When my three-month-old iPhone 3G nearly died, I suddenly became very interested in phone insurance plans that had previously left me cold. Major carriers typically offer insurance along with umpteen other "up-sells" when you buy a new handset, and I reflexively turn all of them down.

But faced, even temporarily, with the prospect of having to replace my iPhone at its full, unsubsidized price ($500 for the 16GB model), I began to wonder if insurance might not be worthwhile. It turns out that one company--Asurion--manages insurance programs for all the major U.S. carriers. However...

With the long-awaited transition to digital broadcasting just around the corner (February 17), many shoppers will take the HDTV plunge during the holidays and beyond--and stores eagerly await them. Even if you plan to buy online, it's smart to eyeball sets in a local big-box store, but don't take everything you see or hear at face value. Here are some issues to be aware of.

Check the Content

In a recent visit to a Best Buy store, I noticed that the inexpensive sets were playing a recorded HDTV loop (sales reps couldn't say whether it was 720p or 1080i, the two broadcast HD formats), but the pricey units in the store's upscale Magnolia area were playing different content--some of broadcast quality, but some from media. Not surprisingly, the set playing a Blu-ray movie looked best, since Blu-ray is the only source of native 1080p content.

I'm writing this column on the eve of Labor Day, and chances are you've not yet celebrated Halloween as you read it. But if you think it's too early to begin your holiday shopping, think again.

The most important thing I learned last year was that shopping on a timetable (the holidays, in this case) isn't always productive. I bought my HDTV (a 42-inch Panasonic 1080p plasma) during a Veteran's Day sale at Sears.com, and the price went up the next day, never to sink to the same level until well into the new year. So my top holiday shopping tip is, if you see a great deal, pounce on it.

Last fall, I wrote about Assurz, a service that-for a small up-front surcharge-would let you return anything you bought at a participating retailer, on very generous terms: no questions asked, a 90-day window, and no shipping charges or restocking fees. Sadly, Assurz is no more. PC World's Steve Bass has written about the Assurz debacle, but the gist of the story is that Assurz filed for bankruptcy protection in late June after informing its retail partners that it was ending service because of excessively high return rates. What a shock: Whoever came up with the company's business model apparently didn't anticipate that the type of person who'd sign up for the service would be far likelier than the average customer to use it.

Another Type of Guarantee

Other third-party services still seek to assuage the fears of nervous online buyers. I recently looked at BuySafe.com, which rates e-commerce sites for security and privacy features, and offers merchants that it deems to be up to snuff the option of offering BuySafe's bonding service. Basically, the service is a guarantee-good for up to $25,000 and backed by the likes of Liberty Mutual and Travelers Insurance-that the e-tailer will meet all of its obligations on a sale.

Auction sites are among the Web's greatest wonders. Want to know something's value? For tangible goods, there's no better barometer of current worth than eBay. Now a new site called MoneyAisle promises similar benefits to people looking for the best interest rates for their long- or short-term savings.

Sure, you can run a search on Bankrate.com, or check out mortgage offers on LendingTree.com. But MoneyAisle's creators at the online auction technology company NeoSaej say that the site's innovative technology and ad-independent business model help consumers find the best rates on money-market savings accounts or certificates of deposit, while also helping banks find depositors more cost-effectively.

You don't need to be a finance whiz to recognize that the least painful way to pay for a big-ticket item--a new car, say, or a dream vacation--is to save small amounts toward it, week by week, month by month, paycheck by paycheck. But how many of us are disciplined enough to set aside money for a planned future purchase?

SmartyPig promises not only to help you save toward a goal but also to make it simple for family members and friends to contribute (think birthday gift)--and, in many cases, the service might even help make the goal itself cost less. But while the general concept sounds good, the implementation hides a few notable gotchas that might prove annoying to some.

You need a new cell phone--but you can't make up your mind which one to get. Sound familiar?

Given all the cool handsets around, with new ones coming out all the time, it's no wonder people have difficulty deciding. And all the user and/or expert review sites in the world can't substitute for your own hands-on evaluations--but who has the time to traipse from store to store to play with every model you're considering?

All you can eat. I remember how sweet those words sounded when I first heard them in connection with something other than food: a flat-rate dial-up Internet account back in the 1990s. Recently all four major national cell phone carriers went the same route for voice calls, announcing new plans that set no limits on talk time. But unlimited talk is pricey (the plans charge $100 a month), and several other drawbacks make the offers less appetizing than they sound.

For starters, the plans don't do much for families. Verizon Wireless, which was the first to announce its unlimited-calling plan, gives no break whatsoever for additional lines: Each one will cost another $100. Same nondeal with AT&T Wireless & T-Mobile.

I also found airfares to and from San Francisco--purchased less than three weeks before I left--lower than any I'd researched months earlier. And on only three days' notice my traveling companion, Contributing Editor Grace Aquino, located great accommodations in a tourist destination (Barcelona) that was packed for a tech-industry trade show.

The answer depends on your HDTV. If, like me, you have a 1080p display, a Blu-ray player won't become dated very fast.

Like any savvy shopper, I use the Web to research prices for tech products. But last year I learned to appreciate sites that come to you with bargains.

Deal sites are great when you're not on a deadline to buy--in other words, when you're willing to wait for the right price on a wish list of items, or see products you might not even have realized you wanted affordably listed. I found my HDTV at a great price thanks to a specialized subgenre of deal site--a 'Black Friday' site called BFAds that sent subscribers e-mail messages about "Hotter than Black Friday" deals throughout the holiday season.

I buy lots of stuff online, but until recently I never gave much thought to how my purchases got to me. After all, there wasn't much to say about FedEx, UPS, or the U.S. Postal Service.

Things changed when I bought a big flat-screen TV. As I surfed from e-tailer to e-tailer, I learned that delivery services varied widely, and that failure to check out these services could result in unpleasant surprises when the set arrives. Here's what you need to know.