Being a big fan of alternative vehicles, I turned my head when the local lot had a "HiHy" for sale. Though it was the standard silver, not one of the sexy new colors for this year's redesign, I stopped in and took it out for a spin.Wow. No, let me rephrase that. WOOOOOW.The handling felt so light. It was the most comfortable car I've driven in a long while. I know some people ...

Having never had hay fever-type allergies when I was a child, I was baffled at first by frequent stuffy noses, watering and itchy eyes, and a generally funky feeling starting a few years ago. My local editor told me it sounded like maybe I had allergies, so I made an appointment with my doctor. Sure enough, I had developed a sensitivity to things I'd lived alongside of peacefully my entire ...

If you've tried out other stuffed animals that have online features, you might have been disappointed. My daughter got a Star Pet at Toys R' Us and the online play was so wiggy, it just wasn't worth it. When she came home with a Rescue Pets MyePets.com I thought, "Oh great. Here we go again."Like others, you register online, and get a virtual version of your toy. You name ...

If you want a good deal on a 2008 Prius - in any color - you should wait until the big lot sales next year. The line is being redesigned, and dealers will be eager to get these babies (whichever ones are remaining) out of the way. The Prius wasn't the first mainstream hybrid car, but it quickly became the most popular. It's sleek design, even back in 2000, made drivers take notice. The ...

The PIXMA iP5000 is a true photo-quality printer, but it's ink is expensive and it's not easy to fix problems without sending it back to the company. I had my iP5000 for two years, and loved it's quality of printing. It was quick when printing documents, and kind of slow when printing photos, but the wait was worth it. Using photo-quality paper, you can print off an 8x10 that looks ...

Like most parents I know, I've seen the new Dodge Caravan and Town & Country commercials and drooled a little. So much so that, despite the horrible gas mileage, I checked them out when I was at the lot the other day. I'm so glad I did. Getting a closer look immediately cured my auto-lust for this oversized waste of space.Just to get this out of the way - in the commercials for both...

Awhile back I was given the opportunity to test drive a red 2007 Toyota Highlander Limited. The extended size SUV seats 7, but how comfortably is the question.I absolutely love the color schemes Toyota comes up with for their autos ... and I love the names. They're exciting, and like their colors, I find their cars exciting too. The handling for this SUV was what I expected from a new auto....

I had the opportunity to test drive a beautiful white HHR with dark windows. For an extremely cold day (11• F) it purred right awake. The same could not be said for the Vibe that refused to start.The HHR is a surprising car. It's extremely spacious, roomy even, and the drive doesn't give any hint of instability. You feel like you're driving a concrete brick down the road. We re...

I actually took this test drive with my sister, who was thinking of trading in her 2006 Dodge Stratus for something more fun. The Yaris fit the bill and then some. I know some people find the design a little off, but I think this is an adorable small car. Also, if the hatchback isn't quite your taste, there is a sedan version that looks more ... grown up. (But who wants to grow up, anyway?!...

I really do love the Canon PowerShot set-up for their digital elphs. I've owned three different models, and the SD630 is my current favorite. Unfortunately, as did the SD200 and the SD600, it has "problems". Unlike the others, the SD630 has a digital video function that doesn't have a time limit. There is a small microphone near the button you press to start filming however, w...

This little phone technically can do almost everything. It's a cell phone, a portable movie player, an MP3 player, a PDA, a digital camera and camcorder, and a portable gaming system.  You can use it to get emails or surf the internet. You can customize everything from the background to the ring of incoming calls by caller. You can set real songs to be ring tones (and yes, you can make...

The only reason our experience wasn't better, imo, was because our older son has a regular Razor scooter and our younger son really wanted one. He didn't know why he got stuck with the "baby" version. Due to this, he's spent most of his time outside waiting for his brother to put his real scooter down so he could hop on and ride it around.On it's own though, this is a ...

I'm a big fan of Canon products, but this printer was a disappointment. I purchased it for convenience, ease-of-use and quality ... but without the quality, it was a wasted investment.Granted, when I purchased the Selphy, I was already using a photo-quality printer, the PIXMA iP5000, which I have reviewed here. I bought this for the convenience of portability, and expected the same level of...

Released in 2000, amidst legal battles with their recording label, this Tool collection highlights both the band's groundbreaking sounds and videos that garnered them such a hardcore following. The set contains a DVD including the following videos - Aenema, Stinkfist, Prison Sex and Sober - a sleek, hard-covered booklet with nearly 60-pages of high gloss artwork and photographs, a CD with t...

A Nintendo DS Lite is a portable gaming system from Nintendo. It opens like a checkbook, with one screen for viewing and the other a touchscreen for directing gameplay. There is a convenient storage space in the side of the DS Lite for the stylus. With your Nintendo DS Lite, you'll be able to play many games that are available for systems like the GameCube or Wii. Nintendo DS games are smal...

Our son wanted a toy gun that functions like the gun in the video game Portal, it's part of The Orange Box for the XBox 360. If you could guess, this portal gun creates portals, and it does so by shooting glowing ammunition at walls and the like.The Nerf N-Strike® Firefly REV-8™ turned out to be a great option. Though it takes him a little effort to load and fire, the results are ...

Written, directed by and starring comedic genius, Steve Oedekerk, you'll either find this film unbelievably funny ... or unbelievably stupid. Being a big fan of ridiculous comedies, I thought it was hilarious. And as a fan of Hong Kong action, this film lends an especially quirky twist. We're long-time fans of Oedekerk side projects, namely his thumb movies - Bat Thumb, Thumbtanic, etc....

You might have walked passed this interactive parrot toy this holiday season and thought, "How annoying. I'm so glad no one's going to give our kids that obnoxious toy for [insert holiday here]." That was us -- only to realize two rips into an unwrapping that our 7 year old daughter received this boisterous bird from her grandmother. I have to say we were pleasantly surprised....

Two of our children received Moon Sand Sand Castle kits from relatives this year, and I honestly didn't know what to think. Our daughter has wanted Moon Sand forever and a day, and I've shied away. It seems like such a messy toy. We have a sandbox in the summer the kids can play in, and by December, I'm finally getting the last crystals of that out of my house. But, we had to try it...

I'm not sure why, but some of my favorite movies come from Korea. This is no exception. An excellent follow-up to director, Chan-wook Park's epic Old Boy, Sympathy for Lady Vengeance takes audience's down the path of revenge one last time -- with surprising consequences. This was a first purchase from the eBay store, and I wasn't disappointed. It arrived quickly, and shipping co...