Here are a few sites that can help you find a good deal without devoting hours to the search.

Books, music and movies

Addall.com (for music, books, movies and magazines) searches more than 40 online retailers and lists the prices — including shipping — for items both new and used.

Bookfinder.com gives you similar results — but only for books — and searches a large number of sites that sell textbooks.

Fetchbook.info searches 127 book retailers, offering a list of options for new and used items — with shipping price included.

Tech stuff

Techbargains.com offers an ever-changing list of discounts and special offers.

If you're ordering a Dell computer, go to cheapstingybargains.com and click on "Dell Deals." This site maintains an updated list of Dell bargains and discounts. And it even tells you how to order — which extras to add, which options to choose — to maximize the deal. (I used this site to add $500 worth of features to my Dell laptop — which qualified my purchase for a $500 discount.)

Travel

Plenty of travel sites promise discounts on airfare or hotel rooms, but if you go through the hotel or airline's official Web site, sometimes you can save even more.

Consider this. If you buy an American Airlines ticket at aa.com, the site will ask you for a promotion code at checkout. Google "aa.com" and "promotion code" and — depending on your travel dates and your destination — you're likely to find a 5 percent discount code. Try this search no matter which airline you use.

Hotels will offer special discounts if you book online. Besides that, most major hotel chains offer an online-booking price guarantee — so if you see a lower price for that room on another Web site, you can ask for a refund and be paid the difference (and sometimes a little extra).

If you're searching for a flight, first go to Farecast.com. You can't buy your tickets directly from the site, but you can find out when and where you're likely to get the best deal. The site rounds up flight schedules and fares, just like the usual travel sites do (including Travelocity.com and Orbitz.com). But Farecast offers something more: It tracks flight prices over 90 days, then analyzes the market to determine whether fares for your destination are likely to go up or down between now and your travel date. The system isn't foolproof, but it's an educated guess.