John Neff, the contrarian investor who beat the S&P 500 by an average of more than three percentage points a year during his 31-year run at Vanguard's Windsor fund, is buying stocks again.

"I've taken a kick in the chops along with everybody else," Neff says, estimating that his stock portfolio lost nearly 30 percent in 2008.

However, Neff — who profited greatly by shorting the Nasdaq during the tech bubble — is busily shopping for equity bargains, he tells CNN Money.

So, what does Neff like now?

Top hard disk-drive manufacturer Seagate Technology and Hewlett-Packard are among his technology picks.

"I wouldn't usually own two technology stocks but at the right price even I can be convinced," Neff says, adding that he couldn't pass up blue chip HP, now trading in the mid-30s.

Neff also likes energy companies ConocoPhillips and Swift Energy, both of which he says are real steals now — especially Swift, which Neff says has great cash flow and may raise its dividend in a couple of months.

BlackRock CIO Bob Doll agrees that technology and energy stocks are attractive now. He also foresees a recovery in the second half of this year.

However, "if we're wrong and deflation does become a reality in a widespread way, then all bets are off," Doll told CNN.