February 2007 Newsletter
Baby  |  Electronics  |  Household  |  Outdoor  |  Travel  |  Online Shopping  |  Cool Websites  |  Small Business  |  Boston's Best

Starbucks Gift CardI hope you enjoy the latest edition of my newsletter. As always, I welcome any feedback or suggestions. Don't forget, you can win a free $10 Starbucks card if you forward this newsletter to the most friends (who aren’t currently subscribed) using this link.


What's New WHAT'S NEW

Zillow

If you haven’t yet heard of real estate voyeur site Zillow.com, then you are missing out on America’s newest guilty pleasure. By combining databases and using some fancy algorithms, Zillow is able to come up with an estimated price for most residential homes in the country. Several tests have found Zillow's prices to be accurate to within about 5 to 7%. It’s also a great tool when looking to buy or sell your home to get a perspective on the market value.

New Product Reviews
Portable DVD Player / Vonage VOIP Phone / Stroller/Carseat Converter
Hard Drive HD Video Camera / All In One Printer

Saving Money DEALS & COUPONS

As always, I've pulled together some goods deals and discounts for you.

Beaucoup
Use coupon code SAVE10 for 10% off your order at Beaucoup. Featured in InStyle, Beaucoup offers a large collection of personalized and unique party favors for baby showers, birthdays, weddings and other special occasions.

eBeanstalk
Use coupon code 10%PTR to save 10% off your order at eBeanstalk, a cool new website that sells developmental “toy bundles” that are delivered quarterly at the appropriate time. Perfect gift for a new baby.

Free Take Home Meal
Chef Dane's, a new “Make and Take” kitchen in Needham is offering Bobby’s Best readers a FREE MEAL simply for coming to visit their new facility. Choose from Cheese Macaroni or Chicken Pot Pie. Simply print this e-mail and come in for your free meal. Offer is limited to first time Chef Dane’s customers and expires 3/21/2007. Limit one per customer. For more info, visit www.chefdanesneedham.com

Saving Money FROM THE BLOG

ADT Think Twice About Going with ADT
In trying to make a simple addition to my alarm system, I was surprised to find that a $10 door contact could cost more than an entire alarm system. Read The Story.

It’s easy to have new postings from Bobby’s Best Blog appear on your My Yahoo, Google, or AOL page by subscribing to the feed. Subscribe Now

Saving Money BOSTON SPOTLIGHT

Baby Proofing
Safe Beginnings (www.safebeginnings.com) is a local company that has grown into a national supplier. In addition to providing in-home installation services, they have a great direct to consumer website of high quality baby proofing products for the Do It Yourself crowd.  Also, their reps are extremely friendly and helpful when you call and ask questions.
Use code BB10 to Save 10% on your order.

Looking for a painter, contractor, plumber, etc? See the recently updated recommendations on the Boston’s Best Page

Saving Money TIPS & TRICKS

Save Big on Printer Ink
The printer companies have realized that they can make a lot of money selling you cheap printers that run on expensive ink. The cost of replacing ink on newer four color inkjets often exceeds the price of the printer itself. If you are willing to get your hands dirty, you can instead order ink refill kits from eBay at a fraction of the cost. The kits usually come with bottles of ink matched to your specific printer, syringes, rubber gloves and instructions for refilling your empty containers. For a few minutes of work, you can save about 75%.
See an example search of options for HP replacement ink on eBay.

See more Tips & Tricks from Bobby’s Best

Saving Money SMALL BUSINESS RESOURCES

If you have or are thinking about setting up a home office, below are some tips for helping to look big on a small budget.

Electronic Fax Service
If you don’t mind a Seattle area code, Faxaway’s service is much cheaper than eFax and does not require a proprietary reader, files are sent in a standard TIFF format. Receiving faxes will only cost you $1 a month. http://www.faxaway.com

Internet Phone Service
Vonage is the early leader in the fast growing VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) marketplace. For $25, you can have a dedicated work line and make unlimited domestic calls. http://www.vonage.com

Virtual PBX
For $9.95 a month, Got V Mail can give you a virtual phone system with a single toll-free or local number, main greeting auto attendant, multiple extensions, live call forwarding, music-on-hold, and more. Great option for small and decentralized business. http://www.gotvmail.com

See more recommendations on the Small Business Page

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Saving Money FEATURED PRODUCTS

  Sony BRAVIA-S 32 LCD

If you have held off getting an HDTV, now may be the time to buy. This Sony LCD provides a really sharp picture and its price has fallen by about 50% in the past 12 months.

Capresso CoffeeTEC

If you love the coffee house taste, but don’t want to shell out $40 a week to fund a new Starbucks location, invest in a good thermal coffee maker. It will pay for itself in a few months and there is no heating element to forget to turn off. I’ve had this model for 2 years now and love it.

All-Clad LTD Griddle

It’s fun to make pancakes and French toast, but having to clean saute pans makes it not worth the effort. This All-Clad griddle cooks very evenly and cleans in about a minute.
   
Saving Money Cool Websites

Visit Website Springwise
Springwise follows some of the newest trends in product and service development. It's sort of a trend watching site.

Visit Website Fixya
Fixya is a library of consumer product support. If something is wrong with any of your gadgets, it saves you from having to find the manual.

Visit Website Foodler
Foodler is a great way to search for local restaurants that deliver. They also feature deals and coupons that are available with each restaurant

Saving Money Support Bobby's Best

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