Life & Technology

Clip courtesy of the A Current Affair

Below are my selections of Christmas shopping websites where you can buy presents during the festive season.

www.lasoo.com.au
Lasoo allows you to compare similar products and see what they are priced at. i.e., If you are after a juicer, it will take you to the juicing page and show you the cost of others juicers in a similar price range. You can search by category, brand or retailer. Although in most cases you won’t be able to purchase these products online, it allows you to see what store has what item and which store has the most competitive price.

 

www.dealsdirect.com.au
Takes excess stock from stores around the country and sells them online. Items are usually a lot cheaper than they are in the store. There are reader reviews and star ratings that gives you an idea of what a product is like. There is a wide selection of categories to chose from. The site has a clearance bin section where items are significantly reduced.

 

www.topbuy.com.au
More like a department store online. Top brands including Acer, Nokia, Blackberry, etc. Do be careful with warranties – check them out. They have ‘steal’ of the day – name product that can be purchased at particularly good price. Prices are usually lower than retail.

 

www.iwishiwish.com.au
This website offers service based gift ideas – e.g. a cleaner, personal trainer or personal chef to your home. iWish iWish provides approximately 80 unique gift packages available in destinations throughout Australia, making it the perfect site to do your Christmas shopping for the entire family. Services such as a beauty spa pack, a house clean or a romantic dinner are unquestionably popular gifts for busy mothers. There are great new ideas for Dad too, with a garden tidy, a fresh BBQ party pack and a garage de-clutter. Other services for the family range from dog walking, a concierge service, or a personal chef catering for a diverse array of interests and lifestyles.

Since the launch of Windows 7 near the end of October I’ve received quite a few queries with regard to its functionality. So I’ve called in a Windows 7 specialist who is going to answer all your questions. So if you have any queries with regard to the operating system – how to get the best out of it, any problems you’re having, or what it is compatible with – then send them in and we’ll answer them for you this afternoon.. In other news on 2UE ,we had quite a few questions on the Steve Price Show this morning on 2UE. Michael was asking after a dual sim mobile phone so he can separate his work life from his home life. There are a couple of companies out there that specialise in these units –DualSim and TwinSim. Their product should be available at most retailers who specialise in this space.

Linda was after a projector for her daughter. I’d suggest she look into getting an LED unit as opposed to a lamp-based unit. This is because LED last longer than lamps, but also lamps are known to be quite expensive to replace.

Andrew is buying is son for an Xbox for Christmas and wanted to know how to stop his 11-year-old son from playing M15 games. The simple solution is just not to let him, which I know is easier said than done. However, Xbox do have a parental control where you can punch in a code and it will not play an M15 game.

Finally there was Phil, whose PC slowed considerably when he loaded the latest Norton’s security software onto his computer. I’m pretty sure the software has been set to autoscan so it is continually running while he is trying to do other tasks. I suggest going into the control panel and switching it on to manual.

Keep you questions coming!

When Windows 7 was lauched in Australia I was fairly blunt that the software package was the best thing in operating systems since, well ever! My main area of interest was the networking within the home. With Windows7 it is really easy to share content around multiple pc’s, AND is really easy to set this up. Problem was Microsoft did not release a multiple install license to give families an incentive to up-grade all their machines, and take advantage of the better home networking.

In some other territories Microsoft launched the ‘Family Pack’ , this meant, one purchase, multiple licenses. It made sense to me, because today, more and more families have multiple pc’s in the home. Now the whole family could learn Windows7 at the same time on their own machine and use the content sharing benefits all at the same time.

The good news – Microsoft have just launched a new bundle offer. The Family Pack, is perfect for families. For $250, you get three Windows7 Home Premium licenses. So, three pc’s in the home can run Win7. Microsoft are saying this is part “of our Christmas offers”, and that it is a limited release. But I am hoping this is going to be around for some time.