Photo Prints Down to 12 Cents

Last week I wrote about finding the best deals on photo prints. Well, Snapfish just blew everybody out of the water by dropping their price to 12 cents/print. They also have a neat option to store (and then print, share, etc.) the photos you snap on your cell phone. You just send them to a specific e-mail address and they'll be waiting for you the next time you sign on.



Is this the first volley in the Great Photo-Print Price War of '05? Time will tell, but in the meantime...12-cent prints! Woo!

Aurora and Nail: Kill This Spyware Dead

For a few weeks now I've been battling the worst spyware epidemic I've ever seen. Aurora, Nail.exe, BetterInternet...my anti-spyware programs keep finding and (supposedly) removing these and other infections, but minutes later, bam!, there they are again.

Believe it or not, the companies behind these advertising-oriented nasties have actually owned up to them. Now, this is a family Web site, so I can't properly express my rage. Needless to say, there's a special place in hell for ABI Network, DirectRevenue, and ABetterInternet (ha! There's an ironic choice of names).

Although it's plenty natural to be suspicious of MyPCTuneUp, the adware uninstaller provided by these companies, I can attest that it works. In fact, it's just about the only thing that works; I've tried pretty much everything else.



One word of advice: the program says to disable your firewall, but I left mine running (I'm not that gullible), and it still worked. Good luck!

What-Is-It Wednesday: Routers

I really wanted to call it "Novice Wednesday," but that's not as alluringly alliterative. A router, in case you're new to the term (and scratching your head after yesterday's print-server post), is essentially a splitter for your cable or DSL modem. Instead of plugging the modem directly into your computer's Ethernet port, you plug it into the router. Most consumer routers have four ports, meaning you can plug in up to four computers.

Of course, in most home environments, the computers are spread out. That's where wireless routers come in. These not only split your broadband Internet connection among wired PCs, they make it available to wireless PCs as well.

What constitutes a "wireless PC"? Pretty much any system (notebook, desktop, PDA, etc.) with a built-in or add-on 802.11 (a.k.a. Wi-Fi) adapter.

You can buy an 802.11b Wi-Fi router for around $20 these days—$40 if you opt for an 802.11g model (which I highly recommend, as the "g" variant gives you better range and faster performance).

Tip Tuesday: Share Your Printer

Raise your hand if you've got multiple PCs in the house and only one printer. That's the scene in the Budget Computing skyrise, and let me tell you, it's downright inconvenient. Although printer sharing is fairly easy to set up in Windows, it requires your primary PC to stay on 24/7.

What you need is a print server, a little box that enables your printer to operate independently of your PC--meaning any computer on the network can use it. (You do have a home network, right? They're practically giving routers away, people!)



Print servers tend to be a little pricey, but Overstock.com has the NetGear PS101 Mini Network Print Server for a mere $25.95 (plus $2 for shipping if you order this month). Just plug the little gizmo into your printer, then connect the cable to your router, and presto: instant print server!

Free Friday: FastStone Image Viewer

For a couple years now, I've been a huge fan and avid user of IrfanView, a freeware utility for viewing, converting, and making minor edits to image files. But I have to profess newfound love for FastStone Image Viewer, which is great for things like batch conversions, red-eye removal, and (natch) image viewing. Plus, it has a much spiffier interface:



Just a great, great freebie. Available for Windows 98 and later.

Best Deals on Photo Prints

Time was, the only ways to get digital prints from your digital camera were to make them yourself or upload photos to a site like Snapfish. Now, of course, you can take the memory card from your camera to just about any drugstore in town. Which begs the question: Who has the best prices on digital prints? I did a little research:

• Costco: 18 cents per 4x6-inch print
• Best Buy: 19 cents (until June 4)
• Dotphoto.com and Snapfish: 19 cents
• Wal-Mart: 24 cents
• CVS, Ofoto.com, Shutterfly.com, Walgreens: 29 cents

It's worth noting that many of the online sites offer discount deals--and sometimes even free prints--for new customers, so shop around.

Last Chance for Free Frostys!

I know, it has nothing to do with computing, but who can pass up a free Wendy's Frosty? Today's the last day to score one. Just head to your local square-burger emporium and say, "Free Frosty, please." (The promo literature says the "please" is optional, but not in my book. Neither is "thank you." Manners, people!)

While we're on the subject, anyone know the correct plural of Frosty? "Frosties" just doesn't look right.

The $62.98 Laser Printer

A laser printer for $62.98?! That's the deal of the day at Buy.com, to which I can only say: Oh...My...God. I can remember when my dad plunked down something like $900 on one of the early LaserJets. The printer in question is Samsung's ML-1740, which is widely regarded as being a fine entry-level laser. The $62.98 price is after a $70 mail-in rebate, but shipping is free!



Gotta mention one other thing about Buy.com: Apparently they now accept PayPal, which is huge for those of us who like to sell things on eBay, build up big PayPal balances, and buy other things.

Finally, a Discounted iPod!

It's rare to find deals on iPods--Apple seems to control the purse strings pretty tightly. But Apple's own outlet "mall" currently has refurbished 4GB iPod Minis on sale for $169--shipped! That's pretty tempting. Get 'em while you can...at that price they definitely won't last long.