Mini and Free Software January 7, 2009
Posted by yp2m in Computers, Electronics, Free stuff, SOHO, Shopping, freebies, money, saving money.Tags: free, hp, mac, mini, notebook, software, word
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If I was in the market for a small, compact notebook computer to carry around on my travels, I would choose the HP Mini 1010NR Atom Notebook. With its built-in 802.11b/g, I can connect to the internet via a hotspot or wi-fi connection. It has a full-size keyboard and a 8.9 inch display, not to shabby for a quick email on the road or to watch a dvd movie on a plane. The best thing when travelling is its weight. Coming in at 2.23 pounds, the HP Mini is perfect for school and for carrying around. Its small footprint runs at 1.66 GHz and has a 8GB hard drive. At eCost, you can pick one up for $406.99.
These days, memory is cheap. You can get 1 terrabyte external hard drives for under $120. What’s not cheap is software. Microsoft Office is roughly $110 to $170, depending on if you are a student or not. With Microsoft Office, you have a word processor, spreadsheet and a presentation tool. The good thing about MS Office is that you can run it on a Windows PC or on a Mac. The bad thing is that you cannot readily share documents created in MS Office with your friends unless they have MS Office. Until now…
Check out ZOHO. On this website, you have access to a word processor, spreadsheet, presentation tool, email, public repository, notebook taker, planner, database application, web conferencing, report writer, human resource tracker and more. The price? For an individual, it’s free. For a business, fees will vary but compare that to multi-user or site licences and you will find ZOHO to be competitively priced. The nice thing about ZOHO is that you don’t need to install anything on your PC and you don’t need to worry about upgrading the software which usually results to compatibility issues or increased costs.
Everybody wants to be a PopStar! December 1, 2008
Posted by yp2m in Accessories, Computers, Electronics, Games, Shopping, gadgets, kids.Tags: Car, Games, gt, guitar, guitarhero, kart, mario, popstar, ps2, ps3, rockband, wii
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If you’ve been patient and have managed to ignore the piles of Guitar Hero and Rock Band games then head on down to your Real Canadian Superstore (or Target in the US) for Popstar Guitar. I just did and it’s going to get wrapped up for Christmas. The Wii copy gives you two AirG’s to fit over your remotes. It’s like the Guitar Hero attachment for Nintendo DS units but the buttons are larger. With the nunchuk attached, you have an air guitar to play over 50 pop hits from artists like Miley Cyrus, Jonas Brothers, Rihanna, Maroon 5, Simple Plan and more.
Also at Superstore, there is a nice supply of Wii Mario Karts, the newer version of Boogie, American Idol and Animal Crossing. There are also accessories for your previous games such as a fishing rod, Nerf gun, Wii sports pack, crossbow and Wii wheel for GT, Monster Truck and Mario Kart.
If you want to check out the fun you will have with Popstar, you can visit the site and play it using your computer keyboard as your guitar. The game superimposes the letters X, C, V and B for the guitar chords.
Test Drive a Book November 28, 2008
Posted by yp2m in Books, Business, Computers, Free stuff, Invest, Shopping, coupons, freebies, saving money.Tags: book, canada, chapters, computer, indigo, o'reilly, reference, safari, technical, vista
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Have you been to an Indigo store lately? I remember when a Chapters store opened for the first time in Canada, it was great sitting down with a cup of coffee and a magazine and browsing through it. Nowadays, you can sit down with a coffee but you cannot hold onto unpaid merchandise such as magazines. Indigo stores still provide the odd chair at the end of aisles where people can sit down and review a book. With technical reference books, it is hard to pick one up, quickly review it then pay over $60 for it.
The technical section, especially where the computer books are located, have been trimmed down. This section used to be very popular with books ranging from a relational database to a learning how to program Excel. I used to frequent this section and spend hundreds of dollars for technical books that I would use for work.
If you happen to like a Safari title, here’s a trick you can use to test drive a book. Safari allows you to review a book for 45 days. After that, you can buy it for up to 35% off. Simply look at the last few pages in a Safari book for a coupon code then go to Safari Online and register. It’s free to register and once you do, you can redeem the coupon. This is great for all you techies because it’s hard to invest $60+ for a book that you may not like.
Here’s a few coupon codes that you can start with:
- Windows Vista : HLNVHXA
- Programming Flex 3: QYFKIXA
Technical
Multi-Lingual Pen Stores Notes November 18, 2008
Posted by yp2m in Accessories, Computers, Electronics, Shopping, gadgets, kids, saving money.Tags: digital, highschool, languages, laptop, notes, pen, school, scribe, timesaver, university
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If I had a time machine, I would grab IOGear’s Mobile Digital Scribe and my laptop to bring back in time to when I was attending university. Those were the days when we wrote novels of text, just by attending lectures. With the IOGear Digital Scribe, I would have reams and reams of notes in two formats, in my own handwriting and in digital form. The IOGear Digital Scribe is a cool device. Shaped like a normal pen, everything that you write with it is automatically translated (via OCR) and stored internally. When you’re next to your computer, you can upload everything you wrote.
You can share your notes with your classmates, simply by e-mailing them with the JPEG of your handwritten notes. Or have it uploaded and translated so that you can send it to them in a Word document or an email.
The Digital Scribe does 
not require any special paper nor tablet to write on. You can write on anything, any surface or any paper up to the size of a Letter or A4. It comes with a receiver that captures your handwriting and stores it. The OCR is powerful, able to translate your handwriting to digital text. It comes with support for 12 languages including English, Spanish, French, German, Italian, Korean, Japanese, Traditional/Simplified Chinese, Portuguese, Russian, Dutch and Swedish.
What would you pay for this device? Believe it or not, it is only $80. But while supplies last, you can get it for $50.
Free Asus EEE PC July 2, 2008
Posted by yp2m in Computers, Electronics, Free stuff, Invest, Shopping, freebies.Tags: account, Apple, application, asus, eee, iPod, linux, pc, rbc, touch
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Get a free Asus EEE PC when you open a new RBC Signature No Limit banking account or a RBC VIP banking account. What’s an Asus EEE PC? It’s a cool PC that has a 7 inches display and weighs only 0.92 kg. It has built-in 802.11b/g WI-FI so you can connect to the internet and surf. Unlike the Apple iPod Touch, this unit has its own keyboard. From afar, it looks like one of those portable DVD players.
Depending upon its memory configuration, the Asus EEE PC sells for as low as $295. Unlike the Apple iPod Touch that comes with a minimum of 8GB, the lowest EEE model comes with only 2GB. Linux is installed on the Asus EEE PC giving it the ability to run practically any application. You can easily connect to the internet to check your mail or to do some business on the side.
What better way to get one than to get one for free. Opening a RBC account is easy and with no minimum balance, it’s almost worth the time to open a RBC Signature No Limit account just to get a free Asus EEE PC.
If you don’t need another bank account or there is no RBC location near you, drop by and pick one up from us.
Almost Free Printer May 7, 2008
Posted by yp2m in Computers, Digital Cameras, Electronics, Home, Shopping, money.Tags: computer, epson, fax, free, hot deal, photo, printer, scanner
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I don’t want to keep you from getting in on a hot deal today. For less than $10, you can pick up an all-in-one printer that sells for $99.99 elsewhere. This is the Epson CX8400 printer that can be used as a scanner, fax, photo copier, photo printer and computer printer.
Saving Money Wirelessly, Part 2 April 10, 2008
Posted by yp2m in Accessories, Computers, Electronics, Free stuff, SOHO, Shopping, Travel, freebies, money.Tags: free, mac, magicjack, pc, phone, skype, usb, wi-fi
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Now that I am wirelessly surfing the net at home, I decided to save some money on making long distance calls. I am not about to tell you about SKYPE because I have tried it and do not like the fact that you have to buy special SKYPE accessories and handsets.
A new thing on the market allows you to use your home phone, simply by connecting it to the magicJack telephone adapter. There is no software to install on your PC or Mac and all it takes is your high-speed internet connection. Everything is self-contained in the magicJack. I know what you are saying, you have tried Skype and do not like the quality. I agree and it is because with Skype, they lease the services from other carriers instead of having their own dedicated network. That is why Skype cannot guarantee the quality nor reliability. With magicJack, they have their own dedicated telephone network but they have to charge you $20 per year to use it.
The magicJack sells for under $40 and the first year of use is free. After that it is $20 per year which is still cheaper than any monthly long distance package out there. I like it because you can choose your own number and you can put all your contacts together right on the magicJack which is great for travelling with.
Wherever you are, as long as you have access to Wi-Fi or to a high-speed internet connection, a computer with a USB port running Windows XP or Vista, you can plug it in and start calling. In time, they will have the Mac/Apple connection which I hope can be connected to my iPod Touch for easy calling anywhere in Canada or the US.
Free All-in-One Printer March 31, 2008
Posted by yp2m in Business, Computers, Electronics, Free stuff, SOHO, freebies, money.Tags: color, epson, free, Free stuff, freebie, photo, printer, scanner
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If you haven’t picked up your free vacation offer yet, today is the day to do so. And since you’re there, you might as well take advantage of the free printer too. Unfortunately, the free printer is only available today. Sorry about the short notice but I only found out about it less than an hour ago. Featured is the Epson CX7400 All-in-One Color Inkjet printer that can print up to 28 pages per minute and can print directly from a memory card or camera without a computer. Both of these offers are under our Free Stuff section. The Epson comes with an Auto-Photo Correction to make sure your photos come out brilliant. That’s almost like bringing your memory card into Wal-Mart’s kiosks and having it printed professionally.If you have read my earlier blog on Free Printers and have been waiting for the right printer to come along, here it is. Get it before they sell out.
Saving Money Wirelessly March 25, 2008
Posted by yp2m in Computers, Electronics, Home, SOHO, Shopping.Tags: lexmark, money, printer, router, save, trendnet, wi-fi, wifi, wireless
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I just came back from the Source (formerly called Radio Shack) with a new Lexmark Z1420 Wi-Fi printer. I picked it up for an incredible $59.99 and with the recycle fee of $8.00 and taxes, it came out to $71 – not bad considering that when I hook it up, I can print anywhere in the house, wirelessly.
I’m a true believer of technology. In this day and age, we should be utilizing what’s out there rather than to stay in our comfort zone and use what we’ve been using for the last twenty years or so. Wi-Fi has been around for a number of years and a lot of my friends and colleagues have been utilizing it alot longer than I have. The reason is because I’m cheap and didn’t care to change my set up, until now. This is excellent for anyone with a small office, home office setup because you can have this printer downstairs near your business and still print from it upstairs.
Last year at this time, multi-function inkjet printers that had Wi-Fi capabilities were selling for $250 and up. Some were Wi-Fi ready and could be upgraded for $50 more. But Lexmark wanted to change the face of printing, so they were among the first companies to offer more affordable Wi-Fi printers, starting with the model that I bought today. As of last year May, the Lexmark Z1420 was the most inexpensive printer you can buy that has Wi-Fi. And looking at HP, Brother and other manufacturers, I think Lexmark still holds the record.
For those of you who have sat back and watched me pick up the TrendNet Wireless Router last week and now the Lexmark Z1420 Wi-Fi printer this week, and think you’re ready to get off the couch then I have a deal for you. Please come to our site and pick up the package for $39.99 for both but do so before March 31st because this offer expires.
Happy Easter Egg finding March 21, 2008
Posted by yp2m in Accessories, Computers, Electronics, Free stuff, Shopping, Spring 2008/2009, Travel, freebies.Tags: bylaw, easter eggs, freebies, resurrection, stores, sunday
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It’s a pretty quiet day to begin with. It might as well be a Sunday. In some places, stores and malls are closed on Sundays. I remembered not long ago, the city council decided to change the bylaw to have stores closed on Sundays. A lot of store owners were up in arms but they would be fined heavily if they went against the curfew. Some people had nothing to do. Others just stayed in bed.After just two weeks, there were enough complaints to have these stores reopened. And since then, there hasn’t been any talk about resurrecting this bylaw.With the stock markets closed today because of Easter, I would assume stores to be closed too. Not for the internet. It is alive and kicking with over a hundred emails waiting for me. Last night, I was up late updating our site. It has been a busy week for freebies. Remember my last blog about rebates? If you’re going to order these items, be sure to send in your rebate.
Here’s the list:
1. A Superman Returns logo keyboard
I don’t know about your keyboard but I had coffee dropped onto mine and I’ve been too cheap to buy one. Here’s my chance on getting a new one free.
2. A Superman Returns Optical Cordless Mouse
All mice gets dirty and sluggish. My last optical mouse is getting blind and needs to be retired. A new Superman mouse will do, especially when it’s free.
3. Illuminated Hub
Everything on the desk is going neon. It’s like a bloody disco in my room. Now there’s a hub that’s illuminated? Free.
4. Premium Paper (4×6)
We’ve talked about a free vacation (when you buy $75 worth of inkjet cartridges), a free printer and free cables. Here’s 60 sheets of premium paper (for your photographs) for free.To get these freebies, be sure to click here to go to a special page. Since you’re visiting our site, be sure to get these items too:
5. USB Drive
Companies love to give out free pens, keychains and baseball caps. Now it’s USB drives and Dummies books. Get one before they run out – free.
6. 2GB Online Storage
You can get fired having your kids photos and personal stuff stored on your hard drive at work! Instead, go to our site and scroll down to the bottom of any page and click on the pink banner. Sign up for free and get 2GB online storage. Now get your stuff off your hard drive at work!
7. Free Vacation
Buy just $75 worth of inkjet cartridges for your printer and get free shipping (to the US), free software bundle worth up to $325 and a free vacation worth $674. You’ll have to kiss your printer for all these goodies. I hope you enjoy collecting all these ‘easter eggs’. Happy Easter.
