This weekend was my boyfriend’s 32nd birthday and I apparently got the best-gift-ever award! A long time ago he told me he was interested in getting into photography so I went online to look at reviews and settled on the Canon EOS 1000D digital camera. Apparently I made a great choice – he spent all of his fancy b-day dinner fiddling with it!

What ended up selling me on the Canon on top of the overall positive reviews was its live view function (as opposed to many cameras only using the viewfinder), compatibility with a ton of other accessories and lenses, as well as easy access to both automatic and manual settings.

I don’t know how to make the thing work – dear god its way too complicated for me! But, it’s has a ton of great features:

• 10.1 MegaPixels CMOS Sensor
• Self Cleaning Sensor Unit
• 3 Frames per second
• 2.5 inches LCD screen with Live View Function
• EF-S18-55mm Zoom Lens
• 3.0 fps continuous shooting
• Compatibility with both SD and SDHC memory cards

Now all we have to do is buy a book on how to use our new camera!

Right now Dell is once again running their great Days of Deals promotion. I am someone who is always on the lookout for a deal on electronics because I don’t like to pay retail prices for anything, so I love promotions like this. (Hey, when you have a baby on the way, you look for ways to save)

Everyday for 11 days, Dell will post 8 day specific deals on their website. Today is already Day 5, so don’t miss out on the great deals to follow. From TVs, computers and video game systems to the latest must have gadgets, Dell’s Days of Deals is a great place to start your shopping.

Btw, my favourite deal of the day today? The Sony Book Reader!

EA Sports has just announced the next installment of their hugely popular Sports Active workout systems for the Wii. It is called EA Sports Active 2.0, and will be available in the fall. It will also be available for the Sony PS3, iphone, and ipod touch.

The new innovations with this game are a wireless control system, leg and arm straps with motion sensors, and a heart rate monitor. They are also launching an online community where you can track your workouts and share with others.

The first fitness program (EA Sports Active) featured a 30 day workout challenge to get you motivated and into a daily workout routine. The second installment (More Workouts) went to a 6-week challenge, and 2.0 is advertising they will be featuring a 9-week total body conditioning program.

I am a huge fan of the EA sports workout series. It is an easy-to-use affordable option to help you maintain your physical fitness. The workouts go from “I am a couch potato and need to get back in shape easy” to “I am in great shape, but damn I can’t walk the next day hard”. :-)

I purchased the first one last fall. I work from home (usually on a laptop on the couch), and was looking for a quick workout to do from home that I could incorporate into my schedule. I have done 2 30-day challenges on it and have lost pounds and inches, but the best part is how much better I feel when I can get off the couch and even put in a 20 or 30 minute workout that makes you feel like you have actually done something. I got the More Workouts at Christmas and have started on the 6-week challenge, but it is on hold due to my “New Puppy” workout plan. LOL The More Workouts is more intense than the original, so I am looking forward to getting back into that one.

And I am definitely looking forward to the new installment coming out in the fall. Read the EA Sports blog post here.

Take some time to check out all the cool products from our new merchant Think Geek. They have a vast array of totally geeky products for geeks of all ages.

Everything from more bacon products than you could imagine, geeky toys, hilarious geek clothing, cool gadgets, and much more!

I could spend hours looking at all their neat stuff! LOL

I LOVE Sony and now we finally have their Sony Style Canada store here on Shoptoit.ca!

They offer a wide variety of cutting-edge electronics and computer products. I have owned quite a few Sony products over the years and have been extremely happy with all of them. In fact, I just gave away a 20-year-old Sony TV that still works perfectly.

Happy shopping!

Visit our new merchant Star Wars Shop for everything you can think of in Star Wars products.

They have action figures, collectibles, arts, clothing, video games, toys, costumes and much more! A ton of great gift ideas for the Star Wars geek in your life. The Darth Vader Projection Alarm Clock is going on my wish list. :-)

Rearview mirror Bluetooth unit

It’s official: the grace period in British Columbia and Ontario for cell phone use while driving officially expired last night.  Now anyone caught texting or talking on their cell phones behind the wheel will receive heavy fines – no more warnings!

Hands-free cell phone use isn’t illegal however, so with the convenience of a Bluetooth or other wireless device you can safely take/make calls from behind the wheel.  Check out this great guide that walks you through the pros and cons of the various Bluetooth devices out there, from headsets and earpieces to stereos and GPS systems.

Lose 2 pounds a day by watching TV and eating whatever the hell you want! Awesome!!! We all know that this is a completely ridiculous claim, but still… most of us hold onto the hope that someone will eventually find a magic cure to staying slim and sexy without really having to count calories or exercise.

Infomercials are generating millions and millions of sales annually selling some sort of promise, so something in their formula has to be working.

I know a ton of people who have been sucked in by a 3am infomercial, including myself! My sister picked up the Turbo Jam Workouts, my friend’s husband got Hip Hop Abs, the Leg Magic, and a bunch of other gadgets (he’s an addict!), my cousin got the Magic Bullet, I got the Slim in 6 videos… and the list goes on!

Some infomercial claims may seem outrageous, but i had an okay experience with my videos (although I didn’t get to use them much as a friend of mine stole them away from me!), my sister loves hers, and my cousin is completely in love with her Magic Bullet (I left her house and I wanted one too!).

From my point of view however, you have to be realistic. Losing weight does not happen overnight and nagging pounds will definitely not MELT away as they say so often claim, even if you’re electro shocking your abdominal muscles into submission!!! If you look at what you are buying as being a motivational tool instead of a quick fix, then it might actually work, as it did for the happy customers telling you to buy throughout the infomercial!

Infomercial products are some of the most searched products on the Web, which is why, this week, we put together a photo gallery of the most searched As Seen on TV fitness products on our site.

If you have had any experience with “As Seen on TV” products in general, or more specifically, with the ones we have featured in this week’s photo gallery, please share your thoughts – we are dying to know if they are worth the investment!

I am sure most of you out there have already heard the announcement today of Apple’s new tablet computer: the Ipad. It was unveiled at MacWorld this morning (PST) and definitely looks like it is going to live up to all the hype.

I won’t go into all the ‘cool factor’ details as I am sure they are everywhere on the web, but for those that just want the quick features here they are.

Those of you that know me, and those that have seen my (somewhat intermittent) blog postings here over the years know that I am an avid reader. I own over 1,600 physical books in my personal library, and have been DYING to try an ebook reader since they first came out many years ago.

Well, this Christmas I finally got my chance. :-) First off, the Sony touch screen reader is a beautiful thing. It is light, has a smooth finish, and a design that is very pleasing to the eye. It comes in three colours: silver, black, and red. I have the red.

My friends think it is a bit odd to buy a gadget that “only does one thing” when you can read books on your Blackberry or iphone. But in my opinion, and as my hubby commented, “Going from reading a book on an ebook reader to reading it on a Blackberry or iphone is like going from texting on a Blackberry to texting on a cell phone.” LOL Once you have done it, you don’t want to go back.

The reader comes with 512MB of internal memory. They say it is enough memory for about 350 books, or (in my case) the new Jann Arden CD (Free) and about 130 books. It also has memory card expansion slots, so you can go hard with adding books, audio books, music, and pictures. Did I mention it plays music while you read? :-)

Another cool feature the reader has is it’s ability to create bookmarks and write in your books. It comes with a stylus that can be used like a pen to write on the screen, or you can tap and get a keyboard to use. I tried out this feature in church. I downloaded a bible into my reader and then used the notes feature to take notes on the sermon. It worked great! I can see how this would be a great asset to students who can access their textbooks on a reader. Another good feature for students is the built-in dictionary. All you have to do is click on a word and the dictionary meaning pops up!

Before I made this purchase I also considered the Kindle. There were two main reasons that I chose the Sony reader over the Kindle. The first is that because I work from home I have constant access to my computer for uploading new books or newspapers. The wifi feature in the Kindle is cool, but not that huge a selling point for me. (But the new Sony Reader in the US has wifi as well).

The main reason I bought the Sony reader is that is allows you to easily read a wider variety of book formats on it. I have assorted ebooks I have collected over the years in different formats and (so far) have been able to get them all to work on my reader. The other HUGE advantage the Sony reader has is the ability to download and read library books on it! Yes, you don’t ever have to buy content: you can just borrow it.

So, you can read the ebooks you already have, buy from the large selection on ebook sites like the Sony Reader store or Kobo, or get free content from your local library! All three options are a bit light on some types of books, but the selection is constantly improving.

Sony has other ebook readers available, and there are also offerings from other companies. There are a large amount of companies getting into this market as seen at CES this year, so I am looking forward to seeing what new advances come along in this category. Until then I will be enjoying my Sony Reader every chance I get!