Computer shopbots
Sean Brodrick

The difference between men and boys is the price of their toys, especially the computerized kind. Before you buy computer hardware or software, get yourself an ally -- a shopbot.

These Internet software programs act as your own personal shopping assistant, searching out a list of prices on a particular product. They are free, and they can save you a bundle on everything from notebooks to computer games.

Not all shopbots are created equal. Luckily, Bankrate.com's E-commerce Exposed has scrutinized shopbots to find out which are the best for computer hardware and software. Our grades are weighted toward the shopbots with the lowest prices, but there's a lot more to buying computers online than the bottom line.

"Price isn't everything," explains Marcus Zillman, chief executive officer of Bot Technology Inc. in Marco Island, Fla. "The merchant who has the cheapest price may make you wait while they consolidate their orders. If you want an item tomorrow morning, you'll pay more. And most of us want it now."

With computer products, especially, returns can be a problem. What if that new scanner you bought won't work with your old computer? We suggest that consumers find a merchant profile to see if a vendor has a return policy of "unopened boxes only" or charges a restocking fee. That might be a merchant you want to avoid. The shopbots mySimon, CNET Shopper and Computer Shopper provide their own dealer profiles. DealTime provides profiles from Bizrate.com.

Other factors we considered in measuring shopbots are:

• How much product information is provided?

• Are items listed according to cost, or can vendors pay a fee for a high-placed listing?

• Are there intangibles that make the site a pleasure or a pain?

• Do they list shipping costs along with the prices?

Nothing is worse than thinking you've found the cheapest whirligig only to go through the entire ordering process on the merchant's site and find the shipping costs are astronomical.

Sadly, only one computer shopbot, CNET Shopper, consistently made a serious attempt to list shipping charges. Sometimes they didn't know, but at least they tried. Another shopbot, 20-20Consumer, listed shipping costs, but we often found their data to be inaccurate. None of the other shopbots in this group regularly listed shipping costs on products, though sometimes it was included in information about the company or the item.

We put computer shopbots through the wringer by looking for some electronic toys we'd want Santa to put in our stockings:

• 3Com Palm VII wireless personal data assistant

• Toshiba Libretto notebook computer

• Nintendo Color GameBoy console

• 3Com Palm V personal data assistant

• Hewlett-Packard ScanJet 4200 cxi scanner

• the PC game "Baldur's Gate"

The 3Com Palm VII really separated the winners from the also-rans. This wireless PDA is a hot ticket this season, but a lot of shopbots we tested couldn't find it. In fact, even the shopbots that made our top five offered up some merchants that didn't have it in stock. Since we love to pinch a penny, we also looked for a Palm V, which is not wireless and costs less -- in the case of some savvy shopbots, a lot less.

When it comes to notebooks, the makes and models have so many different features that it's like comparing Apples and, um, IBMs. We settled on the Mini-Me of notebooks, the Toshiba Libretto. This itty-bitty powerhouse carries a list price of $1,799, but many of our shopbots found it for hundreds less.

Rounding out our list is a Nintendo color GameBoy, and the PC computer game Baldur's Gate, 'cause hey, we want to keep the kids happy -- especially the big kids among us.

There are some well-known shopbots that didn't make it onto our top five in this category. Much like the computer industry, the computer shopbot group is very competitive. Only one general interest shopbot, mySimon, made the list. DealTime offers a variety of products, but not enough (yet) to qualify for our general interest category. However, we didn't like the computer shopbots as much as we liked the book, music and movie shopbots. You can check those out in our previous review.

Even with the following report card, we would not recommend that you use any one shopbot. Instead, use two or three of them when you're searching for an item. This should guarantee that you get the best price.

It's important to note that not all of the shopbots in our top five had all of the items we were looking for. Often they would list merchants, but the merchant would not have the item in stock. The price on the next chart is the price that the shopbot found at a merchant who had it available, not a lowball number from a vendor who claimed to carry it.

Finally, sometimes the shopbots came up with the same low price because they have duplicate vendors on their search lists. For instance, the reason all the shopbots list a Hewlett-Packard scanner for $165.73 is because they all found the same sweet deal at Buy.com.

Our list shows the prices we found on one day. By the time you use these shopbots, prices may have changed, merchants may have sold out of or re-stocked missing items, and new items may have been listed.

20-20Consumer

This site has the best prices in our survey, winning two out of the six categories and tying for first in another three. This is the major reason that 20-20Consumer tied for best pick in computer shopbots. Unlike some other shopping agents, 20-20Consumer does not accept payment from stores for listing their prices, doesn't charge them to refer consumers to their store, and doesn't receive any commissions from the stores.

When you arrive at the 20-20Consumer site, click on the "find best price" tab at the top. This will bring you to a well-organized visual menu, where you click through to find the products you want. 20-20Consumer rates merchants according to reviews from people who've actually bought products. This is the best rating system we've seen among the computer shopbots.

20-20Consumer's price list also reveals which vendors ship internationally and their shipping prices, if available. However, we think 20-20Consumer could do a better job with shipping prices. Three of the items had free shipping even though on the list it said "call" for shipping costs.

Many of the merchant links we tried were not direct links -- we sometimes had to search on the merchant's site to find what we were looking for. Only then did we find out whether the item was out of stock. If this kind of setup bugs you, use a full-service bot like CNET Shopper or mySimon. Also, there is no search function on the 20-20Consumer site. Their menu is easy so it wasn't a problem for us, but it might confuse some people.

Editor's note: 20-20Consumer has changed its name to ShopNow.com Consumer Guide, but the Web address is the same.

CNET Shopper

CNET Shopper ties for the E-commerce Exposed's best pick in computer shopbots. An expansive menu shows the full range of CNET Shopper's wares, but it can be overwhelming. Wise consumers will use the search bar on the top of the main page. It brings back a list with merchant name (and notes if it's a CNET-certified merchant), price, state, phone, approximate shipping, whether the item is in stock, the last time the listing was updated, and international sales. This is a great list, full of useful details, and should be the envy of all other computer shopbots! CNET returns a product search sorted by sponsor, so remember to re-sort your search list by price.

We found that CNET Shopper didn't have as many selection as the other shopbots and its prices were not the lowest, but the shipping costs, merchant and product reviews and shoppers' guides are too useful to ignore. CNET Shopper has a similar sister site, KillerApp, which seems to have more selection, but it doesn't list shipping charges in its search results. It just tells you if shipping is free or not (the answer is usually, "no"). We also found it more complicated to navigate than CNET Shopper. Still, if you can't find what you want on CNET Shopper, KillerApp is worth a look.

DealTime

This site has the second-best prices in our survey. After choosing a category on the front page, you get a page with a pull-down menu and search function. A search brings back results on the merchant, merchant rating, product, deal types and price. You can re-sort by any of these categories. You can also perform one of the quick searches on the front page, which offers gift ideas for uncertain Santas.

We like DealTime's menus a lot. They're even easier to follow than the menus on mySimon, which is saying a lot. But DealTime doesn't list shipping charges, and it doesn't have the reviews and buyer's guides you'll find on CNET Shopper, Computer Shopper, and mySimon.

mySimon

This is a good shopbot for easy, uncomplicated navigation. It's a general interest shopbot that made the top five in our review of book, music, and movie shopbots, and now we find it's pretty good at locating computer hardware and software, as well. mySimon's search menu gives you options that let you define your search. This bot also suggests hot items for the gift-challenged, and there are guides to help new users. The buyer's guides are extremely helpful when you're deciding if the gear you're buying is right for you.

But because they sort their product lists according to vendors that have paid a premium, you must remember to resort the list by price. Their prices aren't the best. On the bright side, their merchant profiles are good, and like CNET Shopper, mySimon tells you if the product is available in the search results -- that's a huge time-saver.

Computer Shopper

ZD Net's Computer Shopper offers excellent reviews and buyer's guides, much like the magazine that shares its name. Its main page has shopping guides, tips and hot lists that are all worth checking out, and its search window is right on the front page -- no pecking through menus when you know what you want. But Computer Shopper does not list search results in order of price, and the ads on the Web site make for a very cluttered screen. A lot of Java script errors occurred when we surfed the site, and we don't know if they made any difference.

Computer Shopper provides an online shopping tutorial, information on merchants in its search results, and tells you if there's a coupon for something called a "ZD Net e-centive" which promises discounts if you sign up. Sadly, Computer Shopper does not list shipping costs in its search results, and it does not return any results in a search for Nintendo color GameBoy consoles -- tough luck for you Pokemon fans.

-- Posted: Nov. 24, 1999