Well, summer’s almost here, and that means it’s time for grilling season. While many people cook outside all year long, others in the colder parts of the country wait until the late spring and summer months to head outside with those platters of raw meat to make some cookout magic.

There are two main ways to cook out – gas or charcoal. While most barbeque purists prefer using a charcoal grill for its authentic wood-smoked flavoring, the gas grill has become a favorite mainly for its ease of use.

After all, it is a lot easier to push a button and have a steady stream of controllable flame pop up to cook with than it is to preheat charcoal to the right temperature and then make sure the coals stay there.

So what do you look for when you’re buying a new gas grill? Do you really need the biggest, shiniest, most expensive model you can find?

For most of us, the answer to that is no. Bigger is NOT always better with everything, and that includes grills.

If you’re like most people, you’re only cooking for yourself and a few family members. Why should you spend hundreds of dollars on something that you’ll just be making hamburgers and hot dogs on?

Ask yourself the following:

• How many people are you feeding? If you’re not cooking for crowds, ever, a smaller grill will do you just fine.
• Do you like to cook side dishes to go with your grilled items? Many grills include a side burner that is great for cooking sauces or those baked beans.
• Do you have a nearby table to put your foods on while cooking them? If you don’t, consider a grill with sturdy side shelves.
• Do you plan to move your grill occasionally? Make sure your grill has wheels.

And here are some features all grills should have:

• An easy ignition switch. Do you really want to have to stand there with a cigarette lighter, hoping to light the burners without catching your own arm on fire?
• A large burner, or even two burners, so you have an even cooking surface.
• A warming rack. Some of your foods will cook more quickly than others, and you want all your food to be hot when you serve it, don’t you?
• Easy access to the drip pan. You need to be able to reach it easily to dump it out, or you’ll have a mess.
• Variable temperature control. Most meats cook better over a low, slow heat.

Now, we come to price. There are several grills out there for around $100, if you don’t mind choosing a basic cooker for those dogs and burgers. However, for a better quality grill that will feature some of the extras that will make your grilling more fun, you should expect to spend around $200-$300. This should get you a good grill with a lot of the extras without breaking the bank.

While this sounds a little high, remember that you’ll be using and enjoying your new grill for many summer evenings to come, and your grill will pay for itself many times over with the fun and delicious foods you’ll be able to serve your family.

Of course, there are many high end models that cost even more. For example, Weber grills are the choice of serious barbeque enthusiasts. They can hundreds of dollars, and sometimes more than $1,000. However, they feature under their gorgeous stainless steel covers a workhorse of a grill, and will last for years. Many families even hand down their Weber grills to their children!

Happy grilling, and always make sure to make extras when you cook out. There’s nothing like the smell of grilled food to whet the appetite!

OK, one thing past the unfortunate designer dress choices and cheesy overstaged production numbers!

We notice that there are a lot of movies and actors who are nominated for awards who we don’t recognize, and that we have a lot of catching up to do so that we can talk intelligently to movie devotees the week after the awards show airs.

While the best way to watch movies always will be on the big screen, as they were designed to be seen, the majority of us just don’t make it to the theater all the time.

After all, it costs a lot of money to see a movie these days. Movie tickets average $10 or more each, and by the time we buy our snacks and drinks, the tally for a movie date can really get expensive.

And why spend all that money when  you can watch the same movies at home for a fraction of the cost? When the first VCRs hit the market, it changed the way we all watch movies forever.

VCRs have gone on their way, with most homes updating to DVD players. The cost of DVD players continues to drop, and a movie lover can purchase a very good quality one now for less than $100.

Technology changes and grows however, and many movie lovers are now discovering that there is something that delivers an even better movie experience – the Blu-ray player.

For the general movie watcher, there are a lot of similaries between Blu-ray and DVD, but Blu-ray offers better audio and visual quality, as well as more special features. A Blu-ray disc can hold more memory than a DVD, and the overall resolution is better.

So, if you’re a movie lover who has found yourself missing most of the Oscar nominees, you might be tempted to really amp up your experience and update your DVD player to a Blu-ray player.

You’ll love the improved quality, yes, but there are some drawbacks. There are not as many title choices for Blu-ray, and the movies are often more expensive than DVDs. Additionally, many of the popular inexpensive rental services, such as Netflix, Blockbuster and even Redbox don’t offer Blu-ray choices. Luckily, Blu-ray players will play DVDs, but if cost and availability of titles are important to you, you might choose to wait a bit before making the investment. DVD players, however, will not play Blu-ray discs, so if you’re hoping to take a shortcut with your purchase, it just isn’t going to work.

Another choice would be to purchase a PlayStation 3. In addition to featuring some of the most exciting video games on the market, a PlayStation 3 will also play Blu-ray discs, meaning you’ll get more bang for your buck.

Many IMshopping visitors are showing a great deal of interest in Blu-ray players, so it appears that the technology is not just a temporary craze, but one that’s here to stay.

If you’re looking for a great deal on a Blu-ray player, there are some sites that are now selling refurbished models for much less than new models.

You can always rest assured that as these become more popular, the prices will continue to drop. If you don’t want to make the investment this year, perhaps the prices will come down even more by next year’s Oscar show!

Then came the Nintendo Wii – and suddenly, it all changed – and even people who didn’t normally like video games were suddenly picking up controllers and playing along.

What’s the charm of the Wii? Well, the graphics aren’t as intense and the storylines of the games aren’t as complicated as they are on other gaming systems. But where the charm lies is in the interactive nature of the Wii.

After all, there aren’t any other gaming systems, really, in which you become the central part  of the action. When you’re playing a baseball game, you’re swinging the controller to simulate a bat. Bowling involves actual bowling-like moves, as does golfing.

And what other video game system offers games like Wii Fit and  Jenny McCarthy’s Your Shape, which not only allow you to work out in the comfort and privacy of your own home, but actually reports factors such as your weight, fitness level and much more?

The differences between Wii and other video games have led the machines to be highly in demand for adults as well as children. And is there any wonder?

Last Christmas, inquiries on IMshopping for the Wii grew by the day. The machines were in short supply, and shoppers were using all avenues to find them for themselves and their children.

Since that time, the Wii has become more available, but the prices have remained steady.

While most visitors to IMshopping are interested in getting the best buy for the Wii, naturally, Nintendo sets its prices on the game console, just like other video game companies do. Currently, bundles start at about $200, but can cost more if there are video games included.

Games for the Wii, which are really a great deal of fun, range from the fitness games to the oh-so-fun Mario games, and much more. They generally cost about $50, but prices do drop after the games are on the market for a while.

So why not make family game night more fun than it ever was, and maybe make yourself more fit than you’ve been in years?

In these days when most people have a cell phone, it’s often very tempting to talk or text everywhere we are. That often includes while we’re driving.

And while some of us can do both at one time, using your phone while driving is distracting, and accidents occur every day as a result.

Oprah Winfrey has taken up the cause, and is backing the Oprah’s No Phone Zone campaign. Visitors to her website link can sign a pledge to make their car a “No Phone Zone” and to commit to avoid texting while driving, only using hands-free calling devices if they need to speak on the phone while driving, or to only use their phone if they’re pulled off by the side of the road.

Now, pledging to pull over all the time before using the phone sounds all well and good, but the fact is, we can’t always pull over. It’s not always safe to pull over, and oftentimes, there simply is no place to pull over.

The next best bet is to use a Bluetooth headset device on your cell phone that will free your hands for driving and still allow you to make those emergency – or not so emergency – calls.

While most people think of one brand or another when they think of a Bluetooth headset, the term itself describes an open wireless protocol for exchanging data over short distances that uses short length radio waves from fixed and mobile devices to create personal area networks.

Simply stated, a Bluetooth headset puts the technology to work so that you can make and answer phone calls on your cell phone without actually having to use your hands in any way.

While most phones these days are made to be Bluetooth accessible, not all of them are.

Once you’ve determined your phone is able to handle Bluetooth technology (and if it’s not, it would be a good idea to shop for a phone that will handle it!) then it’s time to make your decision about what brand you want.

Even before Oprah’s pledge made news, many visitors to IMshopping were looking for Bluetooth headsets for their telephones and for other devices such as mp3 players and any other device in which wireless capability can be used.

After all, think how great it would be to be able to listen to your iPod wirelessly, without all those earbud wires to tangle you up while you’re working out!

There are technically two types of Bluetooth headsets; one has one earbud and a microphone so that you can listen and talk, and the other has two earbuds, so you can listen to your audio choices.

If you’re looking for a good choice for hands-free driving, most IMshopping visitors, answering a site poll, chose the Motorola H710 headset.

This headset freatures a power-flip microphone, which allows easy disconnect and standby, and also has improved noise cancellation technology, automatic volume control and can even connect with two different phones at the same time.

And the best part? While these were once priced at around $100, there are many sites now selling them for around $30, making it a popular and affordable choice for those wishing to make the No Phone Zone Pledge.

There are many other Bluetooth choices on the market. It all comes down to how much you’d like to spend and the features you’re seeking.

After all, what girl hasn’t wanted, at one time or another, to have beautiful golden curls cascading down her back?

However, even those few women who are blessed to have naturally curly hair have been searching for years to find a way to make their hair straight and silky instead.

Through the years, women have resorted to using soda-can sized curlers (and sometimes, even soda cans themselves) to try to straighten out their tresses.

Other steps have included brushing the hair stick straight as it dries, and in a very sad and desperate attempt, actually using clothes irons – both the ones you plug in and the ones that were heated on the stove  – in the hopes of straightening their hair.

That is, if they were lucky to straighten their hair without burning it clear off.

And nobody has ever wanted to trade their curls for a burned-up crew cut!

In recent years, hair straightening has gotten much easier through the advent of electronic straigtening irons.

These all pretty much work in the same way and kind of like a curling iron. However, instead of having  a round barrel that makes curls, straightening irons have two heated plates that flatten the hair between them instead.

However, while straightening irons work the same way, not all irons are created equally. Many women (and men too, for that matter) have found that cheapest is not always best when picking a straightening iron.

At the very least, cheaper straightening irons don’t have the power to pull curls out of a curly head of hair. In this case, the hair is flattened into a frizzy mess that really isn’t straight – just flat, flat, flat.

Ugh.

That’s if you’re lucky. Far too many people have bought cheap irons that have burned their hair to a crisp, and there’s only one way to fix hair that’s been burned – cut it off.

Again, with the burned-up crew cut!

The one brand of curling iron that has met with rave reviews, both by professionals and do-it-yourselfers, is Chi.

The Chi straightener is made by Farouk, a Houston-based company that manufactures high quality professional hair care and spa products. The company is owned and operated by a team of hairdressers, and has been providing professional hair care products for several years.

The reason the Chi works better than most hair straighteners is that they are made with ceramic plates that heat thoroughly to straighten your hair without burning it. Plus, have you ever had one of those unfortunate flat iron accidents that have left you with odd burns on your neck or forehead? You won’t with a Chi. They’re made with protection in mind.

Now all this professional care is going to set you back a little bit. After all, these aren’t the flat irons you buy for $15 at your local big box discount store.

Many shopper are looking for the best buy or sales, and Chi products are offered in many locations. However, if someone is offering you a Chi for under $45 or so, it’s likely it’s a counterfeit.

And who wants that?

You’ve got it all set up – you’ve booked the plane, bought some fantastic new outfits, and even invested in a shiny new mp3 player that you’ve loaded with all your favorites so you can enjoy your trip surrounded by your favorite tunes.

And then reality sets in when you get on the plane. One one side of you is an old lady who wants to tell you all about her eight cats, and on the other side is a lady whose kid makes Stewie Griffin from Family Guy look like the angel he’s not.

That’s okay though, because you’ve bought your new mp3 player and have loaded 1,000 or so songs on it, more than enough to drown out the most insistent seatmates.

The plane takes off and you put on your headphones and turn up the Lady Gaga. What’s this? You can still hear the lady talking about Fluffy’s hairball problems. Even worse, you hear that kid going “Mom, mom, mom…”

So you turn up your music. The earbuds you’ve put firmly in your ears are feeling kind of scratchy, and worse yet, you can hear that lady, who has moved on to Tinkerbell and her litter pan habits. The kid is wailing because he wants down, down, down…

You hit the volume button. Now you’re not only listening to Lady Gaga, everybody all around you can hear her too, because the sound is escaping your headphones.

And your head is hurting from too much sound, and worst of all? You can STILL hear your seatmates.

Now, many of us would be blaming the mp3 player by now, thinking that the stupid thing just doesn’t have the volume you need.

Most likely, it’s not the mp3 player’s fault. Because, while you were planning that trip and buying your player, you didn’t even stop to consider the headphones, did you? After all, they came with the player and they have the player’s brand name on them, so they must be okay.

Chances are, they’re not okay. Most mp3 players come with the sufficient sound and quality to help you block out everything but the great music you’ve downloaded, but their headphones are cheaply made little pieces of plastic and foam, and leave a lot to be desired.

Just remember this: the sound quality of an mp3 player, or any other personal electronics device, is only as good as the headphones you plug into it.

There are thousands of headphones on the market, but they basically break down into two categories: the kind you stick into your ear and the kind you put over your ear. Generally, if you’re looking for headphones that cancel noise, the ones that go over your ear are much more comfortable and will block out more ambient sounds.

Many IMshopping visitors are not only interested in quality, but they want the best price too. While the more top end headphones can cost up to hundreds of dollars, some very good noise-cancelling headphones, such as the Sennheiser HD 202 Headphones, provide good insulation against ambient noise and great bass, and are promised to block out even the most insistent cat-loving lady for around $25.

Several site visitors are also interested in Skull Candy headphones. These really are some great headphones. They have the style we all crave, and they really do work to make mp3 players sound much better, while having the ability to fold up into a small, travel-friendly package. However, they are costly, and you will probably  end up spending more money on your headphones than you did on your mp3 player.

Many of us prefer the kind of headphones that go inside our ears, or earbuds. They’re a lot smaller and less intrusive, and you can stick them in your pocket when you’re not using them.

Just because earbuds are small, that doesn’t mean you can’t find a set that lets you hear your music as it was meant to be heard.

For example, Skull Candy makes some great earbuds that will only set you back about $25-$35 dollars. You can choose earbuds that have loops that go over your ears, for additional security, or without the loops. The earbuds can also come in forms that can be inserted into the front of the ear canal, which blocks out more outside sounds, or the ones that sit atop the canal. Whatever brand you choose, make sure they’re smooth or well-padded, because the cheaper foam-covered ones not only don’t work well, but they’re scratchy and uncomfortable.

And now that your trip is over and you’re back at work, aren’t there some co-workers in the surrounding cubicles that you’d like to drown out?

Invest in some great headphones, and really enjoy your music this time around!

Are you the kind of reader who prefers the feel of a nice, heavy book in your hands? Do you love the smell of a book, the feel of the paper, the sound of the pages turning?

Do you read newspapers from front to back, cover to cover, stopping with your scissors occasionally to cut out an article or photo to share with a family member?

Me too.

However, even readers who still have a love affair with paper and ink are intrigued by Amazon’s Kindle, on which books, magazines and newspapers can be uploaded and enjoyed.

The latest Kindle comes in two models. The regular model has a six-inch screen and can hold  1,500 books, while the DX model has a 9.7 inch screen, and holds 3,500 books.

Technologically speaking, this is one amazing gadget. It’s slim and lightweight, but since it has 3G wireless capability, you can have books delivered wirelessly from Amazon in less than 60 seconds – without hooking up to a computer or having monthly contracts or monthly fees.

And imagine being able to have the contents of your entire library, right there in one hand-held device that you can tuck away in a purse or backpack. Amazon, which is the only company to offer the Kindle, has more than 420,000 books available for purchase and download, as well as hundreds of newspapers, magazines and blogs.

All in all, it’s amazing what all this little marvel can do. Even someone who loves traditional books has to admit that the Kindle has revolutionized reading, education and much more.

And naturally, with the popularity of the Kindle, there are many shoppers who have one major question: Where can I get a deal?

Fact is, you can’t. The price you see on Amazon is what you’ll pay, unless you can get lucky enough to find one that’s pre-owned. If you want a new one, Amazon is the only game in town. The company has exclusive rights on the Kindle, and it has set the price. The regular model is $259; the DX model is $489.

Even on eBay, new Kindles sell for about the same price as they do on Amazon, so it’s probably best to purchase it from Amazon and receive all the customer warranties and support available through the company.

Since the Kindle has been such a massive best-seller, of course there is going to be competition for the market dollar. Apple’s iPad has been named as the main competition in recent months.

According to experts, the iPad is set up to do a great many activities, but if you read a lot or price is a consideration, the Kindle is the best bet for you.

However, the iPad is much like a larger iPhone, with all the capabilities of the iPhone, including the ability to use apps.

Interested in more information about the Kindle, accessories or downloads? Our shopping assistants will be glad to help you.

And even with spring coming, there’s still a good foot of snow on the ground in much of the land east of the Mississippi, so it’s no wonder shoppers want something to keep their feet warm.

And some of the most envy-inducing, tootsie warmers go by the odd-sounding name of UGG.

While the name might be pronounced “ugh,” there’s not many ugh factors where these warm, stylish boots are concerned.

Now, when a lot of us think of UGGs, we think of those big blue furry things that movie stars like Pamela Anderson were wearing a few years ago. And let’s be honest, most women can’t carry off what looks like a baby bear wrapped around their legs.

But UGGs aren’t all about fur and extreme looks – they’re a boot that keeps feet warm in the coldest of winters. And they’ve become popular enough that there are a lot of knock-offs that are sold at local Wal Marts and other discount stores, but they do not compare in looks, comfort, style or quality to a real pair of UGGs.

UGG boots have a very interesting history. According to the history on the official UGG website, the boots came to popularity after 1978, when Brian Smith, a young surfer from Australia, took a trip to the United States with a bag full of sheepskin boots. Like many fashion trends, the boots gained popularity in California, and surfers loved the funky UGG style.

Deckers Outdoor Corporation acquired UGG Australia in 1995, and by 1998, the product line had grown to include two boots, four slippers, and a few casuals. In 1998,  UGG Australia brand first stepped up alongside the world’s finest luxury footwear brands, and eventually became to be regarded as a high-end luxury brand.

In 2003, UGG was named Footwear News’ “Brand of the Year” and was responsible for the creation of an entirely new category of footwear.

A lot of shoppers would be surprised to realize that UGG doesn’t only make the signature sheepskin lined boots, but the company also has a full line of other casual wear.

Of course, all this quality doesn’t come cheaply, but really, UGGs are surprisingly affordable. Some of the more expensive models, such as these gorgeous leather and sheepskin-lined boots are around $225, which may seem a little high, but these are boots you’ll reach for every time the temperatures drop. They’ll go not only with your boot-cut jeans, but wonderfully with skinny jeans. They’re made with real twin-faced sheepskin and feature a removable/replaceable fleece insole and a mylar lining that provides extra warmth.

Visitors to IMshopping are interested in fashion, only not paying a lot for it. And really, there are plenty of good websites that offer nice discounts on designer wear, including UGGs. For example, this shopper learned that yes, she can indeed find UGGs for under $80 through many fine retailers, including zappos.com. So by taking a few minutes to post a question, our shopper found that she can save a great deal of money on the UGGs she’s wanting – and maybe she can use that extra money to buy a great hat or pair of gloves to keep her top half toasty warm too!

Why has the iTouch become popular? First, this is the first device in the iPod family of portable music players, to have a wireless link to the iTunes store and to Apple’s App Store. They also come with awesome features such as external volume controls, a contoured back, a place to plug in your microphone, built in speaker, Bluetooth support, built in Nike+, and iPhone OS 3.1 operating system installed. These come in 8GB, 32 GB, or 64GB of flash memory. Its multi touch graphical user interface is also a winning factor in the popularity of the iTouch. Since its release in 2007, the iTouch has sold around 20 million players around the world!

What makes the iTouch different from players such as Zune, San Disk, and many other portable media players, is aside from the obvious created by Apple, it boosts well over 70,000 different applications, ranging from games to movies. This is great for individuals who are waiting to catch their next flight and need something to do, to pass the time. It also comes with a mobile Safari browser, which has beatout the competition of Zune’s HD web browser with Bing Search. SanDisk does not have Wi-Fi or a browser to search the web with. However, the experts say the sound quality of the iTouch is average in comparison to several other MP 3 players out there, though the listeners seem to enjoy

The iTouch is sold at a variety of online and local retailers, such as Wal-Mart, Target, Amazon, Tiger Direct, New Egg, Sears, Radio Shack, and many others. 8 GB iTouch players start at around $190.00 on up to around $380.00 for a 64 bit player not including the software updates and applications, music, or movies. Come experience the iTouch MP 3 player, you don’t know what you are missing!

How popular are the Snuggies? Since these have come out on the market, everybody has been purchasing them. From the average Joe to famous faces like Kendra Wilkinson are buying these up like hotcake’s from the griddle. Groups on Facebook, MySpace, and even Twitter have them that focus on Snuggie fans! You can purchase a Snuggie from their website, and several fine online and local retailers, such as Walgreens, Wal-Mart, Target, Amazon, and more! These are priced at around $20.00 each at most retailers, but on the website, they have a special for 2 Snuggie’s for $19.95!

Here are some fun facts about the Snuggie:

These were created in 1942, by John Snuggie, when he decided to turn his bathrobe inside out and wear it backwards. From that point on, he had made an entire empire off of this concept.

The Snuggie was also the model for the modern hospital gowns that we wear today.

Their first run was shipped out to soldiers during WWII to Veterans Hospital in Squagaw Connecticut.

He began using the phrase “Snuggle up with a Sailor” to inspire soldiers to share body heat with someone, by using their Snuggie’s!

Though for some of us, the Snuggie looks like an odd concept that we might giggle at, these definitely do the job of keeping America warm!