The fourth quarter of 2008 has been a hard one for many companies and individuals. The first quarter of 2009 will also be hard but should allow many companies and individuals to reflex on what made the good days good and what made the bad days seems bad only in comparison to the good days. Companies will be providing various incentives to encourage retailers and consumers to part with their hard earned money. This will be in the form of price reductions and bonus add-ons. Companies will struggle to make ends meet while making it interesting for those of you that do have some disposable income and the need for certain purchases.

Companies that are just starting out may hold off in opening their doors in the spring but many will forge through this recession and provide their own incentives to encourage business. Consumers will centainly benefit from companies using the New Year as a motivation to push forward to increase sales. I would keep my eyes open for great deals from reputable resellers and manufacturers. Keep in mind though, there will also be other non reputable resellers that will also be taking advantage of this recession to intice buyers into buying sub par products.

Here are some ways you can find some of those great deals that are not readily visible.

1. Many of the large box stores will certainly be spending this time of the year dealing with returned products. Some may be defective or damaged but many will also be just unwanted products. These perfectly good products that have been opened will be sent back to the manufacturer or distributor and reprocessed as refurbished products.   Look for these refurbished items sometime around late March to early April.
2. Even with the recession there is a big boom in video gaming sales. The gaming industry generated billions of dollars in 2008 have surpassed the movie industry in overall revenue. Companies like PC and laptop manufacturers will be looking to capture a slice of this market by manufacturing more gaming oriented power systems at premium prices. Look out for companies like Asustek and Acer releasing laptops with hi-end video processors, lots of memory and loads of storage capacity at competitive package pricing.
3. Prices for laptops are really coming down now with prices reaching close to $500 USD or less. You can even get a netbook for around $300.00 USD or less. These have 10 inch screens or smaller with no hard drive or DVD drive. The benefits are that these run so much longer on battery power since no motors associated with the hard drive or DVD drive exist. Access to additional storage space can be added via an external USB hard drive or accessed via a networked drive on a desktop PC if you also have one.
4. Check for auctions on eBay run by known companies like Olympus. Olympus continuously sell products that are brand new but have slightly damaged outer packaging. These are no longer suitable for retail sale. Comes with full warranty and in many cases FREE shipping from the US distribution in New York State. If you are bidding on one of theses utems, make sure you get an idea of what the regular price is at your local retailer to avoid paying more than the local retail price in the end.
5. Look for sites like http://www.chinavasion.com which sells products manufactured by little known Chinese manufacturers and shipped directly. By knowing what you are looking for like an MP3 player, you can find something in this category that has the features you are looking for at great prices. You can always do a Google search using the products description used on http://www.chinavasion.com to make sure the price listed is reasonable compared to other sellers. 

Keep your eyes open for non traditional sources for your next mobility electronic purchase. You will be surprised to see how much quality product is available from sources you never would have expected before.