The ultimate brag book
There’s not a grandparent who’s not ready to whip out pictures of their grand- children at a moment’s notice. Now you can do it electronically! You can keep all your favorite photos on hand with a Digital Photo Keychain from Brookstone. Com- pact, cute and James Bond-cool, this powerful little gizmo keeps 56 photos of the world’s cutest grandkid stored on its internal flash memory, ready for viewing.
The one-inch, backlit screen offers a vivid, easy to see image no matter what the lighting conditions. It’s easy to load right from your PC and even re- sizes the photos to auto- magically fit the screen. It’s just $50.
Safe & sound: burn those treasured memories
Remember when VHS tapes were the state of the art in technology? Not any- more. If you don’t have your taped memories transferred to DVD, you risk losing them forever. So, before those home movie tapes disintegrate before your eyes, get those precious memories onto disks. And now it’s as easy as pushing a button, especially if you choose a combo a system like the Panasonic DMR-ES30 VS. DVD recorder/VCR. You can dub a VHS tape to DVD with the One-Touch 2-Wasy Transfer.
This unit is also a smart DVD recorder, featuring all kinds of innovations. It’s available everywhere Panasonic electronics are sold for $295.
Wake up and smell the coffee
This is DEFINITELY not your father’s flinty old percolator! Cuisinart’s Grind & Brew 10-Cup Thermal Coffeemaker automatically grinds coffee beans and keeps the eye-opening brew steaming hot in a thermal carafe until you manage to crawl out of bed! So, skip the local beanery with the $3 lattes and you’ll pay for this $149 unit in no time.
King of the road
Everyone manages to get lost sometime. But if you’re in a van full of grandkids who ask every 5 seconds “are we there yet,” help is nearby. The new TomTom 910 does just about everything you’d ever need to find your way in any situation. It plugs into your cigarette lighter and comes with maps of not only the USA, but Europe and Canada, too. It also includes text-to-speech functions and a built-in MP3 player.
All three new models come with a 4- inch widescreen touch- screen display, a dock for quick connections to a computer and an optional traffic info receiver— all for about $800.
Sweet deal
Forget that smoothies are healthy and nutritious… they just taste good. Now, they’re easier to make than ever with the Smoothie Elite, a smoothie and juice drink maker. This is way more than a blender. The Smoothie Elite has all the features of a professional smoothie maker, including a powerful 500 watt motor and specially designed ice- crunching blade.
There’s even a neat dispenser valve for serving like a pro. This machine is so cool you could even get your little ones to drink some healthy fruit and veggie smoothies that taste good and are good for them too. And it’s economical; just $35.
Originally Published on Grand Magazine in July-August 2006 Issue