steveh

I'm looking to go in with a bunch of coworkers and pick up a dozen or so kid's bikes to knock off a bunch of angels from our local angel tree (won't happen for a few weeks, but it doesn't hurt to start doing my research). Has anybody seen any good sources for 20" bikes? I'd love to find them in the $25-$35 range. I know in the recent past I've seen KMart carrying them for $25, but unfortunately, I didn't find that price until after the fact. I'd be grateful if anybody could point me in the right direction.

back in my days working at blockbuster, we used to give them away too... basically, if the plastic cover is ripped we'd pitch 'em... call them up and ask the manager if he/she's got any "amarays" (I don't know if that's how it's actually spelled, but it's how it's pronounced) they're throwing out that you can have...

Just buy a new camera that records directly to the mini-DVDs... (Oh, wait, did you mean a *realistic* solution... Sorry, I was dreaming out loud...)

From the airport, you'll take the Tri-Rail shuttle (free). It will take you to the "Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood International Airport at Dania Beach" train station. You'll hop on the train south ($3 per person, one way) to the Tri-Rail/Metro-Rail transfer station. From *there*, you're going to have to use one of the many public transit methods available in Miami-Dade. They have a trip planner on their site, but it's not real-time, you submit what you're trying to do, and a Miami-Dade County Transit employee figures out how to do it and emails you back (give them 24-48 hours during the week to figure it out). You'll probably spend $3-5 on bus/train/shuttle tickets for this part. Total cost ~$3-8 per person each way, 2-4 hours of your time. Links: Broward County Transit (tri-rail shuttle to/from Fort Lauderdale station) Tri-Rail (train from Fort Lauderdale to Miami-Dade) Miami-Dade County Transit trip planner Note that the tri-rail route you'd be using only runs once every two hours on the weekends, so plan accordingly... You could always get a limo for the trip, probably cost you $50-100 each way, but you don't have to worry about a rental car, and you can start your vacation a bit early... HTH, YMMV

Just in case anybody's curious, this deal is still available... looking at it right now, deciding if I should order or not...

Just signed up for this package this morning (about an hour before you posted the deal)... DSL pro package, two lines with all the bells and whistles on the first one, unlimited nationwide long distance on both lines... before taxes, ~$85 a month... This is a great deal -- I'm paying ~$55 a month now for a comparable DSL connection for BellSouth now... (I'm moving from Florida to Kansas, so the new service - and the new pricing - is very welcome!)

Something worth keeping in mind... When we got our wireless video baby monitor a year and a half ago, we had interference problems with our cordless phone and our wireless router... All three items were on the 2.4 GHz band... These problems may have been solved with better equipment refinements over the past year+...

I would definitely buy a 500' roll of RG6 cable from Home Depot... You'll kick yourself if you buy the 100' roll and then need 120'... Last time I bought them, the price for a 500' roll was 50% more than the price of a 100' roll... I would also look into the *screw-on* RG6 connectors... They sell them individually, in boxes of 10, and in boxes of 50... Obviously the higher the quantity, the lower the unit price... But the best part of these is that you don't need a crimper... These things work great (I've used *hundreds* of them and never had a problem)... The only other thing you'll need (whether you go with crimp or screw-on connectors) is a stripper for coax... I highly the recommend the one by Ideal... You should be able to pick one up at HD for ~$25-30... Make sure the connectors you get are for the same type of wire you buy... coax comes in RG6 and RG59... The connectors also come in both types... they look very similar, but are not compatible with each other, so make you sure you decide which you're using and stay consistent (I believe RG6 supports the broader range signal used in digital cable, I don't think RG59 does)... Check out these guys... http://www.rexelusa.com and I would also suggest checking ebay for this stuff...

Nah, he had a Toshiba laptop, and they didn't supply him with media... Just a recovery cd... When he called them to ask about it, they told him the very first thing it would do is format his HD, so he threw it away... lol... sounds like OEM might be the way to go after all...

If it was for me, I'd go OEM... It's for my neighbor who trashed his computer and discovered that he has no OS disks at all... He called M$ for help and was told they'd help him but he needed to buy a license... What he's really after is a license... I can supply media... Am I correct in thinking the OEM doesn't have a keycode? (Is it necessary?)

Thanks... can't believe I didn't think of ebay... lol...

Looking for a good price for a *legal*, *non-OEM*, *non-education* copy of XP Pro. Anybody got any ideas? Technically, I suppose I just need the license, not media...

I know a few weeks ago, there was a coupon code floating around here for $50 off a Dell Dimension between $399 and $699 (or something like that)... Anybody got any similar deals that are currently active?

Just a note... you said this was the first card you ever had, and you've had it for 10 years... No matter what happens (if it has no annual fee), DON'T CANCEL IT... one of the factors that goes into determining your FICO (credit) score, is how long you've had credit. they like to see accounts of 10 years or longer!!! Closing this account could conceivably LOWER your credit score... just an FYI...

I just bought a discontinued shredder at Sam's, it's very similar to this model, except it's rated at 15 pages at a time. Shreds staples, paper clips, credit cards and CD's. Got it out the door for just under $100. Might be worth seeing if they have any at the Sam's Club in your area. (The model number is 150 MX.) <edit> Here's a link to Sam's Club online. This is the shredder I'm talking about. </edit>

No option to add a NIC? Bummer... oh well... I'll just have to violate the warranty...

According to your car insurance company you are. You should see if you get a discount cause you're married now...

I see what you're saying... I'm cruising ebay right now and the closest thing to the configuration I was building is this. The only change I've made to it is changing the wireless NIC to one that is internal and supports 802.11b/g. This configuration is $767, after the discount. But then I have to pax *tax* (I'm in Florida). With tax and shipping, this one is $862.02. The reference one on ebay closed at $960. So that puts potential profit a little under $100, before ebay/paypal fees... yuck... Incidentally, your idea about the 1150 plus multifunction LCD TV won't work. Apparently the $1499 has to be on a laptop.

Anybody got any idea what the viability of selling one of these machines on ebay is? Or what kind of pricepoint is realistic? Also, can you use this coupon for more than one purchase (could I buy 2? or 3? or 4?)?

Has anybody here ever tried ordering anything from SmartBargains.com? The wife and I have been tempted to order sheets from them for a long time, but their prices seem *so cheap* that I wonder if we'd get crap, or they're actually passing the savings of not having a "mall store" on...

I don't still have the emails, but I remember buying nearly $1000 worth of *toys* online for my nephews for the Christmas of... ummm... 2000, I think... cost me less than $50 for all of due to free shipping and ridiculous coupons ($50 of $50 purchase, etc)... Or what about more.com? I remember buying a 16-pack of Mach3 razor blades every other month or so from them for $1, with free shipping, and the price was locked in "for life"... or until they sold out to somebody else...

For that? I'm sure she'll be willing to wait...

Thanks Bobby... I may very well grab one of those 2400s...hmmm...

I actually received an envelope in the mail today from Dell for an OptiPlex 170L with a 2.66GHz Celeron, XP Pro, 256MB RAM, 40 GB HD and 48x CD-ROM for $449... has an e-value code to get at it online, but I don't see where to enter the e-value code on their website... Am I blind, or just stupid?

I'll try answer all of the questions in one post. - Budget $400 or less would be fantastic, probably willing to go as high as $600 if necessary. - State Florida - fairly sure that Dell does charge sales tax here as does Gateway. - Use She's going to use it a lot like a college student would. Office type applications, surfing the 'net, occasional photo-retouching, not much else. - Specs Something capable of running XP home, OfficeXP and the occasional photo-retouching without causing her to want to strangle me. I'm thinking something 1.8ghz+ with 256MB+ of RAM and at least a 15GB drive... CD-ROM is an absolute necessity, CD-RW would be better, CD-RW/DVD-ROM would be best... She's coming off an iMac can't remember which model it is, but it's one of the ones they had out in 2000 or so. (Remember when they were selling "fruit"? It's a blueberry model.) I'm going to try to stay away from used machines, not because I have anything against them, but because I'd rather have a warranty. I know how to get under the hood of a PC (been doing it for years, and in fact, do it for a living), but I'd much rather not do it at home as well... I actually bought one of those emachines for myself about 3 months ago with CompUSA was doing a 3 hour sale. Got an additional rebate on it above and beyond that deal - total cost was about $349 + tax.