My search procedure was fairly lengthy and involved.  Cnet was the first information website that I used.  Surprisingly, they did not list the Hewlett Packard 970C when it first came out (they list it now).  In addition, they did not list the Hewlett Packard 4050 series printer.  They did list the HP 4000 series printer, which was subsequently replaced by the 4050.  I wanted current information, so I visited PCMagazine.  I became aware of the computer shopper at this website.  Computer shopper had vendor listings for both the 970C and the 4050 printer series.  After cruising this website extensively, I was confident that this was a good website for identifying e-commerce websites from which to purchase a printer.  Using its search engine (I typed in Hewlett Packard 4050), computer shopper identified several vendors.

The price range varied substantially among the vendors, from $828.00 to $1206.99, with the majority in the $1050-$1200 price range.  I decided to look at the website offering the product for $828.00.  After clicking on the link to visit the website A Matter of Fax, I saw the message "Netscape is unable to locate the server."  I made the quick decision to not deal with firms offering the product well below the mean price; this was too risky for my bones.  Onvia priced the product at $978.98; both eCost and OnSale priced the 4050 printer at $978.99.  The price at Computers4Sure was $999.99.  All other websites listed the product for over $1000.

I consider myself to be an educated low-price shopper.  That is, I buy from a trusted vendor; I don't, however, pay for window dressing and other items that I feel that I do not need.  My first stop was Onvia.  I had heard of them and I found their website to be fairly good.  My first instinct is to to ask about availability when I see a significantly lower price from an online merchant.  On Saturday, November 6, I emailed Onvia asking about the availability of the 4050 printer, even though the screen said that the item was "in stock."  Two days later (Monday, November 8), a customer service representative replied that the 4050TN was in stock (this is the top of the line model which sells for about $400-$500 more than the base 4050 that I was planning to purchase).  As a result, I did not have enough confidence to order from them; I did not want to have my purchase be a "back order." 

I then went to Onsale.com and eCost.com.  They listed two identical 4050 printers (one was called the 4050, the other the 4050se) at prices that were nearly $200 apart.  Even the HP website listed these two printers at different prices ($1099 for the 4050 and $1149 for the 4050se).  I knew that the computers were identical from reading the technical specifications and from conferring with an HP technical representative.  I liked the eCost website a lot -- awesome website -- and I was really close to ordering from them.  I called to ask about the discrepancy in price between the 4050 and the 4050se.  Their customer service person stated that the printers were identical, however, she could not explain the price difference; she added that she would have someone look into it immediately, and if there was an error, the website would be updated that same day.  The website was never updated and, again, my confidence was shaken slightly.  Incidentally, it was very important that I buy a "kosher" printer as HP has a promotion going on where one can get a free printer accessory worth up to $270.  I did not want to be disqualified from this promotion on a technicality.  (I later called HP to make sure that the 4050 qualified for the promotion, and they confirmed that it did indeed.)

I decided to visit Gomez and see what they thought of these vendors.  eCost was not rated.  Onsale was ranked tenth overall out of twenty merchants.  I noticed that Computers4sure was rated second overall.  I decided to give them a look.  Their website design was reasonable.  They too listed both the 4050 at two different prices; however, the higher priced one was listed as "out of stock."  I liked the fact that the shopping cart is always visible when you shop.  In addition, I liked the fact that there was not a restocking fee for returns; several other merchants charge a 5-15% fee if one returns a product that is not damaged in some shape or form (returning an item because you don't like it will cost you a restocking fee).  Since I was not sure I would like this printer, I was willing to pay $20 more for the printer (actually, my net cost will be about $40 higher as several other merchants have free shipping promotions ongoing -- as an aside, I believe this helps convert consumers from shoppers to buyers).

Before finalizing my purchase decision, I also visited bizrate.com.  I wanted to see their listed ratings of the merchants selling these printers, and if they offered rebates on purchases from any of these vendors.  All the merchants scored well at bizrate, with Computers4Sure scoring best on my most important considerations.  The rebate amounts, in essence, were nonsignificant.  This afternoon, I went to Computers4Sure and placed my order; I'm getting the duplex unit as my free "Deal of The Century" promotion item from Hewlett Packard (for printing on both sides of a sheet of paper).  I will finally have a printer.  Gee, it took long enough.

How can I end this entry without mentioning Streamline.  Many of the grocery items have been fine.  They have been sending me some product promotions via the message board on their website.  I asked if I could "opt out" of these messages;  I should find out about this soon.  For dinner tonight, we had a frozen pizza that we ordered through Streamline.  It was priced at $12.99 (i.e., it was priced on the high end) and it tasted like it should have been priced for $2.99 (i.e., the low end).  In addition, we ordered a three cheese with carmelized onions pizza, however, we received a mushroom pizza; the mushrooms, however, were good.  We didn't save the leftovers.  That is an unusual act for me.  I'll let them know about this and then report on their response.