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The iPhone
I've never been a fan of booting up a cold computer on the weekends or evenings to check my auctions. I don't know why, it just seems like such a big production for a few minutes of work. Of course, once you've charged up the big machine, you tend to stay on longer than you planned - after all - you're online! Getting a new laptop seemed like a high dollar investment for my purposes, and not much less of a deal to boot up. I figured I'd wait a while for the laptop. At CES I came across an "internet appliance" telephone - actually it looked like a regular phone on steroids.
It's the iPhone by InfoGear. It's not too big, approximately 10" x 12", and sits comfortably on the corner of the kitchen counter. It has an adjustable tilt, gray scale LCD touch screen that's big enough to view the web pages - yet small enough so that it's not obtrusive. The iPhone is a 2 line, full duplex speakerphone with a built in digital answering machine which can be controlled from the touch screen. It has an address book capability that can Stores up to 200 entries. The corner of the screen has a message indicator light which glows red to let you know whether you have messages or if it has retrieved email automatically for you. Email is left on your server so that you can access it all later when you get to the "big" machine at home or at your office.
The Internet capabilities of the iPhone are powerful indeed. The 56k modem connects swiftly, and gets you online quickly. My favorite part is the keyboard. One of the reasons I have resisted some of the small, handheld Internet devices is that I like a keyboard that is usable. I like the traditional click - it confirms that what I'm typing is actually reaching the screen. iPhone has a comfortable sized keyboard that functions just like your computer's. Its' web browser is HTML compliant and accepts cookies, handles tables and frames, JPGs and GIFs, supports Secure socket layers with 128 bit encryption and even has parental content filtering should you wish to use that feature. Email can be retrieved automatically at 3 in the morning, so that it's waiting for you with your morning coffee.
The iPhone has changed my daily routine. I can comfortably check my auctions at any time - just walk into the kitchen, touch the screen, and log on. In the morning, I can spend some extra time with my coffee and read my email - answering any that should be answered immediately. I've bookmarked my "my eBay" page, as well as several other sites that I check each day.
All this convenience comes at a price, and manufacturers suggested retail is $399. If you have your own Internet service provider, like Mindspring, Earthlink or Msn, the iPhone will add $4.95 to your monthly bill for the InfoGear network. I originally griped about the extra $5 until I found out what you get for the money. InfoGear updates the phone's software automatically, giving you an iPhone with the latest features. You also get one touch access to TV and local movie listings, news, shopping, sports, recipes and more, customized for your specific area and needs. The iPhone can be gotten for free (our favorite four letter word!) if you contract with BigPlanet as your ISP for 3 years, and use BigPlanet for your long distance provider at discounted rates.
Power Pac 6
I love taking digital photos and videos - whether for personal use or for my auctions. What I don't love is the blinking "low battery" warning. You know the drill, if you have many more photos to shoot, you can use a fresh set of Energizers, or if you're very lucky, you have a back up set of rechargeable batteries ready for use. I am always in the "new battery" category - maybe I just don't plan well.
I found the magic solution to my problems. Battery Busters has come out with an easy to use battery pack. At only 3" x 7" and about a pound and a half, you can use the supplied case and shoulder strap or clip it to your belt while you shoot your pictures. You can take 2,000 digital photos in one charge! According to their website, www.batterybusters.com you can also run your camcorder for up to 12 hours without needing a recharge. Pretty amazing.
You can recharge the Power Pac 6 as little or as much as you want. It has no memory effect and there's no need to drain the battery pack fully before you charge it. You can Stores the Power Pac 6 as long as you like and it won't drain out - it only looses 3% of its power per month in storage. It can also power any 6-volt portable - such as radios, games, CD players and more. The universal cord has six different adapters so that it will fit about anything you wish that requires 6 volts of power.
Very simple to use, ready for charging right out of the box, the Power Pac 6 will save you time and money - enabling you to make even more money on eBay!
E-Stamp
When I heard about E-Stamp I was a little leery. As a home office user, I'd been stung by the postage machine "try us free" offers, and ended up spending more on the equipment than I did on postage. I also had to keep going to the Post Office to load postage into the meter. It really was not a satisfactory solution for my small office.
E-Stamp called to me with a sirens song - no more visits to the Post Office and no monthly fees like other online postage plans. It sounded too good to be true. E-Stamp's only charges are for the initial starter kit and for an optional scale that connects to the computer. (Hey, what's life without options?) E-Stamp charges a 10% convenience charge when you download postage to your computer, with a minimum charge of $4.99 and a monthly maximum of $24.99. I'd easily pay someone 10% of my postage cost to go to the Post Office and get stamps for me!
Still, you say, "I have to go to the Post Office to drop off my eBay packages." As I'm sure you know, Federal regulations require that any packages over 16 ounces be dropped off at a Post office counter. E-Stamp gives you considerable help in this area. When you get online with E-Stamp, you must apply for a U. S Postal Service license to print your own stamps. The Post Office offers some concessions to the licensees and permits you to hand a package of up to 5 pounds to your mailman. No more standing in line with a tower of boxes at the Post Office!!
I'm also very uncomfortable about new software. We've all had the experience of lockups and other programs not working when new software is installed. I tenuously ran the E-Stamp install and it went with no hitches. My computer rebooted and everything worked as before, only now I could print out envelopes and labels with postage directly from my favorite programs: Microsoft Word and Quick Books. My only hitch came when I attached the scale - which interacts with the software and allows you to accurately weigh any package up to 6 pounds. I had it hooked up to LPT2 and it wouldn't work. On a Sunday afternoon I called E-Stamp tech support, and without much of a wait, I was swiftly helped. They even stayed on the line while I moved the postage vault from LPT2 to LPT1. E-Stamp and its scale now worked perfectly, even with my zip drive on the same parallel port. They're open to help 24 hours a day - 7 days a week - now that's service!
E-Stamp will calculate and print postage for any class of postal service you may need. If you only have to print a few labels from a full sheet, the next time you use the E-Stamp software, it will remember where to print on the same sheet - no wasted labels! It can also add additional postage for Delivery Confirmations and insurance. It's convenient, reasonably priced and a must have for your eBay arsenal.