Sansa Shaker (MP3 Player) - only $15, shipped

The red 1 GB Sansa Shaker is only $15 (including shipping) right now. If you aren't familiar with this MP3 player, it's a great one for children or to set on your desk at work.

The player has a built in speaker that would be sufficient for podcasts and is better than most small radios. My daughter uses this in her bedroom and the music can be heard all around the room with this tiny speaker. The Shaker comes with a 1GB SD card, but you can load additional cards and swap them out when needed or use larger cards. I have over 200 songs on one of my 1GB players, so even if you only use the provided card, quite a few songs fit on it.

This rugged little player is also fun to use. It has a single button that you press and hold to turn it on. The same button will turn off the player or put the music on pause. If you want to change songs, you do that by holding the button and shaking the player up and down. (See why it's named the Shaker now?) You can also change songs with a dial on the bottom and control volume with a dial on the top. The MP3 player runs on a single AAA battery and has average battery life or around 8 hours with the speaker. It would probably be longer with headphones. We're using rechargeable batteries in ours.

After buying one of these for my daughter a couple of months ago, my husband and I were so impressed that we wished we had gotten more. Now we'll be ordering a couple of extras, one for work and a 2nd as a backup in case she wears out her MP3 player. (It gets a LOT of use!)

Free Customized Singing Greeting

For a short time, InstaSong is offering a free, customized birthday greeting. You choose the type of song you would like, the recipient's name and a couple of other options and then InstaSong will create a customized song using the information that you specified.

The offer is limited to one per email address. You will receive the code for your free song in your email after you register. (Registration is free.) Songs are available for 45 days after they are created.

We created a birthday song for someone and were impressed with the quality. I think most people would like this better than an e-card and it's certainly more memorable!

Unlimited Christmas Music for 14 days

I am a Rhapsody subscriber and have been for years now. The reason I'm writing about this service today is that there are 14 days until Christmas and Rhapsody offers a 14-day free trial. If you were to sign up for the trial today, you could have access to their huge library of Christmas songs at no charge until Christmas day. Maybe you'll like the service and decide to continue it (I did), but if not, you can always cancel.

Once you've signed up for the trial, you can start searching for and playing all your favorites. If you'd rather have it run like a commercial-free radio station, you can do that too. To see the list of "radio stations", click on the Channel Guide tab near the top of the screen and the the Holiday genre on the left, then choose a channel.

My top channel picks are Joy to the World, Cool Yule, Fireside Chill and Modern Mistletoe. The "What's New" tab is also currently highlighting some Christmas music. If you like country music, try out the Ho-Ho-Hoedown channel which is currently playing things like White Christmas by Kenny Rogers and Silent Night All Day Long by John Prine.

Noise Canceling Headphones $39.99 (selling elsewhere for more than $100)

These Logitech Noise Canceling Headphones (980409-0403) are being sold for only $39.99 right now at TigerDirect. We found these same headphones - with an identical part number - at BHPhoto for $99.95 and at buy.com for $149.99.

If you've considered getting noise canceling headphones before, now is the time! These have exceptionally good ratings and reviews from users on all three of the sites mentioned above. People comment on using them to minimize motor noise on a bus and drown out various household sounds as well as being impressed with the sound quality and light-weight design.

Additional Description:
With SilentSound™ high-parametric noise canceling technology and custom-fit ear cushions, Logitech's Noise Canceling Headphones reduce outside distractions so you can enjoy each word and every note. Large 40mm neodymium drivers produce crisp, dynamic sound when you're in the mood for music, while the detachable audio cable allows you to create a quiet environment when you're not. Perfect for travel, the Noise Canceling Headphones also include an adapter for airplane audio systems and a protective carrying case so you can stow them in your carry-on.

Belkin FM Transmitter $7.99 (was $49.99)

In what they are calling a Black Friday III promotion, buy.com is offering a Belkin F8V367 TuneCast Mobile FM Transmitter for only $7.99. They show the list price as $49.99. I have a transmitter that looks similar, but is a no-name brand rather than a Belkin. Even my cheap knockoff of the Belkin Tunecast cost more than $20. My copycat version may get replaced today. :)

Get one of these before they're gone. With the sale today, the sales rank has jumped from #1169 yesterday to #1 today. That's an increase of 116,800%!


What Does It Do?

Just in case these are new to you, let me briefly explain what they do. You would plug the transmitter into your MP3 player's headphone jack. Then (on the transmitter) you choose an FM station to broadcast to and tune in that station on your radio. Voila! The music from your little MP3 player comes out of the radio's speakers. This is great in the car.

Karaoke Christmas Song Downloads - no charge

Do you like to sing? If so, now would be a good time to check out the Free Karaoke Tracks that Amazon is offering. These songs are downloadable at no charge as MP3's.

Some of the best "sellers" right now include I'll Be Home For Christmas (#1), It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year (#3) and Mariah Carey's All I Want For Christmas Is You (#8). There are also songs that aren't just for the holidays such as Sarah McLachlan's Angel (#4), Lee Ann Womack's I Hope You Dance (#9) and one of my older favorites Eye of the Tiger which is currently at #12.

All of the Karaoke Holiday Volume 2 is free right now. It includes these songs:

1. There's No Place Like Home For The Holidays
2. Sleigh Ride
3. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
4. Nuttin' For Christmas
5. Deck The Halls
6. Winter Wonderland
7. Silver Bells
8. Baby It's Cold Outside
9. Happy Holiday
10. Christmas Wrapping
11. It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year
12. What Are You Doing New Year's Eve
13. Do You Hear What I Hear
14. It Came Upon A Midnight Clear

Oh, and while you're at Amazon, check out my all-time favorite Christmas CD! The song I like most is number 8 on the CD, Christmas Eve/Sarajevo 12/24. You've probably heard it on the radio - listen to the sample to find out. If you don't already have this CD and are looking for something to play at home or in the car, this is a wonderful choice. It's $8.99 right now and is eligible for free shipping.

JVC In-Ear Headphones - over 70% off

JVC In-Ear Headphones from Circuit City

Click here to buy

These headphones are regularly priced at $29.99 and are on sale for $7.99. They have a soft foam design, comfortable fit and reduce ambient noise. The average review score is currently a 3.7 out of 5 stars. Here's what one of the reviewers had to say:

These headphones are great! I bought them yesterday and I'm already loving these. They're great if you don't want to hear anything else other than your music, these are for you. They block out all the other sounds so you can enjoy your music without any interruptions. They also have a stylish color!

You can get free shipping on these if you order more than $24 worth of products. You could also save the shipping fee by ordering them for in-store pickup.

Sansa MP3 Player - $29.99

One more music deal for ya...

Right now at buy.com you can get a Sandisk Sansa 1 Gig C140 MP3 Player for $29.99, shipped. If you haven't used Google checkout yet, you can use that and bring your total down to only $19.99!


About the MP3 Player

The C140 has a color screen, supports Microsoft PlaysForSure subscription music, has a digital FM player with 20 station presets and can do voice recording. There is even a photo viewer, but my experience is that the included software it is a little bit buggy and somewhat frustrating.

It runs on 1 AAA battery, which seems to last longer than other similar players I've used. It will run all day on one battery if you are just playing music. When you plug it into the computer (USB) to copy new songs that seems to really strain the battery. Overall, we're very happy with it's battery usage, but bought a cheap pack of rechargables to lower costs even further.

Although this is only a 1GB MP3 player, you can still fit quite a bit of music on it. The number of songs that it holds will depend on then length of songs and the bit rate of your mp3. I usually get about 200-250 songs on this size of player.


Music For Your MP3 Player

We use the Rhapsody To Go service for music both at home and on the go. I've been a Rhapsody subscriber for 3-4 years now and love the wide selection of music they have available. I mainly listen to Contemporary Christian Music, but haven't been disappointed with their huge library in other genres either.

The computer based service costs $9.95 a month and the To Go service is only an additional $5. I have the computer program installed on 3 computers. This allows each computer to have access to all of my playlists. The To Go service allowed us to authorize two MP3 players. We use these in the car, when we're exercising or when we want to take some music to a friend's house. I even keep a set of small speakers in my office at work and just plug in my Sansa when I get there - much better than listening to the radio! Click here to get a free 14-day trial of Rhapsody.

There are other similar services that may also work with the Sansa C140. The Rhapsody site has a nice comparison of the services.


Enjoy!
-Z

Portable iPod Speakers - $19.99 (was $99)

These Altec Lansing speakers retailed at $99, but are now marked down to $19.99 and they qualify for free shipping! This system is ultra-portable, battery powered and designed exclusively for the iPod mini. It is compatible with all Nano iPods.

Sometimes when I see these type of price drops, I wonder if there is something wrong with the product. Apparently that is not the case with this one. There are 126 reviews on the site and the overall rating is 4.5 out of 5 stars!

10 Free iTunes Downloads

If you are 17-29 years old, you can get $10 worth of iTunes downloads at no cost by filling out this survey from Generation Engage. The survey is also available from a banner on their home page.

GenerationEngage is a nonpartisan youth-civic-engagement initiative that connects young Americans to political leaders and to meaningful debate about the future they will inherit. They have a nice video library containing clips of various politicians.