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RTL’s Gift Guide for the Last Minute Shopper – #5 Epson WorkForce 600 All-In-One Printer

William — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 02:57:56 +0000

And on the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to the Home Office Warrior:

Thanks to the kind folks over at Epson, I’ve had this printer for a while, and given my normal dislike for printers, the Epson WorkForce 600 had a lot to prove. As a home office worker, if anything could stop my rampant visits to Kinko’s would be a welcome change. Nothing against Kinko’s… but the coffee there isn’t top notch. I like my own coffee maker at my home office much better.

So how good is the Epson WorkForce 600? I won’t be drinking any more Kinko’s coffee. Let’s start there.

As an all-in-one, historically they tend to get some things right, some things very wrong, or just forget what “all” really means. My old HP PSC 750 did copies, was a decent printer – as long as I didn’t print from Adobe Photoshop – and was quite sturdy. The scanner… eh. It scanned. Sometimes. And it was always tethered to the main machine. Oh… and it was huge. A lapbuster.

Now the Epson WorkForce 600 isn’t exactly a small little guy, but it’s not as heavy, therefore not as move-unfriendly as the PSC 750. It supports a few other things that the prior “all-in-one” I had also seemed to have forgotten; namely fax. Oh, and after you’ve installed the drivers on the main machine, set up takes only a few painless moments, you can use it’s built-in wifi connectivity too. Yes. I can place this thing where my aquarium used to be.

Talking about my missing aquarium – long story there – Epson uses the Dura-Bright Ink in individual cartridges. So if magenta runs out, you replace just magenta… not a combination of magenta/cyan/yellow, like my old HP PSC 750 forced me to. And the Epson Dura-Bright Ink is also water proof. Yes… water proof. Now if only I had the constant threat of my aquarium dumping water on my images… still though. The fact that the ink will quickly dry on matte, gloss, or special paper quickly and not run is something I never knew I missed until I got that feature.

The only con so far – and I’m finding this really a nitpick – is the fact that it has a very shiny black finish. It’s the same type of finish that’s on the fingerprint and dust magnet Sony Playstation 3. It looks great when clean, but now since I can place this thing where I wish, it means more use, thus more fingerprints and dust.

The print quality is a ton better than my prior printer. In fact, in a few cases, I’d almost call this near laser-quality. I saw some banding on some colors, but nowhere near the amount I had gotten used to. But legibility is tops. And I mean to the point I’ll not be ashamed of any prints that I take with me to meetings from home.

With a fax cache of 180 pages, it also feeds my need to use a fax machine. It has built-in double-sided printing. There’s a full-color 2.5 inch LCD that swivels out for better viewing to go along with the internal memory card reader so I can pop in my compact flash, SDHC card, from my camera and it reads from there without any issues. And I can print without even firing up the computer.

So let’s recap. The Epson WorkForce 600 is a darn good: printer, fax, copier. It connects to my network via ethernet, wi-fi, or connected to a computer via USB and shared that way. And it can copy up to 100 pages once I just set it and go. It has double-sided printing and an automatic feeder that can handle up to 30 pages. The ink cartridges are high capacity, water-proof and after a month of using this printer, the quality hasn’t dropped at all and I’ve gone through a full ream of high-quality ink-jet paper.

And most importantly, it will keep me from drinking that yucky coffee at Kinkos.

Yes. I like a printer. There, I said it. And your home office warrior in your life will also like it too – 4.5 out of 5 (“A Must Buy”).

For more information about the WorkForce 600 please click here.

Right now, at Epson and Amazon both have this normally (list price) $200.00 – $280.00 printer for the low price of $149.99. Jump on it. Epson’s instant $50.00 off special is located here and Amazon’s special price – you have to add it to your cart to see the price – is located here.

[ Amazon ] [ Epson ] [ Epson WorkForce 600 ]

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RTL’s Gift Guide for the Last Minute Shopper – #6 Oral-B Triumph 9900 with SmartGuide

William — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 04:57:53 +0000

And on the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to the Dental Hygienist:

Ever brush your teeth so hard that you see “pink in the sink”? Do you sometimes brush your teeth too quickly and in under 10 minutes get that not-so-fresh feeling again? Not everybody brushes their teeth properly. Too hard, too fast, too little… you get the idea. It’s not all about bad breath but more about proper dental health. Enter the Oral-B Triumph 9900 with SmartGuide.

If anything, I’m the type that brushes for far too long and far too hard. I don’t mean to do it, but with my current toothbrush, I just felt like I was not getting clean enough. After a brief read – I mean, c’mon, the thing has a wireless remote display – and making a neat little spot for it on my sink, I gave it a quick whirl.

Armed with my favorite toothpaste, Jason’s Natural Sea Fresh plus CoQ10 gel toothpaste, I started in and immediately I was alerted that I was brushing too hard. The toothbrush has a pressure sensor. Imagine that. Then I was instructed to move to another part of my mouth – shown in quadrants on the remote display – and brush there for the next 30 or so seconds. All in all, I was in and out, minty fresh in 2 minutes. The top right, top left, bottom right and bottom left… 2 minutes. And once I finished, no pink in the sink either.

Who knew that I was doing it all wrong this whole time!?

A very good purchase for the person that’s worried about their dental health – which, if done right, you will avoid plenty of other problems in the future. Talking about the future, if you purchase the Oral-B Triumph right now, Oral-B has a $15.00 mail-in rebate that’s good through 12/31/2008, click here for details.

[ Oral-B ]

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RTL’s Gift Guide for the Last Minute Shopper – #9 KOR ONE Water Hydration Vessel

William — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 04:58:57 +0000

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to the Environmentalist:

The KOR ONE – all caps like MF DOOM – is a BPA-free hydration vessel. Yes, hydration vessel.

Don’t you dare call it a mere “water bottle”.

Currently on sale at KOR ONE‘s website and Amazon.com, this $29.99 hydration vessel is stylish enough to make you stand out, yet environmental friendly enough to show that you care – less water bottles in the landfill is a very good thing ya’ll.

The 750ml (very solid) plastic container with a very wide mouth is easy to refill – and I can slide in ice cubes as well. Seriously, the mouth of this thing is sizable. And while you flip the KOR ONE lid, you’ll be greeted with a personal mission statement on the replaceable KOR Stone inserts. A good way to personalize your experience.

After getting my personal water cooler in my house, where I trade in the 5 gallon water bottles, I’ve seen that I’ll buy one water bottle while out, come home, refill it for a while. The price is $29.99 and as many bottles as I’ve gone through, to me it’s worth well it mainly because I will keep that many more water bottles out of the landfill. And currently at KOR Water’s website, you can get free shipping until 12/31/2008.

[ KOR Water ]

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RTL’s Gift Guide for the Last Minute Shopper – #10 Nike Zoom Potro PrizeFlight Premium

William — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 07:12:29 +0000

And on the the tenth day of Christmas, my true love gave to the Sneaker Addict:

A pair of Nike Zoom Potro PrizeFlight Premiums. With these, you’ll be guaranteed a stylish separation from the crowd of Nike Air Force One and other sneaker head shoe mainstays. With a full-length Nike Air Zoom insole and a very form fitting and well-padded interior, these possibly could be the most comfortable casual sneakers in a long time. And as a limited edition sneaker, they’re somewhat hard to find…

But you’re in luck and all it takes is an eBay account and a little bit of patience since the only retailer on the internet – that I can find with inventory – is in Taiwan.

Just having received the shoes, it will take close to 7-9 business days, but will arrive just in time for Christmas for your sneaker addict. They look great with a crisp pair of dark denim jeans and cost about $89.99 USD and another $30.00 USD for shipping with eBay’s “Buy It Now” option. A perfect pair of sneakers to get noticed.

[ eBay - id4shoes ]

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last minute gift ideas: How to save face when it seems to be almost too late…

William — Tue, 25 Dec 2007 00:10:06 +0000

Ok. If you wasted away the last few hours of the holiday shopping doing things you’d rather do like watch football, ~~drink beer~~ or basically procrastinate like no other… you might be able to save a bit of face even still going into the Christmas Day.

How? Let ol’ Uncle Will tell you how…

First off, if you need to, go to Apple.com and purchase an iTunes Music Store gift card. Or check out Amazon.com and purchase and order a gift card from them. Got a person looking for some new or customized sneakers, hit up NikeID.com and also purchase and e-mail your gift card to the person you seriously need to make up for your procrastination.

If you’re in the need to have something physical to place under the tree and you’re in the US, hit up the local Walgreen‘s and CVS stores. Not only will they have batteries that you more than likely forgot, but they will have small items that you could purchase real quick for a cheap gift to place under the Christmas tree.

And if you’re really desperate, hit up the local gas station. Nothing says “I was really thinking about you” more than a Snickers bar with a bright red bow on it.

Glory to the last second shopper. I’m glad I finished my shopping last month

Happy Holidays all…

last minute gift ideas: Insignia Pilot 4gb Video/MP3/FM w/Bluetooth

William — Sun, 23 Dec 2007 03:54:06 +0000

Let’s face it. Not everybody can use or even wants an iPod. Shock. Horror.

It usually means that you have to install iTunes in order to sync up your music, and if you’re not careful you will download the Quicktime + iTunes download as well. The current iPod out of the box does not have the ability to listen to FM radio nor can you use stereo Bluetooth headphones. Sure, you can download YamiPod instead of iTunes. You can get the Jabra A125s Bluetooth Adapter for the iPod to enable stereo bluetooth/a2dp headset compatibilty.

Enter the Insignia 4gb Pilot. It plays video, mp3, has a built-in FM receiver and supports stereo bluetooth from the very beginning. And it’s about 20 bucks cheaper than the iPod nano. Sports a 2.4 inch screen, has support for Real Audio’s Rhapsody music store.

Oh yeah… it also accepts SDHC chips as well. So slam in another 8gb SDHC card for even more memory for songs.

So why not pick one up for your ~~Apple hating~~ significant other for Christmas. And the cool thing, if you need to, buy it online, choose in-store pickup, and Best Buy will have your order ready in 45 minutes or so.

Last minute holiday buyers rejoice…

Tinsel tape… GENIUS!!

William — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 08:42:37 +0000

Just in time for Christmas cheer, joy and the inevitable rush of last minute purchases, the cool minds from Atypyk bring the cool concept of tinsel lined tape for that extra decorative touch to your gifts.

Or if you’re anything like me, you probably wrap your gifts with so much tape that this might actually make last years duct tape gift wrap/tape job look like an amateur job.

Genius.