Category Archives: Contests, Giveaways, Promos

Win FREE Dota 2 Beta Keys!

Defense of the Ancients or Dota all started as a modification (mod) for Warcraft 3 and it has now become one of the most played and anticipated stand-alone games in the world of computer gaming. Though I can’t count myself as an expert, I’ve had countless days of playing Dota and I completely understand why it’s addictive and fun, especially when played with friends in a local area network.

Win FREE Dota 2 beta keys here!

Thankfully, Valve Corporation developed this mod into a stand-alone game known as Dota 2Β as it’s been a very successful game for quite a long time now. Gamers who play at home don’t have to go through Garena anymore to play Dota 2. Oh, and did I mention the amazing graphics in Dota 2? I LOVE IT! πŸ™‚

Having an internet cafΓ© / computer shop business here in the Philippines, I knew players here will demand that I install and give them access to play. After checking ways to gain beta keys, I was surprised to learn that Dota 2 Philippines was generous enough to give me Dota 2 beta keys for my computer shop AND 20 more to give away. Thank you! πŸ™‚

Do you own a computer shop? You want to know how you can get your FREE Dota 2 beta keys for your business? Click here.


Dota 2 by Valve Corporation

 

Free Dota 2 Beta Key Giveaway

Without further ado, here’s your chance to win FREE DOTA 2 BETA KEYS! The mechanics are pretty easy, so just follow the steps below and good luck!

NOTE: Please wait for the Rafflecopter widget to load.

Continue Reading

5 Black Friday Tips for Gadget Shoppers

Black Friday gadget shopping tips

One of the most anticipated shopping day of the year is coming – Black Friday 2012 is on November 23rd, a day after Thanksgiving! This is the BEST time to shop for those highly coveted gadgets like laptops, desktop computers, gadgets and other electronic devices.

With that said, I’m sharing some very useful tips for all of you who are planning on some Black Friday gadget shopping this year:

 

Black Friday Gadget Shopping Tips

 

1. Research for the best Black Friday deals and compare prices!

This is one of those days when retail stores mark down their items, even their most popular products, at surprisingly low prices. With that said, however, it is important that you do your research on the best deals you can find so you can maximize your shopping budget.

Also, it’s important to compare prices. This way, you can focus on that store with the best prices.

 

2. Know the store policies on returns and warranties.

For gadget shoppers, this is the most important tip of all. Make sure you’ve done your research. Most stores set a shorter period for return deadlines, so avoid the hassles by finding out about their return policy beforehand.

For warranties, don’t forget to check or ask. You might be rejoicing about a purchase that saved you a significant amount of money without knowing that the warranty policy is different from the regular priced ones. Well, this doesn’t really apply with popular gadgets, but just to be sure, ask.

 

3. Is it worth the hassle?

After comparing prices, it’s also important to know if the regular prices of the items you want are remarkably higher than the Black Friday prices the stores are offering. If it’s just a few bucks of savings, think about the hassle of waking up early, lining up and bracing the Black Friday crowds. Is it all worth it?

 

4. Look for early bird shopper discounts.

There are many stores that offer early bird shopping discounts as early as the week of Thanksgiving. Some offer early discounts online. Again, remember the importance of doing your research.

For Black Friday 2012, here are some of the popular retail stores that are offering early bird shopping deals:

  • Walmart starts their first Black Friday Sale at 8pm on Thanksgiving. They also announced a 10pm sale on electronics and another sale by 5am the next day.
    Walmart also made an announcement that those who are in line by 10pm and 11pm on Thanksgiving Day will get their most popular items:
    Apple iPad 2 for with Wi-Fi plus a $75 Wal-Mart gift card for $399
    Emerson 32-inch LCD TV for $148
    LG Blu-ray player for $38
  • Sears stores will open at 8pm on Thanksgiving and will stay open until 10pm on Black Friday. Additionally, those who are members of Sears loyalty club Shop Your Way can avail of the early bird specials online as early as November 18, 2012!
  • Macy’s, Kohl’s, and Best Buy will open at 12 midnight after Thanksgiving.
  • Lord & Taylor will be opening at 10am on Thanksgiving.
  • Kohl’s announced that online shoppers will be able to buy all early morning specials on November 21, 2012 and all day on Thanksgiving.

 

5. Shop online.

Some stores like Apple have been known to give out the best deals on their products at their online stores than retail stores or official distributors. So, again, do your research and compare prices in-store and online. If the price difference is not significantly high, then why bother waking up early and lining up, right?

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Have fun shopping! I’m planning on buying a new laptop this year. How about you?

Related Black Friday Articles:

10 Fun Things I Can Do with a new Lenovo Laptop

What are the top 10 fun things I can do if I win the Lenovo Ideapad G460 from the Lenovo-Yugatech giveaway?!

 

1. Donate my old laptop to my mother and use the new Lenovo laptop as my primary computer. Yayyy!

How surprised I imagined my mother would be when I give her my old laptop - blankPixels.com

My mother is a Public Health Nurse and they don’t have access to a computer at their health center. Since she writes all their reports at work, giving her my old laptop would definitely help her fulfill her job more easily. I can’t possibly give her the new Lenovo laptop (the G460 if I win) ’cause she only needs to work on office documents.

Oh, did I mention that if I win the Lenovo laptop, it’ll be public service in a way? My mother’s dedicated to her work in helping the community in Navotas City so it’ll be a great help if I could give her my old laptop. πŸ˜›

 

2. Continue teaching my mother how to use a computer, type and create office documents (spreadsheets, reports, etc) using my new Lenovo laptop, with its full-sized keyboard.

I’ve already started teaching my mother how to type and use a computer. She even has her own Facebook account! She accesses it at our computer shop, but she couldn’t stay as long as we needed for the computer tutorials because she gets easily exhausted when I teach her on our desktop client computers at our shop.

My mother learning how to type and use a computer - blankpixels.com

If I have a new Lenovo laptop, especially the G460, I can finally teach my mother how to use the computer on my old laptop while I perform my online tasks on my new Lenovo laptop. We can finally do it in her room so she’ll be 100% comfortable.

 

3. Maximize my new Lenovo laptop’s portability.

I won't need to bring my power adapter everywhere! - blankPixels.comMy old laptop can no longer be brought anywhere without its power adapter. Yes, the battery can no longer hold its charge for more than an hour. So, I honestly haven’t brought it anywhere to avail of WiFi services in coffee shops, etc. It’ll be really embarrassing to bring the power adapter. *LOL*

So, with my new Lenovo laptop, I can now go to my favorite coffee shop with WiFi and hang out while browsing the web and accessing my favorite social networks on the laptop. I can even do my work on it without worrying about the battery power.

 

4. Finally switch over to Windows 7 with my new Lenovo laptop!

Finally switch to Windows 7! - blankpixels.com

Ever since Windows 7 came out, I have wanted to switch over to this new operating system. My old laptop was downgraded to Windows XP because it can’t handle Vista that well. Now, if I own a new Lenovo laptop, since it comes with GENUINE Windows 7 Home, I can now discover and enjoy Windows 7. I won’t be that outdated anymore. *LOL*

 

5. Multi-task, multi-task, multi-task with my new Lenovo laptop.

I am a multi-tasking addict, may it be on my computer or offline. I work like a horse and I tend to do multiple things at once because I believe I’m more efficient that way.

More multi-tasking on my new Lenovo laptop - blankPixels.com

With my old laptop, I can’t multi-task as much as I wanted to because it’ll usually hang when I have multiple spreadsheets open, while having Photoshop open ready for photo editing, designing or printing, playing music, downloading my favorite TV series torrents, blogging and browsing websites and my favorite social networking sites.

Now, with the Lenovo Ideapad G460 I’m hoping to win, with its Intel Core i3-350M 2.27GHz processor, 2GB DDR3 RAM, and 512MB video RAM, I can perform all my tasks simultaneously without worrying about my laptop freezing up on me.

 

6. Declutter Project #1: Play and burn DVDs and CDs on my new Lenovo laptop. No need for my external DVD-RW drive anymore!

I won't need my external DVD-RW drive anymore! - blankpixels.com

My old laptop’s DVD drive is broken. For some reason, it broke and I can’t even use it now to play DVDs or even access CDs. I had to purchase an external DVD drive, which is really a hassle, especially when traveling.

 

7. Declutter Project #2: Keep all my digital scrapbooking elements and photos on my new Lenovo laptop.

Yes, I already bought an external hard disk for backups and important files since my old laptop can’t handle it anymore. It’s really a hassle when I have to connect the external HDD to my old laptop when I’m designing scrapbook pages and when I’m in need of my photos or vectors. Plus, it’s really bulky to bring around not just the external DVD drive, but even the external hard disk.

My external hard disk drive would only be used for backups - blankpixels.com

With the Lenovo Ideapad G460 I’m hoping I’d win and its hard disk drive capacity of 320GB, I can keep all those scrapbooking elements and images on it so it’ll make my digital scrapbook designing more fun and easy! Then, I’ll just use my external hard disk for backups. πŸ˜€

 

8. Extra security options with my new Lenovo laptop.

Veriface facial recognition software on Lenovo laptops - blankPixels.com

With the Veriface face-recognition technology that comes with my new Lenovo laptop (yes, I’m owning the G460! *LOL*), I have the option of more security for the contents of my laptop. I consider myself a bit paranoid when it comes to computer and internet security. So, using the face-recognition technology can help make me feel at ease, especially when I leave my laptop behind when I need to.

Just imagine how much fun I’d have playing around with this software before I actually start activating it. *LOL*

 

9. Video chat and use the webcam on my new Lenovo laptop.

My old laptop’s webcam is broken. I had to buy an external webcam just so I can video chat with relatives and friends abroad. It’s really a hassle having to bring that webcam with me and setting it up somewhere I’d look good (yes, it’s all about the angles!) when I want to video chat with friends.

I want to video chat on my new Lenovo laptop! - blankpixels.com

Oh, I can also use my new Lenovo laptop’s webcam for video recording myself and taking photos that I can easily edit. This is how my photos look like when I use my old laptop’s webcam: A photo taken on my old laptop's webcam - blankpixels.com

No, that’s not edited. Well, except for the arrow and text. But, that’s EXACTLY how images and videos look when I use my laptop’s internal webcam. Can you see anything?! That’s right. That’s why I need a new laptop! πŸ™

 

 

10. 50% Work, 50% Play on my new Lenovo laptop.

My old laptop only has 256MB video memory, 2GHz Intel Dual Core processor and 1GB DDR2 RAM. With the poor processing power and low RAM, I can’t play my favorite online and offline games on it, especially when I’ve got Photoshop, multiple spreadsheets and my mp3 player running in the background. I can’t close the spreadsheets because I use them at our computer shop. That’s why I get easily bored when I’m manning our shop ’cause I can’t do anything else, especially for entertainment purposes, on my laptop.

When I also watch my favorite TV series that I downloaded on my laptop when I’m in my room, I have to make sure everything else is closed so the video won’t skip or hang while watching it.

Play Ragnarok again while everything else important is running in the background! - blankpixels.com

With the Lenovo Ideapad G460’s widescreen display, 512MB of video RAM, Intel Core i3 processor speed, and with the 2GB RAM, I’m sure I can still work while playing! I can play my online games while my other important applications are running in the background. I won’t get easily bored and won’t be needing that much coffee anymore. πŸ˜€

Lenovo Ideapad G460 - please be mine! - blankpixels.com

So, you see, I really want a new Lenovo laptop! This is my official entry to the Lenovo-YugaTech Laptop Giveaway and I am really hoping I’d win. I want the Lenovo G460!!! Now na!!

I would like to give credits to my mother, Virgie, for playing along with me and acting in front of the computer for the 2 photos of her I used on this post. I love my nanay! What a sport, eh? πŸ™‚

Nikon Lens Sale and Canon’s Christmas Craze!

Here are two amazing promos / sales that all gadget freaks like me shouldn’t miss – Nokia’s Lens Sale and Canon’s Christmas Craze 3-day Sale!

Canon's Christmas Craze 3-day sale - blankPixels.com

Canon’s Christmas Craze 3-day sale is happening at La Plaza Village at Tiendesitas until TOMORROW only, December 5, 2010. This promo is available from 1pm to 9pm daily.

Enjoy up to 50% off on selected models, avail of exclusive freebies, and spruce up your EOS with free camera cleaning! We’re even giving out free photo prints!
Part of the proceeds will go to Operation Smile, a non-profit medical service organization providing cleft lip and palate repair surgeries to children worldwide.

(official promo page)

 

Nikon Nikkor Lens Sale - blankPixels.com

Nikon will be having a Nikkor Lens Sale this month, from December 6 to the 31, 2010. Here are the participating resellers list:

  • Columbia Head Office – Quezon City (CASH only)
  • Digital Walker – Greenbelt 5 2. Trinoma 3. Virramall (Nikon Concept Shop)
  • Tekpone – Davao (Nikon Concept Shop)
  • Camerahaus – SM North, SM MOA, Davao, Cebu, SM Manila, Iloilo, SM Megamall, Robinsons Galleria, Glorietta 5
  • Picture City – SM MOA, SM Rosales, SM Bacolod, SM Lucena, SM Fairview, SM Pampanga, Pasig, Ayala Center
  • PerfectShot / TCA – SM North Edsa
  • JWL Int – Mandaluyong City
  • CSP Digital – General Santos City
  • Multi-Color – Bicol City
  • Cagayan Photo – Cagayan De Oro City
  • Prism 2 – Baguio City
  • Rhabel’s Photo – Kalibo Aklan

(official promo page)

Nokia’s Phones at 70% Off – Today Only!

Today December 4th, is Nokia’s Holiday Rush! I know, I should’ve posted about this earlier, but if you’re seeing this now, head out to the nearest participating Nokia store to avail of 70% off on selected Nokia phones, in time for Christmas!

Nokia's Holiday Rush - 70% off on selected phones! - blankPixels.com

These phones will be on sale:

  • Nokia 1280 – Php 890.00
  • Nokia 1616 – Php 990.00
  • Nokia C3 – Php 4,990.00
  • Nokia 5230 – Php 4,990.00
  • Nokia C5 – Php 6,990.00
  • Nokia C6 – Php 10,990.00

Here are the Terms and Conditions of this promo:

  • One unit per customer.
  • Strictly NO reservations.
  • Open for cash and straight transactions only.
  • Only those in line are entitled to avail of the promo.
  • The packages are slightly dented.

For more information and list of participating stores, visit Nokia’s website.

If you’ll be lining up for this promo, good luck! πŸ™‚