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!
I’m always looking for ways to save money. I like to think it’s because I’m frugal, but most people just think I’m cheap! For instance, even though my house is equipped with central air conditioning, I refuse to use it on weekdays. That’s because I’m the only one home, and it seems like such a waste to cool the entire house just for little ol’ me. So I drag my laptop into the guest bedroom. turn the window AC unit on, and huddle in there all day long.
Though I’m not much of a hardcore gamer, I do enjoy relaxing with a fun game every once in a while. But instead of the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3 titles that my husband prefers, I’m much more comfortable with family-friendly Nintendo games. Mario Kart is one of my all-time favorites, and I also enjoyed the original version of Wii Sports. So you better believe I’m counting down the days until 
My stepfather is a huge Star Trek fan. While he stops short of dressing up as his favorite characters and attending conventions, he has seen every episode of every Star Trek television show, and he has also watched all of the films. But surprisingly enough, he doesn’t have any of the DVDs! I guess he just doesn’t like to spend money on this type of thing.
I have a huge collection of VHS tapes that I need to get rid of. Once I started buying DVDs, I just moved all my tapes into a closet, so now I have several big boxes taking up space in there. I’ve already replaced most of my favorite movies by getting the DVD version, but there are numerous family and vacation videos that I want to keep — and maybe even watch again someday! I could of course take these to a professional and have them make the transfer, but that would no doubt be pretty expensive. So I’m thinking about purchasing this 
HBO is known for putting out quality television programs, and Sex and the City was definitely one of its best! The show aired from 1998-2004, and since I was in my mid- to late-twenties during that time frame, I was part of the target audience. I thought the show was great in the way it portrayed friendship and dating, and by the time it ended, I felt like I was losing good friends. I know that sounds like a pretty silly thing to say about a TV show, but a lot of women felt the same way.
Although I don’t really purchase as many DVDs as you’d think, I have managed to build up a sizable collection over the years. This is mostly due to the fact that I like to buy boxed sets from favorite television series, so I end up with four to six DVDs per purchase, rather than the usual single disc I’d get from buying a movie. 
I watch a lot of 
I sometimes like to watch DVDs while I’m working on my computer, and used to have a decent portable DVD player sitting on my desk for that purpose. The reason I used a portable unit instead of my computer’s DVD drive is that the portable one was