This Tech-Savvy Girl's Holiday Wishlist . . . Gifts for Under $100 From Best Buy!

I know many parents feel the way I do when it comes to Holiday gifts for themselves.  It is easy to spend money on our children, but when asked what items are on our own wishlists, the answers do not come as easy.  Well, I should say that it is not easy to come up with gift ideas for yourself that you do not feel guilty asking for.  What I want to say is that I really want an Asus Tablet with Windows RT that will replace one of the laptops I use for blogging and working with graphics or a new stove because ours is old and rusty.  After I have had some more time to think about it, I was able to come up with a few items I would love to receive for Christmas this year and they're all under $100.00 at Best Buy!

1.  The first thing on my wishlist is the Nokie Lumia 920 Windows Phone (in red please).  I am already a fan of Windows phones and am an AT&T customer.  I am happy with my Samsung Focus, but would not mind an upgrade.  I think the Lumia 920 would make a great gift for anyone who is a Windows user on their PC and is looking for an easy transition into a powerful smartphone.  Not to mention that this phone has an 8.0MP PureView Carl Zeiss lens for people like me, who loves to take tons of high quality photos, but would rather not lug my D-SLR with me everywhere I go.  This phone is available at Best Buy and BestBuy.com for just $99.99 with a new 2-year contract and it comes with Free Shipping!

2.  The second item on my wishlist would be the Canon SELPHY CP900 Wireless Compact Photo Printer.  We have a great multi-function printer for home office use, but it does not print photos with accuracy as far as color and brightness goes.  What's the point of getting that frame-worthy shot if you cannot get a quality print to frame?  This printer is super-compact at 5"H x 7"W x 2.4"D and would fit easily into my tiny little office space at home.  I have very few photos in my photo albums because I do not have the convenience of a photo printer.  With this printer, I could print new 4x6 photos to go in my albums every week!  This Canon photo printer is currently on sale at Best Buy and BestBuy.com for just $69.99 (Regularly $99.99) plus Free Shipping.

3.  The last item on my wishlist is the Jill-e Small Camera Bag in Black.  Since I am an amateur photographer who still has not learned how to properly use her D-SLR, this bag is perfect for me because it holds one camera body and up to 3 lenses.  I like this bag because it looks professional, but could easily pass as a handbag.  This Jill-e camera bag is currently on sale for just $95.98 (Regularly $159.99) with Free Shipping from BestBuy.com and in Best Buy stores!

Need some more ideas?  Checkout all these under $100 gift ideas for women, men, teens, and kids.  If you are all for avoiding the busy parking lots and crowded stores like me, then you'll be happy to know that BestBuy.com is currently offering Free Shipping on everything through January 2nd, 2013!  Just remember, if you are having your items shipped, then you'll need to place your order by December 19th.  Also remember that you can purchase in-stock items online and pick-up these items at your local store through 3pm on Christmas Eve!


Need more incentives?  There are more great deals being offered by Best Buy, including a promotion on tablet accessories, where you can save $10 on a purchase of 3 tablet accessories totaling $75 or less, save $15 if your purchase totals up to $100, or save $30 if your purchase totals up to $150 (no promo code needed).   Below, you can also find a 10% coupon good on headphones, speakers, and health and fitness products . . .

Shop online at BestBuy.com to find more great Holiday deals!


This reviewer has been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.  All opinions are solely my own.

Review: Epson Stylus NX515 All-In-One Printer

Since our last all-in-one inkjet printer failed, my husband and I thought we could get by with just a good quality black and white laser printer. We figured that any color print jobs we had could be sent to the local FedEx Office or photo place. As our children have grown, our needs have changed. We don't just need to print birthday invitations once a year anymore. Instead we also have children's artwork, potty charts, and reward certificates to print. On top of that, I want to start updating our framed photos and photo albums more often than once a year, so the answer for us seemed to be a high quality photo printer.

For this reason, I was thrilled with the timeliness of Epson's offer to review the Epson Stylus NX515 all-in-one printer, which is one in four AIOs Epson had added to it's Stylus NX series in 2009. Although having a scanner and a copier is convenient, the main focus for this review will be on the print quality and how user-friendly this printer really is. Those are the two most important things for a household like mine.

What I thought about this Epson all-in-one printer:

1) At 17.7" wide, I think this AIO printer is as compact as it can be while still being user-friendly at the same time.

2) Although I like the sleek versatile look of the printer in black, it is a dust and pet hair magnet (but so is my laptop, our television, and any other black electronics in our home).

3) Having a built-in WiFi and Ethernet connection gives us the option of going wireless, which is extremely convenient. This way, we can print from our laptops from anywhere in the house. I still have to connect my laptop with a USB cable to print on our laser printer. With this Epson you have the option of using a wired or wireless network.

4) The disc that comes with this printer supports Windows 2000, Windows XP and XP Professional, Windows Vista, and Apple Mac OS X. If you have Windows 7, you do not need the disc to set up your printer. Instead you will need to go to Epson's Microsoft Windows 7 Support page to download the drivers you need.

5) After that, printing is easy, even for various sizes of photos. For printing photos quickly you simply select your paper size, desired print quality, paper type, and whether you would like your computer to auto-fit your print project to the frame size.

6) I have to say that I love that the 2.5" color screen on top of the printer tilts foward. No more leaning over the top of the printer trying to read the options. This is especially nice if your printer is located on a shelf or high up in a hutch.

7) Another practical feature I like is that the paper tray not only retracts, it also folds up and latches. This is a huge space-saver and helps to keep unwanted debris from entering the interior of the printer.

8) If print speed is important to you, then you will be happy to know that this printer prints documents almost as quickly as our laser printer. For a 4x6 inch color photo, it takes about 20 seconds to print one from edge to edge.

9) I was pretty happy with the smooth feed of the paper on this printer. One time, I forgot to push the guide over when printing a 4x6 photo and it still printed without any fuzziness or having the paper move or jam.

10) This printer can print documents and photos without going through your computer. It takes all types of memory cards (including xD, SD, MS Pro, and CF) and USB flash drives. The LCD screen serves as a little computer monitor to assist you in printing and viewing your projects. It is not intuitive to me that the slot on the left has three spaces inside for the different types of smaller memory cards. Once you realize it, then it is easy to use.

11) This printer has the capabilities of photo enhancement. This is nice if you are not capable or do not have the time to use photo-editing software to edit your photos yourself. You must make your selection, such as "fix red-eye" prior to printing.

12) This printer also has the ability to restore old photographs that have faded or perhaps discolored. This is a wonderful feature for anyone who has taken on the project of scanning their old family photos and saving a digital copy of these photos for themselves and to share with friends and family.

13) The function of "Fix Photo" is great to use as a default function, except for two circumstances that I will explain below. This function brightens and sharpens your photos all on its own. As you can see below, it works great on most photos.

I did not find the "Fix Photo" function to be helpful when there was a lot of red and brown or a lot of white in the photo. On this photo, my daughters eyes look a lighter brown than normal, but the "Fix Photo" actually gave her red-eye. It also made her face a washed out pink.

On this next photo, the "Fix Photo" again enhanced the red-eye and turned my son's orange pants into red. It also washed out the white in my son's shirt, so many of the details of the fabric that were once seen in the original sharp photo disappeared.

14) If you have children (or impatient adults) in your household or office, then you will be as thrilled as I am about the DURABrite Ultra Ink used in this Epson. It dries immediately on documents and just after a few seconds on full color photos. This ink is smudge-free and water resistant. Not only is this great for important projects, but wouldn't it be nice if your children could color with markers on coloring pages you printed for them without the lines smudging when wet with a marker?

15) One other important thing you should know is that this Epson printer is eco-friendly and more cost-efficient. It is ENERGY STAR qualified, designed to be recycled, and the quick drying ink allows you to print on both sides of your paper without worries of smudging.

Aside from the effects of the "Fix Photo" feature on photos with lots of white, red, and brown, I am extremely happy with this printer. I have not had it in my home for long enough to speak about it's durability. I can only say that it appears to be well-constructed and solidly built, right down to the paper tray. This printer also comes with bonus Arcsoft Print Creations software, which allows you to create invitations, cards, photo calendars, and other personalized projects.

To learn more about this printer, click on this link to view the Epson Stylus NX515 Printer specifications. You should be able to find this printer, which retails for approximately $149.99, at most major retailers of computers, office products, and electronics, as well as on the Epson website.

Thank you to Epson America, Inc for providing a printer, ink, and paper samples for us to base this review upon and also for providing facts and product specifications in a press kit.