Today I set out to buy a Logitech Harmony One remote control, enthused by a recent MacWorld podcast. I trekked down London's techie heaven, Tottenham Court Road, and was surprised not to find one. Eventually I tracked down unit in John Lewis's ("never knowingly undersold") department store on Oxford Street. It was priced at £149.95, about £30 under the recommended list price. I was tempted.
But I whipped out my iPhone and RedLasered the barcode (that is, I pointed the camera at the barcode and pressed the button in RedLaser). Within seconds I had a list of prices from alternative suppliers and found the same item at Amazon for £118.
So, again, RedLaser has saved me a lot of cash. Not only this, the iPhone's versatility and superb web browsing enabled me to order the Logitech from Amazon while standing in John Lewis's tech department. I couldn't have done that on my old and trusted Palm Treo.
RedLaser is a superb application and can save you loads of cash over the year. I've also found it useful as a means of remembering things I've browsed in shops: all that's needed is a simply scan of the bar code on the box.
As an aside, though, it was remarkable at home many web sites were selling the Logitech at well above recommended retail price.