Quick update today. I got an e-mail from Gazelle and they're currently offering (until Feb. 20th) a 10% bonus coupon if you use code "210GIFT" during checkout. So if your gadget fetches you $100, with the code you'll get a total of $110. Not enough to retire on, but, hey, it's bonus money.

I've reviewed Gazelle here and then later followed up here for those of you who don't know what the service is all about. Sadly, I don't have anything that I can sell at the moment. At least I don't think I do. I'll have to hit up the old gadget closet tonight to find out.

Weekend Picks #1

Over the weekend I had an idea for a "Monday" post. Every Monday, I'll write about places, movies, music, food, stuff I did over the weekend and whether I think it's worth your money/time. So, this weekend's picks are:

Maria Full of Grace
This movie is about a young Colombian girl who agrees to become a drug lord's mule in order to make money, provide for her family, and make ends meet. The movie got rave reviews, but I wasn't too wild about it. It was interesting, but to me it felt like the director/writer was so intrigued by the "mule" concept, that that's all he focused on. Maria, the main character, lacked, er, character. Not to mention the movie felt a little too optimistic for such a serious topic. Worth seeing if you find the mule concept interesting (or know little about it), but don't believe the hype. In Spanish w/ subtitles.

Kinamand
I don't think you can buy this DVD in the U.S., but this movie is available for streaming via Netflix. Watch it! It's one of the best movies I've seen. It's a Danish movie about an older man (a plumber) whose wife one day divorces him. During the divorce process, the plumber befriends Feng, the owner of a local Chinese take-out restaurant. They become good friends, and Feng asks the plumber to marry his sister so she can remain legally in Denmark. The movie starts off very lighthearted, it has a few funny moments, but then takes a very dark twist. I love how it deals with the topics of marriage, immigration, racism, and love. Recommended 100%. In Danish with subtitles.

Sweetgrass Winery Maple Smash
Over the summer I went to Maine with some friends and we went to this winery called Sweetgrass. They made a really good gin in-house. I'm not a gin drinker, I actually dislike gin, but their gin was great. Well, a friend of mine recently came back from Maine and bought me a bottle of Maple Smash. It's a blend of Maine maple syrup with brandy. In a word, it's delicious. I don't know if they deliver (I have a hunch they don't), but if you're lucky enough to live in Maine, you must try this.