Richard J.

As counter-intuitive as it may first appear, you can often get a better deal from a so-called middle-man than you would direct from the supplier. That's the secret behind the success of deal-of-the-day sites like Groupon, and it applies as well to magazine brokers. Both kinds of brokers get you a better deal by delivering new customers to the original supplier, albeit at much less profit.

While the provider clients of deal-of-the-day sites may be motivated by the prospect of continuing after-deal business, magazine publishers benefit from the brokers even without it. That's because the cost to the publishers of each additional magazine copy is so low. (In fact, the only significant cost is that of mailing, for which the Postal Service gives them a special rate.) In practice, however, the publishers often do even better, as less careful buyers renew their subscriptions directly and not via the broker. These considerations explain how magazine brokers are able to offer the huge discounts that you'll see.

Magazines.com is the magazine broker I've used, and aside from the bargain prices its service is satisfactory in every way. You can use it to purchase new subscriptions or to extend current subscriptions. If you change your mind about a magazine, magazines.com will provide a full refund for all undelivered issues. And toll-free customer support is available 6 days a week.

Tip: Magazines.com does not want you to renew via the publisher, so unless you tell it not to, it will automatically renew every subscription you order. But telling it not to is easy: just phone the site after you order at its regular number *******946).

Steve C's review here doesn't belong--he's reviewing the product, not the site. Moreover, his assertion that "Nobody really can compete" is ridiculous unless he's made a thorough investigation of all competing products, which is not credible.

My review is of the site, as used for support. The written support is pretty good. But think hard before you phone for support. The level 1 support personnel (the ones who take your call) are almost universally clueless, and will take an unbelievable amount of your time, which may or may not solve your issue. The level 2 personnel (to which level 1 can connect you) may be better, but don't depend on it.

I speak from sad experience with my XP-420 printer, which although I rarely need to use it has necessitated a dozen support calls in just a few months. Every time I call I'm kept on the phone for close to an hour or more.

I'm giving this site more than the lowest rating because it's a way to meet a lot of folks with similar interests fast (and maybe the only way on the Web). Be warned however that signing up will bring tons of spam. The site offers settings that lead one to believe the spam can be controlled, but without creating your own independent filters that's really impossible.

For example, the site will send you solicitations to join additional meetup groups based on what Meetup deems to be your interests. It also invites you to check those interests on a provided list. One would think that the solicitations would be sent according to the interests you've listed--but not so. For example, even though as an atheist I have listed "atheist" and "humanism" and nothing relating to meditation or acting, I've received today a solicitation for a Prayer and Meditation group, and another for The Actors Alliance. In response to my complaints I get double-talk ("... we try to strike a balance between recommendations based on each member's current interests and suggestions for Meetups they might not have thought to seek out themselves").

The above is just one of the many many kinds of spam Meetup will send to members. Some of these can be controlled by settings, but these settings are a challenge to find. For others there are no settings at all, such as the repeated pleas to take over from a group leader who has resigned.

This help site, like many others, offers advice provided by users. The help concerns issues with one of the listed online and offline companies, of which there is a huge number. Unlike the competition, the site materially rewards those who answer the questions.

The quality of the answers provided at the site has improved markedly since the site's early days. At this time many of the answers are exceedingly helpful. I submit many answers myself [as "Odin"] and folks can completely rely on my answers--but I see as well an impressive amount of valuable information submitted by others, and only a tiny number of answers that are off-base. This may be the result of HelpOwl's [perhaps too much] in screening both questions and answers.

My reading of the negative reviews here has been a revelation to me--not about Help Owl but about the strange ideas of some Sitejabber reviewers, One says, "These people will try to smooth talk you into a deal"--Help Owl doesn't make deals. Another says, "Helpowl does not credit account"--but in over 10 years I've always received prompt credit, which if claimed on a Thursday will be awarded the next day. Another talks about a "good faith deposit," but HelpOwl never demands deposits at all.

If you answer questions, compensation is in the form of gift cards from your choice of listed providers. Each accepted answer is worth currently about 20 cents at Amazon or Walmart.com, somewhat less at iCard. If the questioner does not accept an answer, the site will after several days accept what it considers the first good answer, for the same reward.

PLUSES:

1. Compensation. This is negligible for questioners but can add up well for answerers.

2. Wide choice of companies about which you can submit questions and answers.

3. Personal notification of questions about your selected companies and websites.

4. Helpful information.

MINUSES:

1. Staff review of answers not accepted by questioners is too often inept.

2. Questions are deleted for unexplained reasons, even occasionally after answers are submitted.

2. Support is patchy. Some support questions will be answered; others will be ignored.

3. Probably as a result of the site's promotional practices, a great many questioners believe they are asking help directly of the subject companies.

UPDATE. Same star rating, but I thought I should mention that the awarding of points/credits is off base. Help Owl considerately does publicly track the points awarded to the top contributors--and it's annoying that one whose answers are wrong [not accepted] close to half the time can rate higher (in the 15-day count) than one whose answers are accepted close to 90% of the time. This system rewards answerers who give little thought to correctness in favor of quantity, and thereby compromise the reliability of the site.

Firefox is a pleasure to work with. Its big advantage over its competitors is the availability of over 5,000 tweaks ("add-ons") that will meet virtually anyone's needs or desires. If you're particular but not willing to look into its add-ons, Firefox may not be for you.

Regarding technical support: Fx's support, although not available by phone, far exceeds that of the also popular Internet Explorer. Beyond basic support (available at support.mozilla.org), Fx users will in my experience almost always provide all the help required, at forums.mozillazine.org/viewforum.php?f=38.

All our computers' clocks are almost certainly off by small amounts. In addition to giving you the exact time, this page tells me the amount by which my computer's clock is ahead or behind.

SiteJabber followers who value reviews and ratings not of websites but of products will want to bookmark this site, owned by About.com, in turn owned by The New York Times Company. From across the Web ConsumerSearch considers professional and user reviews both, and then analyzes the reviews and ranks the products according to stated criteria. Users can read the reviews, except those restricted to subscribers of the reviewing sites. ConsumerSearch uses reviews to rate the sellers as well.

The main failing of reviews is the danger of bias in a particular review. The huge number of reviews considered here, from so many sources, really eliminates that concern.

If your auto is cooling its heels parked much of the time, you might want to help it pay its way by renting it out. Getaround brings local car owners together with local car-deprived, for an hourly or longer fee that includes insurance. You can register your car with brief information and a photo.

Lets you see how much money a given doctor has received from (named) drug companies. For example, it shows that Dr. Minh Mach in 2009-10 received $41,594 from four such outfits. Although many drug companies do not disclose this information, the data that is available may give you a good idea of a doctor's bias.

This is primarily a collection of patient ratings for a narrow range of listed practitioners. Amazingly, these ratings may not appear as submitted, and, even more amazingly, the company shows no interest in correcting such errors.

This is a warning not to purchase deals from this site, also known as Spreebird.

This is one of the many copycats of Groupon. The other such sites I've dealt with, and especially Groupon itself, are very responsible with respect to any untoward experiences. Not so here.

I purchased a voucher for a restaurant meal, and a few days ago proceeded to the restaurant. I knew the restaurant was not really close, but I at least expected to be able to find it from the street address. In fact the street number provided was nowhere to be seen from the street. After driving around and then walking back and forth and about, I finally located the place deep inside an (unnumbered) shopping mall. All this hunting consumed an extra half an hour or more, and then I saw the business, shut down.

It turns out that Spreebird knew it was folded, but deliberately chose not to notify purchasers like me. Its entire reason seems to be that it didn't want to bother customers who'd already used the voucher!

When I asked for recompense, they amazingly wanted me to accept "spreebucks" in the amount of my purchase, toward another voucher. They did agree to refund my purchase price, but nothing at all for my time and trouble.

There are too many deal-of-the-day sites out there to go with a loser like this.

Where will you get the best deals on your favorite groceries? You don't have to visit the stores or even phone, to find out. This site will instantly compare current prices for you, by individual items or by category. It'll at your option send you email alerts of price reductions, and provides product nutritional information and coupons.

This is the government's attempt at a one-stop healthcare destination. It includes highly readable information about over 5,000 plans, public and private, and covers other issues, like prevention and facility comparisons. There's a section on free and low-cost care. The site is probably the best source to learn about the changes (current and future) resulting from the Affordable Care Act, the health care reform law fostered by Pres. Obama.

Nonprofit and nonpartisan, this site endeavors to disclose the "real story" behind what's happening in Congress, using sources like government data, news coverage, and public comments. Especially handy for researching bills, tracking votes, and emailing your representatives.

There are many weather pages on the Web, but this is the only one to my knowledge that offers hourly forecasts. Weather.com a. K. a. The Weather Channel has a page that will let you see at a glance the predicted temperatures and weather conditions for the various hours coming up. And tabs will let you check weather for tomorrow, for the next 5 days, for the next 10 days, and even for the next month.

If this is of interest, you'll want to create a bookmark from the following template: www.weather.com/weather/hourbyhour/graph/xxxxx, first substituting your 5-digit zip code for the xxxxx.

You might also want to compare today's weather with that of yesterday. Weather.com has a page for that as well. Use this template: www.weather.com/weather/pastweather/xxxxx, as above substituting your zip code for the xxxxx.

This site lets you choose an eGift card from a large variety of major retailers, browsable by category and searchable. You help save the environment by foregoing an actual card, and there's no physical product to lose. (You or the recipient can reprint the "card" as necessary.) You pay the retailer's regular price.

You could probably buy the electronic card direct, but this is usually easier, and gives you more choice.

Enables quick and thorough comparisons of medical and dental insurance plans, and will sign you up online. Represents close to 200 companies (without raising their prices). Commits to go to bat for you in case of any problem.

If you're fed up with the Ticketmaster experience, you might be as delighted as I am with Brown Paper Tickets.

First of all, the per-ticket surcharge is tiny: only 3.5% plus 99 cents -- except that for the many free events, there's no service fee whatever. (You can easily search for free events and others that are heavily discounted.) And five percent of net sales go to a charity of the patron's choosing.

Tickets are refundable, can be resold, and can be sent to your phone. The site provides extensive event information, with maps. There's 24/7 toll-free customer service.

From the government's Consumer Products Safety Commission, this site provides valuable information on products you own or may be considering buying.

This is a deal-of-the-day site like Groupon and Groupon's many imitators. The big plus with ScoutMob is that, unlike nearly all the others, it requires no payment up front. You're not committed in any way. I use Scoutmob's restaurant deals, and I've been pleased with each of the venues.

Since you don't pre-pay, the deals are not for fixed dollar amounts but for percentages off—so they're just as good for singles as for couples and groups. And the discounts aren't piddling; my experience has been 50% off. You can if you like catch the offers with your cell phone.