Cool Enough

For one reason or another, I have never purchased an air conditioner for myself. New York City gets 90+ degree weather from time to time, but I have always managed to get by without it. This year, however, summer came early and erratically. At the current rate, the heat will keep me awake more than I'd like to and affect my ability to work. Dragging my toes all the way to the computer, I researched for the best deals around.

If you've never spent time researching for deals before, you don't know what you're missing. The best place to look for deals are at:

http://forums.anandtech.com/categories.cfm?catid=40
http://www.fatwallet.com

Price comparison sites like Dealtime.com only list retail prices.

I found a GE 8000BTU air conditioner for $259 on Rexstore.com, but Mercata.com also had a Goldstar 8000BTU air conditioner for $245. Most of you would've picked GE over Goldstar if given the choice, but the problem is that GE air conditioners are not made by GE. They are actually made by Sharp! From past experience, Sharp is one of the worst Japanese brand there is.

So far, the Goldstar is humming perfectly and keeping my 10' X 30' apartment cool. While it does not have any special features (expected), it does its job quite well for its low price.