Reviews and More

As a freelance writer and blogger, I spend about 10-12 hours online every single day. My frequent Internet searches often take me to new websites that I’ve never been to before, and I also download numerous documents and files. In other words, I’m just the kind of person who could pick up malicious spyware, worms, or viruses if I’m not careful!

Because of my online habits, I try to make sure that my spyware and antivirus software is always up to date. With my current Norton subscription set to run out in a couple of weeks, I’m looking at alternate products for my next purchase. I’m not a big fan of the way Norton slows my CPU to a crawl, so I’d like to try something different.

When I was over at Buy.com earlier today, I landed on the product page for Webroot Spy Sweeper with AntiVirus. After reviewing the features, I’ve decided that this is perfect for my needs!

Webroot provides total protection against the most common threats to safe browsing — viruses and spyware — in a simple program that won’t hog system resources. The software doesn’t come inflated with lots of tools that I’ll never use (just so the manufacturer can slap a “suite” label on it and charge through the nose), and it offers better value than purchasing separate spyware and antivirus utilities.

I haven’t even told you the best part yet! Webroot Spy Sweeper with Antivirus is one of Buy.com’s famous Weekly Deals, and is now on sale for $38 with free shipping. That’s a good price in itself, but the Buy.com savings don’t stop there. You will also get two mail-in rebates (one for $20 and one for $18), thereby making the product absolutely FREE! How can you possibly beat that deal anywhere else?

I can’t wait to get rid of my Norton and reclaim my CPU again!

I just have to say that the more I check out Buy.com, the more I fall in love with that site! I just can’t believe some of the amazing prices they’re able to offer on cool gadgets and home electronics products in their daily and weekly deals.

For instance, as I was browsing through Buy.com today, I saw a Norcent DCS-1050 10.0 mega pixel digital camera on sale for just $79.99. That’s a full $220 off the regular list price of $299, and is a tremendous bargain any way you slice it.

This Norcent digital camera comes packed with all the useful features I could ever want or need in a point-and-shoot model, including the following:

• 22 shooting modes
• 3x optical zoom and 4x digital zoom
• Custom white balance settings
• High-resolution images up to 3648 x 2736
• Large 3.0″ LTPS TFT LCD display window
• Anti-shake and face tracking capabilities
• Ultra-slim design

Even though I already have a digital camera, I’m seriously thinking about purchasing this Norcent DCS-1050 as a backup — or even as a full-time replacement for the Casio that I now use. I frequently have problems with my current camera, so it would be nice to have a spare around to ensure that I don’t miss anymore family photo ops. And really, at just $79.99 plus free shipping, it’s pretty hard to pass up a deal like this!

(Click image to enlarge.)

I bought my husband Jerry an 80GB iPod Classic for Christmas. This is one of the newer models that has the ability to play videos, and Jerry just loves the thing! He never leaves home without it, whether he’s headed to work, going for a jog, or simply walking to the corner store for a gallon of milk. I guess he’s one of those people that needs to be entertained at all times!

The only problem with the iPod is that it doesn’t play standard video formats like AVI or MPEG without first putting the files through a converter program. Jerry has tried a few free converters that he found online, but didn’t like the results he got. So I started looking around for some commercial products that could do the job, and came across something called Roxio Crunch featured in the weekly deals at Buy.com. This is software that was designed specifically to convert video files to formats that are readable by Apple products like iPods, iPhones, and Apple TV.

Roxio Crunch is an easy, hassle-free way to convert AVI, MOV, MPEG-4, MPEG-2, and DV files into an iPod-compatible format. The software allows for batch conversions, and also allows users to select which video and audio segments they want to convert from DVDs. For example, if you wanted to put only the bonus features from Transformers on your iPod instead of the whole movie, Roxio Crunch can help. If you want the Spanish or French audio track instead of English, that’s no problem either.

This sounds perfect for my husband, and best of all, it’s on sale at Buy.com for $32.99 — and includes a $23 mail-in rebate that brings the price down to just $9.99! Toss in free standard shipping, and this is clearly one deal that is too good to pass up! Father’s Day is just a couple weeks away, so the timing is perfect here.

If you’re stuck for gift ideas for Dad or simply love a great bargain, check out the Weekly Deals at Buy.com. There are so many choices available that you’re bound to find something you like!

Summer is just around the corner, which means it’s almost time for outdoor activities such as fishing, swimming, and boating. Last year we were lucky enough to go out on Lake Michigan in my best friend’s boat several times over the summer, and we had an absolute blast each time. In fact, we liked it so much that we’ve recently been talking about getting a boat of our own.

Of course, there’s no way that we’d be able to afford a motorboat like the one my friend has. The boat itself is well out of our price range, and when you add in docking fees, insurance, and ongoing maintenance costs, we’d be in over our heads in no time. So we’ve been looking at inflatable boats as an alternative.

Inflatable boats seem to have several advantages over traditional fiberglass boats. For instance, it costs far less to purchase and maintain an inflatable boat, so we won’t have to sacrifice much in order to buy one. Because of this low cost, inflatable boats are perfect for first-time owners who simply want to enjoy some leisurely weekends out on the water without the usual hassles that come along with hauling a full-sized fiberglass boat around.

The best feature of inflatable boats, in my opinion, is how easy they are to store. They’ll fit in virtually any garage or shed, which is far better than having a fiberglass boat and trailer sitting in the driveway or on the lawn all winter long!

We haven’t made up our minds 100 percent yet, but if we do end up buying a boat this summer, odds are we’ll go for an inflatable version. Affordable family fun in a convenient package…. what’s not to love?

I love having extra storage for all of my computer files! I own several flash drives ranging in size from 256MB to 2GB and two external hard drives (80GB and 160GB), but am still not satisfied. What can I say? I’m an electronic file pack rat and would much rather save all of my videos, MP3s, photos, e-books, PowerPoint presentations, and assorted documents than delete them — only to wish I still had them later.

That’s why I’m VERY interested in purchasing this Western Digital 250GB portable hard drive from Buy.com. This particular hard drive is just 3″x5″ (the size of a typical index card), weighs a hair over six ounces, and doesn’t require an external power source or special installation software in order to use it. That means I can easily carry 250GB worth of data around in my purse or pocket, and access that data on any computer I come across, be it at the office, at the school computer lab, at the public library, etc. Perfect!

You’d think that a portable hard drive with these specs would cost a couple hundred bucks at least, but that’s not the case at all. This Western Digital 250GB model is currently one of the special weekly deals over at Buy.com, and is priced at just $99.99, which includes free shipping. Plus, that price can go even lower if I use Google Checkout (an extra $10 off) or apply for and use a Buy.com Visa card (an extra $30 off).

I know I won’t be able to beat those prices anywhere else, so I might end up ordering one even though I haven’t quite filled up my other drives yet!

I have a somewhat expensive mobile phone that has a lot of great extras, such as a 4 megapixel camera and video recording capabilities. These features are perfect for those times when I forget to bring my regular digital camera with me, and have already helped me preserve some fun family moments.

The only problem was that if I set my cell phone camera settings to the highest quality, the file sizes of the images became far too large to send by e-mail, which essentially meant that my pictures were stuck on my phone. In order to get around this issue, I would have to buy a microSD card to transfer the data from my phone to my computer, where I could then deal with my photos as usual. But most microSD cards I saw at stores were too expensive for my limited budget, so I simply let my phone fill to capacity with all my photos and videos and put microSD cards out of my mind.

But as I was browsing through the weekly deals at Buy.com over the weekend, I came across an amazing offer for a Kingston 2GB microSD kit. The kit contains two 1GB Kingston microSD cards, plus two full-size adapters. The microSD cards can be used in mobile phones, and then the adapters allow the microSD cards to be read in desktop and notebook computers. That’s exactly what I wanted, and best of all, the kit was on sale at Buy.com for just $11.95 with free shipping! How can anyone pass up a deal like this?!

Anyway, I’m excited about ordering this Kingston microSD card kit and can’t wait to start enjoying increased functionality from my mobile phone!

With Mother’s Day just around the corner, I’ve been spending a lot of time browsing through potential gifts — both for myself and for my mom. When I was growing up, my mom always said this was the most significant holiday for her, and that she valued it even more than her birthday. As a result, my brother and I always put extra effort into our gifts and cards, and I know Mom appreciated this.

Now that I’m a mother myself, I feel the same way about Mother’s Day and have not been shy in communicating this to my husband and son. As long as they acknowledge the day in some meaningful way, I’ll be happy.

Of course, a nice gift would be welcome too, which is why I’ve been looking for the last week or so. One interesting website I came across was LifetimeMothers.com, an online store that specializes in jewelry for mothers. They have a terrific assortment of rings, pendants, bracelets, earrings, and watches that can be personalized with kids’ names and birthstones, making them a perfect choice for Mother’s Day.

I particularly liked the Family Fun Ring, pictured above. This is a mother’s ring that can display up to four children’s names and birthstones, which I think is a very neat idea. The rings are made from 14k yellow or white gold with 3.0mm genuine birthstones. Moreover, the names are laser-etched into the surface, so they’ll always be readable no matter how long you have the ring. This is truly a beautiful piece that I have my heart set on for this year!

Moms do so much for their children on a daily basis that they surely deserve some recognition and appreciation on Mother’s Day. Show your mom or grandma how much they mean by choosing a beautiful personalized gift from LifetimeMothers.com. There’s still time to order before May 11, so visit the site today!

With as many movies and TV shows that I watch, you’d think that I’d have a sweet home theater set up to enjoy all of this media. But that’s not the case at all. While I do have a nice, relatively new LCD flat-panel television and a top-of-the-line DVD player, I don’t have external speakers, subwoofers, receivers, or anything else to enhance my viewing experience. Heck, I don’t even have a proper TV Stand for my Sharp Aquos; it’s currently balanced rather precariously on a wheeled cart that isn’t even the right size!

I obviously need to rectify this situation, so I’ve been shopping around for different products that will help me put my home theater together. Today I came across www.StandsOnline.com, a terrific website that specializes in selling affordable TV Stands, wall mounts, and complete entertainment centers for the latest LCD and plasma televisions on the market. The products at StandsOnline.com come from trusted manufacturers such as Omnimount, Peerless, Vantage Point, and more, so I know I’ll be getting my money’s worth no matter what I buy.

To make their great deals even better, StandsOnline.com also offers free domestic shipping on all their merchandise, so now is a great time to purchase Audio Video Towers, speaker mounts, and everything else a state-of-the-art home theater needs.

If you’re as much of a movie and television addict as I am, you simply must check out the vast selection of home entertainment products over at www.StandsOnline.com today. I’m sure you’ll enjoy browsing through the site as much as I did!

I’m one of those people who likes to put my name or initials on practically everything I own. If I buy something that can be customized, such as pens, shirts, stationery, or even hand towels, I always go with that option. If it can’t be personalized at the store, I use a nice label maker to take care of things myself.

Anyway, I guess that’s one of the reasons that I like VistaPrint so much. They offer a wide array of personalized products that are useful both at home and at the office. For instance, I was browsing through the site today and saw these cute family address labels that feature customizable caricatures of everyone, including pets! These labels would not only save time with all my mailings, but would also give everyone on my correspondence list a glimpse of my fun, lighthearted side. Take a look at one of the samples:

If you haven’t been to VistaPrint.com in awhile, then you should really stop by to check out all the different products they offer. They have a lot more than just business cards and labels these days, so if you’re looking for hats, t-shirts, stationery, magnets, window decals, birth announcements, or practically anything else that can be printed, VistaPrint can accommodate your needs. Take a look today!

We just love gadgets in this family, and usually try to purchase the latest tech toys like MP3 players, video game systems, smartphones, and more. Basically, if we see something cool in a store or on a website, chances are we’ll buy it before long!

That’s why I’m positive we’ll be getting a digital photo frame soon. We’ve been checking these products out for a while now, and are convinced that we need several for our home and offices.

We’re fascinated by the way the frames scroll through all the images on your SD memory card, giving each photo its moment in the limelight. What a wonderful way to create an instant slideshow of our latest vacation, birthday party, or holiday gathering — so much better than the old method of having to choose a single image to print out and frame!

Anyway, I’ve been doing a lot of research into digital photo frames, and found some great information over at DigitalFramesDirect.com, the official homepage of the largest digital frame wholesaler in the UK. That website contains helpful articles and video reviews that highlight the features I should look for when shopping for one of these gadgets. In addition, the site provides a very handy product comparison chart so I can see at a glance what my digital photo frame can do right out of the box.

I’ve narrowed my choices down to two finalists, and will go over the specs of each digital photo frame with my husband before actually making a purchase. I’m very excited about finally getting one of these for the house!

Don’t forget that digital photo frames make excellent holiday and corporate gifts as well, so be sure to check them out the next time you’re called upon to buy a present for a friend, relative, or business associate.

I’ve been watching Grey’s Anatomy ever since the first season, and one of my favorite characters on the show is Dr. Izzie Stevens, played by actress Katherine Heigl. Izzie was especially fun during Season 1 and most of Season 2, and now that the character is going back to her old, familiar ways, I find myself liking her more and more.

Of course, a big part of Izzie’s background is that she used to be a model, and Katherine Heigl definitely has the looks to pass for one. Even though she just wears scrubs most of the time, she still manages to look gorgeous — which is quite a feat. And now Heigl is giving fans and health care professionals an alternative to the usual dickies scrubs that they wear by offering her very own line of scrubs.

Katherine Heigl’s scrubs are available exclusively through Scrubs & Beyond, either at their official website or at store locations throughout the country. The Katherine Heigl collection features several different designs and color combinations, so you can buy a bunch of them and have a new set to wear every day of the week. That would sure beat going to work in the same cherokee medical scrubs that everyone else has!

I you’re not interested in the Katherine Heigl collection and would like to go with Barco metro scrubs or a different brand instead, I know you’ll love the vast selection that Scrubs & Beyond has to offer. In addition to scrubs from top manufacturers including Peaches and Landau, they also carry lab coats, jackets, nursing shoes, bags, and stethoscopes, making it easy to get all of your supplies in one place. Moreover, Scrubs & Beyond offers lower prices than you’ll find just about anywhere else, so check out the site today!

Although our home is just eight years old, the amount of wear and tear we’ve dished out makes the interior appear twice that age. I guess that’s what happens when two hyper dogs and an active five-year-old boy have the run of the place! All I can say is that a complete makeover is definitely in order at this point.

That’s why I’m very interested in the new promotion currently being sponsored by Renuzit TriScents. Between now and April 30th, you can enter to win a $20,000 Home Makeover from Renuzit. All you have to do is create a video or submit photos and an essay explaining why you need a home makeover and how the $20,000 from Renuzit TriScents can help you achieve your goals.

There is a two-minute limit on the videos and a 250-word limit on the essays, so you’ll definitely want to keep that in mind as you create your entries. For even more information about the contest, see official rules.

I think it would be simply amazing to win this $20,000 home makeover! There are so many things we’d be able to do with the money, such as refinishing or replacing our scratched-up wood flooring, updating our furniture, and repainting our walls. I have no doubt the house would look as good as new after this kind of makeover!

If you could use a $20,000 makeover for your home, then get out your camcorder or digital camera and enter to win the contest. Make sure you provide a compelling argument for why your home qualifies for the contest and back up your reasons with video or photographic evidence.

Oh, and don’t forget to try out the two new TriScents electric oil freshener varieties available nationwide. You can download and print a coupon on the TriScents site that will allow you to get a Renuzit TriScents Starter Kit from a local retailer.

I definitely need something like this to cover up the seemingly permanent doggy smell at my place, so I’ll be taking advantage of the coupon for sure!

Opening Day for Major League Baseball is just a week away, as the Boston Red Sox will take on the Oakland A’s in the Tokyo Dome on March 25. Daisuke Matsuzaka has already been named the Sox starter, so you can bet baseball fever will be raging at an all-time high for that matchup in Japan.

Even though I’m not a Boston or Oakland fan, I still have a stake in that game since Dice-K and Jacoby Ellsbury are on my fantasy baseball team. This will be my fifth year playing in a fantasy league, and I’m hoping to finish in the top-5 for the first time ever.

To me, fantasy baseball is much tougher than other fantasy sports leagues for a couple of reasons. For one thing, the season is so long that it’s hard to maintain an edge for all 162 games. Your players get injured, go through slumps, and get benched, which can make it difficult to keep a solid roster together. For another thing, it’s nearly impossible to stay motivated as a manager for the whole season — especially if you’re in the cellar after the first month or two. It’s just so frustrating when all of your moves backfire that quitting starts to look more and more attractive.

That’s why I think Fantasy Sports Prophet’s Fantasy Baseball Software would be a good buy. This software, which features web-based access, an advanced draft assistance tool, player rankings based on Predictive Modeling, and stats and injury updates, is designed to give fantasy baseball managers all the tools they need to put together a winning season.

Membership costs just $39.95 for the whole season, which I think is a fair price. In fact, when you consider that winning a fantasy baseball league can yield prize money of anywhere from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars, that membership fee seems like a very smart investment. Plus, if you sign up for Fantasy Sports Prophet’s Fantasy Baseball Software using the promo code BMC200, you can get $10 off, bringing the price down to $29.95 for the season. What a steal!

This really sounds like a product that can help me out with my roto league, so I’m seriously considering a membership here. I’ll let you know how it goes!

At my last full-time job, one of my duties included mailing out product samples to customers upon request. This was manageable when I only had a handful of boxes to deal with, but the trouble started whenever we rolled out upgrades that everyone wanted to check out. Whenever that happened, I was liable to be stuck trying to get more than 100 packages taken care of in a single day, which included printing out labels and dropping them off at the post office.

That’s why I wish we had a DYMO LabelWriter back then. DYMO LabelWriters are nifty little machines designed to make life easier for small- and mid-sized businesses that do a lot of mailing. There are several different DYMO LabelWriter models available, including the 400, 400 Turbo, Twin Turbo, DUO, and SE300. Each model comes with special features that allow you to generate professional quality labels and postage for all of your mailing needs — right from your own office. They’re compatible with both PCs and Macs, connect to your computer via USB, and can print directly from popular software titles such as Microsoft Word or Outlook.

In addition to labels, all DYMO LabelWriters are capable of printing postage as well. This is an excellent feature that is sure to save you time and money (and probably a few headaches), as you’ll never have to wait in line at the post office again. As far as I’m concerned, that alone would justify purchasing a DYMO LabelWriter!

If your business does a lot of mailing and you’d like to save time and money by printing your own labels and online stamps, then I recommend checking out a DYMO LabelWriter today. You can visit their website for more information about specific models or to get in touch with a sales representative. Go now!

I’m not much of a drinker (anymore), but I still enjoy having a few beers every now and then — especially while watching football with friends. During the NFL season, I have at least three or four Sunday afternoon gatherings at my own home, and attend at least a couple more at local sports bars or friends’ houses. No matter where I’m at, I always drink the same thing: Bud Light in a bottle.

I know, I know: a lot of you are probably snickering at my choice in light beer, but I don’t really care. I’ve never been one to buy expensive beers or indulge in trendy labels from microbreweries. I just want something cold and refreshing, and Bud Light does the trick every time, so that’s good enough for me.

The last time I had a Bud Light was back on Super Bowl Sunday. I had a small party at my place with four other diehard football fans, and together we had a blast watching the New York Giants come from behind to pull off an amazing upset and topple the undefeated Patriots. We must have gone through a couple dozen bottles of light beer that day — as well as several pizzas, some Italian beef sandwiches, and countless bags of chips. It was definitely a good time!

Anyway, I just heard about a cool mobile survey that I think would be fun to participate in. It consists of 10 text questions about drinking beer, and anyone who completes the survey will automatically be entered into a drawing for a $300 Amazon gift card. From what I’ve read, the survey is limited to a relatively small pool of participants, which means your chances of winning should be pretty good. To begin, all you have to do is text the word beer to 247365, and your questions will start rolling in.

The sweepstakes period is from March 1 until midnight on March 14, so be sure to take the survey within that time frame.

I’m off to enter the contest right now!

I was doing some cleaning today, and finally got around to removing all the Christmas cards that were on display over the fireplace. When taking the cards down, I noticed that almost all of our friends, relatives, and business associates sent personalized cards with family portraits on them. This is something I’ve always wanted to do, but I’m usually so busy during the holidays that I invariably end up buying a pack of generic cards instead.

Well, I plan on changing that trend this year! I’m committed to creating holiday photo cards for my family well before the December rush so we can finally get in on this trend.

I actually started checking around online for places that sell photo cards, and came across the CardsDirect.com website. CardsDirect offers an amazing array of photo cards to choose from, with a variety of customization options to help make the cards as personal as possible. In addition, CardsDirect has some of the lowest prices I’ve seen for this type of product, and offers free UPS ground shipping to the continental United States. You can’t beat that!

Anyway, I had a hard time settling on a single design that I like best. In the end, this Green Border Christmas Photo Card emerged as my top choice, so I bookmarked the page to make it easier for me to find when it’s time to order. Here’s what it looks like:

CardsDirect also sells cards for other holidays and occasions, so be sure to check them out for all of your greeting card needs!

My uncle has been running his own business for almost a decade now, and since I’m self-employed as well, we always have a lot of things to talk about when we meet for our monthly lunch outing. Our February lunch was just last week, and for some reason the conversation turned to banking.

My uncle started complaining about how his bank keeps increasing the fees associated with his business account while decreasing services. For example, they just raised the prices they charge for business checks for the second time in the past year alone. My uncle was not happy about the change, especially since he writes a lot of checks every month and has to reorder frequently.

I told him he should think about getting his checks from VistaPrint instead. Along with business cards, address labels, magnets, post cards, and stamps, VistaPrint offers a huge selection of discount checks for both professional and personal use. Their checks are cheaper than the ones available at banks, and can even be customized with a business logo or original design.

Right now, VistaPrint is offering customers a chance to get 25 free checks — which is a great way to try out their service. All you have to do is enter the code “BlogFreeChecks08″ at checkout to take advantage of the special offer.

I’ve already passed the code along to my uncle so he can get some free checks for his business. If he likes the service, maybe he’ll even pay for my lunch next month as a thank you!

I absolutely hate the snow and cold, so I’m just counting down the days until summer gets here. That’s when my family finally emerges from hibernation to start participating in all the fun activities that are usually associated with warmer months: baseball games, picnics, zoo outings, and of course trips to the beach.

People occasionally do a double-take when they hear that we like to go to the beach. After all, we’re in Chicago, not Florida. But there are a couple of decent beaches by Lake Michigan, and while it’s certainly not the same as frolicking in the sparkling waters off Key West, we’ll take it!

To make things even more fun this year, I’m thinking about buying beach cruisers for the entire family. I see these bikes all the time now, which means they’re becoming more and more popular. That’s not surprising, as I’m sure other people love the classic, retro styling as much as I do. Just looking at a beach cruiser reminds me of the happy days of my childhood, and that’s certainly a feeling worth recapturing.

I found a great selection of beach cruisers over at CruiserStyle.com. They have a wide range of colors and styles available, and their bikes come in sizes for men, women, and children. Plus, CruiserStyle.com’s prices are some of the best around, which means it won’t cost a fortune to buy beach cruisers for the whole family.

I can’t wait to get our bikes and hit Oak Street Beach once the weather warms up. See you out there!

I’ve been watching a lot of MTV recently, and I can’t help but notice how many of today’s top musicians are affiliated with big-name athletic apparel companies. For example, there’s Mike Shinoda of Linkin Park, who always seems to have some kind of DC clothing on, be it shoes, a cap, or a hoody.

Rappers are into this scene pretty heavily as well, and some of them even have their own shoe lines from companies like Nike and Reebok. Eminem and 50 Cent are two prime examples, with Eminem teaming up with Nike for his own sneaker line, while 50 Cent endorses Reebok through his G-Unit signature shoe.

I guess fans will have to start saving up those Dick’s Sporting Goods coupons if they want to dress like their favorite musicians!

So how many of you are ready for the so-called Digital Television Transition that is set to take place next year? From what I understand, all analog broadcasts will cease on February 17, 2009, at which point everything will transition to digital. So if you don’t have cable or satellite service, you’re going to need to either upgrade or get a converter box in order to receive programming after that date.

My family is all set for the change. We’ve got our digital cable subscription, LCD flat-panel television, HDMI cables, and all the other accessories we need, so the switch isn’t going to affect us.

But I know others aren’t in the same position, and can only imagine how much of a hassle it’s going to be for them to make all of these changes.