Canon Powershot SX110 IS

OK, so we all can't be professional photographers. I accept that. But, I was in the market for a nice digital camera that would allow me to take great pictures although I don't know anything about photography. After months of research, I ran across the Canon Powershot SX110 IS (Note: there is a newer version of this camera, SX120IS). After reading review after review on this camera, I decided that I probably wouldn't find a better point & shoot camera for the price. I found this camera on Amazon.com for $220.00 with free shipping, so I purchased it. This camera has 10x optical zoom and 9.0 mega pixels for those larger prints (Note: the SX120IS is 10MP). It takes regular AA batteries (no special expensive camera batteries). Invest in rechargeable batteries and a charger and you'll save even more on batteries. This camera has several auto settings for different photography situations (i.e. indoor or nighttime settings). I've found that the auto feature is sufficient for my purposes, especially with outdoor shots. If that's not enough and you know a little bit about photography, this camera allows you to set it up manually as well. Hangs down, this camera takes the best outdoor pictures that I have even seen. Don't take my word for it, I'll let my pictures speak for themselves (1st Picture: dragon fly flying over a lily pad, 2nd Picture: Lily in our front yard, 3rd Picture: a bumble bee in a tree):

Samsung - Laptop Model: NP-R580-JSB1US

When I run across a great deal, I just have to share it. If you are in the market for a new laptop, then consider the Samsung Model: NP-R580-JSB1US from Best Buy. This is the best deal that I've seen on a new laptop in a while. Like other reviewers have said, this is the "best bang for your buck" at only $829.99. Why? The Samsung has taken this laptop and installed the new Intel® Core™ i5-430M processor. Why is that such a big deal? Try going to another computer manufacturer's website and check out the price for other laptops with this new processor. Samsung did not stop there. They also included a NVIDIA GeForce GT 310M graphics card (512MB). This in combination with the processor should make a few casual gamers smile, especially the Sims 3 fans like myself. Wait...there's more. This laptop includes 4GB DDR3 memory... um hello multi-taskers!! Now these additions alone make the laptop worth more than $800 bucks, but Samsung did not stop there. They also added a Blu-ray Disc-enabled DVD±RW/CD-RW drive. Now if you research things before you buy them like myself, you already know that it is almost impossible to find a new laptop under $900 with a Blu-ray drive. Don't believe me? Go to Dell and try to build your own system. You can get a pretty nice Studio 15 for around $800. Now add a Blu-ray enabled drive to the system...oops, you've just pushed the price of the system up another $150. So what's the point? If you want a decent laptop, with pretty good customer reviews (check them out on the Best Buy website) that will allow you go watch some videos online, while downloading music, flip back and forth to Facebook, play a video game or two and watch your Blu-ray movies, then you should be pretty happy with this purchase. But don't take my word for it, go out there and compare prices with other brands. I'm sure that you'll see my point!