Now that all the kids are back in school and, hopefully, well-equipped with computing hardware, the manufacturers will begin their annual assault on the Christmas season. I'll update my annual buying article soon.

In the meantime, now is a very good time to pay attention to sales. As expected, I received a raft of emails over the Labor Day weekend promoting desktop and laptop sales, all on existing models. This may be a very good time to buy; unless the economy forces a dry season this year, you won't see good sales again until just after Christmas and in to January.

Be careful with the sales, though. Your objective should be to buy not just for price but for the needed features. The idea is to get what you want or need at a reduced price, not take advantage of a price at the expense of features.