Buying a Refurbished PC

Are you looking for a new computer? Have you thought about purchasing a refurbished one? Refurbished systems can work exactly the same as a brand new retail computer, but cost on average 15 to 50 percent less.

Usually a refurbished computer has either been found faulty at the factory or by a consumer who has returned it. The product goes through a repair process and put back on the market for sale at a lower price than what it retails for.

Whether it’s the original manufacturer or independent refurbishers, like the Goodwill Computer Works Store in the South Side, products go through an intense repair and retest cycle. This process includes taking off all of the former owner’s personal data, replacing any bad or defective parts, putting fresh software on it and cleaning it up.

Once that’s all done, more tests are done. If the system passes these tests it’s ready for resale at a discounted price.

A refurbished computer is a really great option for people who want to be environmentally friendly or who just can’t afford or don’t want to spend the money for a regular retail computer. Nowadays, if you have kids you almost have to have a computer in the house. In fact, many people have more than one. Buying a refurbished device can save you anywhere from a couple hundred dollars to upwards of $1,000 depending on where you buy it from.

Before you buy a refurbished device, here are some things to keep in mind.

1. Who did the refurbishing? Was it the manufacturer or a reputable third party?

2. Is there a manufacturer’s warranty or other type of warranty in place?
If so, how long is it for?

3. What’s the return policy if something happens to the computer?

4. What software is included and what type of retesting and repairs have been done?

5. How much would this cost if I bought it brand-new?

All of the major computer manufacturers have refurbished information on their websites. Click here for the list.

Sites Find Cruise Deals

With my weekend at Winterfest now over, I’m officially looking forward to summer and warm weather. And like me, many of you are probably looking into planning a summer getaway. Maybe you’re even looking to get away for Spring Break or Easter.

So have you thought about a cruise yet?
Cruises can be affordable and can take you pretty much anywhere in the world or at least somewhere where there is blue water and white sand.

Whether you’re looking into booking your next cruise or your very first one, I’ve put together a list of the best cruise search engines that will find the best deals.

Vacationoutlet.com offers all the top cruise lines and destinations. For the inside scoop on the best travel deals each week, sign up for its email travel update, always full of unbeatable vacation and cruise specials.

At Cruises.com you can search and book a cruise with the guarantee that you will be getting the best price. If you do find a lower price, Cruises.com says they’ll match it or beat it—*guaranteed.*

But if you’re looking for a more personalized experience try Cruisecompete.com. On this site independent travel agencies will compete to offer you the best cruise deal. Just choose a cruise, create an account and then request quotes.

There’s also icruise.com. This site claims to be the world’s number one cruise specialist. Search 5 different ways for your next cruise, by destination, departure port, sail date, cruise line, or cruise ship.

Cruise 411’s mission is to make sure you receive the lowest price for your cruise vacation. They have weekly deals listed on their homepage, as well as a best deal tab which lists pages of the best cruise deals.

And finally, Kayak.com is a mega search engine that will search through the majority of the sites listed above. Just click on the Cruise tab and then choose the destination, cruise line, departure date, and length.

Kayak will search hundreds of cruises and connect you directly to the source to make your purchase.

I recently booked a cruise and found that I liked Kayak the best. It’s easy to modify your cruise and you can search airfare from the same site. Honestly, the only problem I ran into is the cost of the flights. There are great 3-7 night cruises for well under $500, but the price of the airfare is what gets you!

Winter Tech Clothing

Since Winterfest is all this week, I thought it was only appropriate to feature some hot winter tech you can enjoy while on the mountain.

For me at least, the key is to stay warm from head to toe when skiing or snowboarding. I am absolutely miserable when I’m cold.

These are the 12-hour heated socks. These wool socks have a battery-powered heating element in the padded area of each toe.

The socks require two D batteries, but I think they need to be a little longer. They didn’t quite fit into my snowboard boot. The concept of the socks is great, however these may be better for shoveling walks or taking the dog for a walk.

Now if you’re keeping your toes warm, you want to keep your fingers toasty too.

These heated gloves have a flat, removable battery pack to keep your hands warm. Each glove requires four AA batteries and has a low and high heat setting as well as non-slip palms and finger pads. I actually used these while snowboarding last weekend at Seven Springs and I have to say they aren’t bad. My fingers did stay much warmer than when I wore my regular gloves.

And this looks like a normal winter fleece, but it’s actually heated. This windproof fleece jacket or vest has a virtually undetectable heating element woven from carbon fibers. The rechargeable battery fits easily in an interior pocket and you can choose from three different heat settings.

Now to your ears.
This headset will not only keep your ears warm but built into the earmuffs are two high-quality mini-speakers. Just plug in your iPod or other portable audio device.

And finally these ski goggles use electronic optic technology developed for Air Force pilots, allowing the lenses to manually adjust from light to dark with the touch of a button. These goggles eliminate the need to carry multiple pairs with various tints to battle the danger and discomfort of snow or direct sun glare. I have to say these are my favorite. The really do work and they look cool too! I love them, but I wish the price tag was a little less.

Preserving Your Digital Memories

Just because you’ve taken thousands of digital pictures, it doesn’t mean you’ll actually get to see them printed, let alone in a frame on the mantel. But you also don’t want to lose those pictures of your favorite memories.

And let’s be honest, we’re all guilty of this one, never getting around to backing up our digital photo files.

That’s bad, because hard drives can corrupt, CDs can scratch, photo sharing sites can shut down, and formats can change. It’s scary to think about, but if your pictures are lost…there is a good chance they’re gone forever.

So to avoid a digital disaster and preserve your digital memories, here are the tips you need to follow.

1. Organize Your Photos:
With today’s digital cameras, it’s easy to take a lot of pictures.

I am a big believer in taking a lot—I mean A LOT of pictures. But part of my problem is not following through and organizing them.

Make sure to organize your images in a way that makes it easy to find them in the future. Organize by categories, by date, by subject – use whatever method makes the most sense to you.

2. Perform Regular Backups:
Your images may be saved to your PC, but your computer can fail without warning, as many of you know, I’m sure.

To keep those digital pictures safe, create backup copies of your image files on CDs, DVDs, an external hard drive or a flash drive.

Another popular option is to upload them to an online photo service.
I personally use and love Shutterfly. It is extremely easy to use and they offer extra features from photo mugs to calendars to scrapbooks and more.

3. Keep Current with Storage Technology:
Formats that were common in the 90s, such as the floppy disk, aren’t so popular today. In fact, many computers no longer accept floppy disks.

And believe it or not, even current storage technologies such as CDs and DVDs may become obsolete over time.

iWear AV920 from Vuzix

This strange, futuristic iWear device is the AV920 from Vuzix.

This is something right out of the “Jetsons era.” It also reminds me a little of “The Terminator.”

Inside these little lenses is a virtual 62″ big screen.

By connecting the iWear to your portable device, you can watch your favorite TV shows and movies in 2D or even 3D with the rechargeable battery that gives you five hours of continuous viewing.

This particular model works with portable DVD players, gaming systems, camcorders, certain cell phones, MP3 players and the video iPod. However it does not work with the iPod Classic, iPod Nano, iPhone or iPod Touch.

Overall the iWear is pretty cool! I watched part of “The Italian Job” while testing it out and it definitely gives you the sense that you are watching the film in a theater, but it is completely private.

Here’s what I learned from testing the device.

You always want to stay seated so you won’t go tripping over, running into or knocking down anything.

Also, by moving around you may get a little vertigo. I’m someone who gets motion sickness pretty easily, and I did start to get a headache while wearing the iWear and moving around.

The biggest downside to the device- the price tag is steep at $350.