My husband and I are going to a friend’s wedding in two weeks, so I’ve been busy browsing through wedding gifts to see if I can find anything good before then.

Whenever I shop for wedding gifts, I can’t help but reminisce about my own wedding and all the wonderful presents we got on that day. Since it was more than 10 years ago, many of the material gifts we received have long since broken or worn out. Just about the only things that remain intact are the personalized champagne flutes that we ordered as favors.

We absolutely love these flutes, and bring them out once a year–on our anniversary, of course–to drink to our success while we watch our wedding video. Yeah, maybe it is a little cheesy, but we can let this one slide, can’t we?

Anyway, I’m tempted to get the new couple a set of personalized champagne flutes so maybe they can start a similar tradition. What do you think?

My mom really wants an eBook reader, but isn’t willing to spend hundreds of dollars on the device. Fortunately, the market has expanded quite a bit in the past year or two, so now there are several different brands to choose from. As I was browsing around Buy.com this morning, I came across this Libre eBook Reader from Aluratek, which looks like it might be perfect for my mom.

The Libre eBook Reader comes with all the features you need in one of these devices. It supports a bunch of file formats (PDF, TXT, FB2, EPUB, MOBI, PRC and RTF) right out of the box, without having to go through tedious conversion processes. Moreover, the EPUB and MOBI formats allow you to read ebooks “borrowed” from public libraries, which some of the other popular devices cannot do.

The Libre eBook reader uses an exclusive LCD technology that renders print the way it would be on a real paperback. This, coupled with the absence of backlighting, reduces eyestrain and makes the reading experience pleasurable — even in long doses.

Other neat features include a built-in MP3 player (with background playing support), expandable memory (up to 32GB), auto-off function, adjustable font size, and content search. Plus, the device comes pre-loaded with 100 classic titles such as Moby Dick and Pride and Prejudice to get you started.

The Aluratek Libre eBook Reader is on sale at Buy.com for $129.99 (with free two-day shipping) as part of the store’s Weekly Deals. That’s about as low a price as I’ve ever seen for a fully functional eBook reader like this! I’m thinking the Libre would make a perfect Mother’s Day present, so I might have to go ahead and order this one!

I’ve been hearing a lot about Slingbox media tuners in the past few months, and am intrigued by how they work. I guess if you have one of these things you can “placeshift” your media consumption by streaming feeds from your home television to your laptop or cell phone. That would be awesome for times when I’m on the road during a football game or a hockey game that I really want to watch! But would a Slingbox be easy enough for me to set up? Is it affordable?

Well, I was just over at Buy.com and they have this Sling Media TV Tuner as one of their Weekly Deals. The product description makes this thing sound even better! Not only can you fully control your home television (as long as it’s on) with an on-screen remote that mimics your TV remote, but there are absolutely no extra monthly fees to use Slingbox! That’s pretty amazing! Plus, you can of course change the channels, so you’re not at all stuck watching whatever channel your TV happens to be tuned into (which is something I wasn’t sure about).

This Sling Media TV tuner is on sale for $249.95 right now — more than $50 off the regular retail price. It’s still a bit expensive for my tastes, but this is the kind of product that sounds like it might be well worth the bigger price tag. I’m going to do some more research into Slingbox and see if this is something I should get for my family.

We’re trying to turn our basement into an entertainment/media center, but the process has been pretty slow-going — mostly because of financial challenges. Nevertheless, we’re still moving forward and purchasing furnishings and equipment whenever we can, which is why I keep scoping out the deals at places like Buy.com. When I saw this LG 42-inch LCD TV offered at less than half the retail price this morning, I immediately checked my savings account to see how much money I had in there.

This LG LCD TV looks like a great bargain! It comes with a bunch of features such as Auto Tuning, Channel Labeling, four language choices (English, Spanish, French, Korean), customizable closed-captioning and subtitles, child lock, and more. Plus, it even has HDMI inputs to accommodate sophisticated gaming systems like the PlaySation 3. I won’t pretend to understand all the technical specs, but I’m going to assume that they’re commensurate with similar television models out there.

Anyway, the best part about this LG 42″ LCD TV is the price tag. It’s on sale for just $649.99 as part of Buy.com’s Weekly Deals — and comes with free shipping. Now that’s the kind of bargain that I simply can’t afford to pass up! I know furnishing our basement media center hasn’t been a priority in the past, but we’ve got to get a move on here.

I know New Moon premiered a long time ago, but I’m still seeing people walk around with all kinds of themed merchandise. T-shirts and promotional tote bags seem to be particularly popular these days. Did they hand these out at the theater or what? Because I really can’t believe that this many people went out and bought the same items! Of course I’ve seen action figures, calendars, and other products in stores, but not the particular tees and bags I’m talking about, which is why I think they were freebies.

Honestly, I just don’t understand all the hype about New Moon. Granted, I have not read the books, but a love story involving teenage vampires doesn’t seem like it would be quite my style anyway. And I seriously don’t get all the panting and drooling over Robert Pattinson. Really? Is he all that? He does nothing for me. To each her own, I guess!

The Batman film franchise “rebooted” a few years ago, with Christian Bale taking on the role of the caped crusader in Batman Begins and continuing with The Dark Knight. The two newest films have earned hundreds of millions of dollars worldwide, and are clearly a hit with fans. But even so, I thought the older films from the ’90s were pretty entertaining, which is why I want to buy this Batman DVD Collection.

The Batman DVD Collection features the following four films: Batman (1989), Batman Returns (1992), Batman Forever (1995), and Batman & Robin (1997). Three different actors played Batman in those films (Michael Keaton, Val Kilmer, and George Clooney), which kind of detracted from the quality, but I loved some of the villains, including Tommy Lee Jones as Two-Face, Uma Thurman as Poison Ivy, Jim Carrey as the Riddler, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mr. Freeze.

I’ve seen each of the films only once, and not since their theatrical release, so I don’t even remember what happened in any of them. Watching this DVD collection would be like seeing them all for the first time again.

I don’t think any bonus features are included, but with the collection being on sale for $10.98, I think I can live with that! Four movies for less than 11 bucks plus free shipping? Maybe I’ll get two, so I can give one away as a stocking stuffer when Christmas rolls around. Sounds like a plan!

For as much as my husband and I like to buy tech toys, it’s a bit surprising that we don’t have any kind of camcorder at all. Instead, we just rely on our digital camera’s movie mode, which is not very good at all. Sometimes I feel guilty that the only “home movies” I have of my son are a bunch of short clips filmed with the digital camera!

We’re certainly not averse to buying a camcorder, provided that we get a good deal on it. In fact, this Sony HD handycam that I saw over on Buy.com this morning seems to be just what we’re looking for. This handycam comes with a long list of terrific features, including 15x Optical/180x Digital zoom, geotagging, 1920 x 1080 hi-def resolution, slow motion recording, still image capture, highlight playback, a 120GB built-in hard drive, and much more. This is clearly a high-end camera, as evidenced by its $1,000 retail price tag.

But Buy.com has reconditioned models on sale for half price — $499.99. The reconditioned models have been professionally inspected to ensure that they meet manufacturer standards regarding resale, so there’s no reason to be concerned about quality or performance. Moreover, most reconditioned products come with warranties similar to those that brand-new products have, which nice for added peace of mind.

I would love to have a video camera like this so we can start making “real” family movies. Maybe this could be our joint Christmas gift this year!

I have a small TV and DVD player set up by my desk in my office space so I can watch movies for my reviews. This is a very convenient system for me, and I end up watching a majority of my DVDs on my little portable TV rather than on the much larger, much better plasma television in the living room. But my portable TV is a very old CRT model that takes up a massive amount of space and is probably not very energy efficient, so I’m thinking of replacing it.

While I was browsing at Buy.com, I noticed this Haier Portable LCD TV on their Weekly Deals page. This is television features a 7″ screen, stereo sound, an HDTV tuner, and A/V ports for connecting peripheral devices. It’s really the perfect size for my office, and is much smaller and slimmer — though it has the same screen dimensions — as my current CRT television.

If I’m going to buy a replacement, now would be a good time because this Haier portable LCD TV is on sale for $97.99. That’s around 51% off the original retail price, and when you throw in Buy.com’s free shipping, this purchase turns into an even better deal. I need to make a decision on this soon, though. This TV is the No. 2 seller on the site because obviously other people can recognize an amazing bargain when they see one too. I don’t want to wait around so long that this thing gets sold out, so I better move on this now!

While most guys probably know that jewelry is a great gift for almost any occasion, few of them actually know how to pick out appropriate pieces. As a woman, there are few things worse than having to wear a hideous bracelet or ring just because your man bought it for your birthday. Sure, we’re taught that it’s the thought that counts, but let’s be real here. No one can truly appreciate ugly jewelry!

So that’s why I really like what online retailer Bella True has done on their website. They feature a section called “Tips for Guys” that contains a number of articles designed to help men select the perfect necklace, pendant, earrings, or brooch for their significant other. The articles include helpful information about how to choose the right jewelry for special occasions (such as birthdays and anniversaries), how to properly say “I’m sorry” with a thoughtful present, and much more. They’re written with a great sense of humor, but the advice is actually spot-on!

It’s been a very long time since I’ve received any jewelry as a gift… I might just have to point my husband to the Bella True website in the near future!

I generally don’t get too attached to brand names, but I have grown to love my iPods. I bought my first one in 2004 (the iPod Mini), and have had a new Nano nearly every year since then. I haven’t bought one this year, though, because I’m thinking of upgrading to a Touch, and want to wait until after September when the new models come out.

Anyway, I’ve never had an issue with the iPod devices themselves, but the earphones are another matter entirely. The pair that come bundled with iPods are absolutely terrible! Every single set I’ve ever had has either broken or malfunctioned within months of purchase. In fact, just two weeks ago, my latest pair broke, after having lasted a personal best 9 months. All that happened was that they slipped off my desk and dropped to the hardwood floor below — a distance of maybe two feet. The left side earphone cracked and the cover came off, rendering it useless.

I don’t have any backups because all the others bit the dust as well, so now I’m stuck having to buy new headphones. Fortunately, I came across a great sale at Buy.com this morning. They’re offering this 2-pack of ear buds that work with all iPhones and iPods for just $6.99. That’s for two pair! I can probably come up with that kind of cash under the seat cushions on the couch, so the price isn’t an issue at all.

These iPhone ear buds are non-OEM, meaning they were not manufactured by Apple — definitely a good thing, in my opinion. Furthermore, they come with a soft silicone earpiece that looks like it would be a heck of a lot more comfortable than the default iPod headphones, and have a 47-inch cord for a good range of motion.

As I said, $6.99 is such a small price for two sets of ear buds that I’ve just got to give these a try. Let’s hope they last longer than the Apple earphones do!