Back in 2000, we shopped around and concluded Costco had the least expensive diapers. Nine years later, things have changed (like my growing waistline). Last month, I did a price comparison of diapers and baby wipes sold at Target and Costco (sold under the Kirkland brand). For you frugal moms and dads out there, here is my comparison:

Target baby wipes are 35% less expensive

Target size one diapers are 6% less expensive

Target size two diapers are 24% less expensive

Target size three diapers are 32% less expensive

Target size four diapers are 26% less expensive

Target size five diapers are 19% less expensive

Target size six diapers are 27% less expensive

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And each day, she becomes more of a brat

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The HP Pavilion dv2 is ultra thin (about the height as a quarter), but it’s more powerful than my desktop computer. In fact, the dv2 has enough juice to run the 64-bit version of Windows Vista (my desktop runs the 32-bit version of Vista). A 64-bit PC offers added responsiveness for users who run a lot of applications at the same time and switch between them frequently. The 64-bit version of Vista also features enhanced security and increased memory support.

I plan on spending more time on the laptop, but this is what I like and dislike about the laptop so far:

Likes

• It’s powerful and can run Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
• The 1.60 GHz AMD Turion Neo X2 Dual-Core Processor has 1MB of L2 Cache
• It comes with 4G of memory (RAM) — more than enough for my Photoshop and Windows Move Maker software
• The ATI Mobility Radeon HD Premium Graphics is awesome
• Blu-Ray DVD drive — now I can watch Blu-Ray movies
• Screen resolution supports 1280 x 800
• It’s very small and easy to carry around
• The list price is under $700 (that’s the same price I paid for my desktop computer 18 months ago)

Dislikes

• The tiny notebook also has a tiny screen (not a big problem for me because I like to connect the laptop to an external monitor)
• You can hear the fan spinning constantly (there’s a free BIOS upgrade for disabling the continuous fan setting)
• The DVD drive is external (it would more convenient if the drive was internal, but then the laptop would be bigger)
• Glossy finish — looks great out of the box, but the glossy finish is a fingerprint magnet

In conclusion, I like the laptop and recommend you take a look at it if you’re in the market for a notebook. It’s light, tiny, and powerful. However, this is probably not the laptop for you if you like to watch DVDs while waiting for the bus, train, or plane.

HP Pavilion dv2-1199 with Moonlight white finish
(also available in Espresso black)

HP Pavilion dv2-1199 Entertainment Notebook PC Specs

• AMD Turion Neo X2 Dual-Core Processor (1.60 GHz with 1MB L2 Cache)
• Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit with Service Pack 1
• 12.1″ Diagonal WXGA High-Definition HP LED BrightView Widescreen Display (1280 x 800)
• ATI Mobility Radeon HD Premium Graphics 3410 with M82-SE LP with 512MB DDR2 dedicated graphics memory
• 4096MB DDR2 System Memory (1 Dimm)
• 320GB (5400RPM) Hard Drive (SATA)
• External LightScribe Blu-Ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD±R/RW Double Layer
• HP Webcam with integrated microphone
• 6-Cell Lithium-Ion battery
• Integrated 10/100 BASE-T Ethernet LAN (RJ-45 connector)
• Wireless LAN 802.11a/b/g/n WLAN and Bluetooth
• 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, or xD Picture cards
• Altec Lansing with SRS Premium Sound
• Keyboard: 82 key (92% of full size)
• Touch Pad with On/Off button and dedicated vertical scroll Up/Down pad
• External Ports:
  • 3 Universal Serial Bus (USB) 2.0
  • Headphone out
  • Microphone-in
  • HDMI
  • VGA (15-pin)
  • RJ-45 (LAN)

More info: HP Home and Home Office Shopping

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Find a Job : : Free Magazines : : Daddy Forever : : iZachy : : Embedded Star : : EDA Geek : : EDA Blog : : FPGA Blog
© 2009 Online Destiny Ltd : : Daddy Forever is a trademark of Online Destiny Ltd

We have another giveaway offer from Hachette Book Group. This time, we’re giving away ten books. Five winners will each receive a set of all ten books in the giveaway. Just leave a comment to enter. The deadline is July 23rd. The giveaway is limited to US and Canadian residents. No PO Boxes please. Here are the books in the giveaway:

Obama’s BlackBerry by Kasper Hauser
When Obama stated that if elected, he would keep his Blackberry, debate echoed through Washington and among the ranks of the Secret Service. What would it be like to have a president who could Twitter, send text messages, and navigate the web with ease? What would it be like to receive a text message from inside the Oval Office and, most importantly, what would it say? Now, for the first time, We The People are privy to our new leader’s epistolary back-and-forths on his wily hand-held device. We’re about to discover that his emails (and the replies, from his wife and daughters, Biden, Palen, Rush, Hannity, the new first puppy, and even Bush) are so tuned in to the language of electronic correspondence they come hilariously close to the brink of legibility.

Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously by Julie Powell
Julie Powell, nearing thirty and trapped in a dead-end secretarial job, resolves to reclaim her life by cooking in the span of a single year, every one of the 524 recipes in Julia Child’s legendary Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Her unexpected reward: not just a newfound respect for calves’ livers and aspic, but a new life — lived with gusto. The film version is written and directed by Nora Ephron and stars Amy Adams as Julie and Meryl Streep as Julia.

Swimsuit by James Patterson and Maxine Paetro
A breathtakingly beautiful supermodel disappears from a swimsuit photo shoot at the most glamorous hotel in Hawaii. Only hours after she goes missing, Kim McDaniels’s parents receive a terrifying phone call. Fearing the worst, they board the first flight to Maui and begin the hunt for their daughter. Ex-cop Ben Hawkins, now a reporter for the L.A. Times, gets the McDaniels assignment. The ineptitude of the local police force defies belief — Ben has to start his own investigation for Kim McDaniels to have a prayer. And for Ben to have the story of his life.

The Secret Speech by Tom Smith
Soviet Union, 1956. Stalin is dead, and a violent regime is beginning to fracture — leaving behind a society where the police are the criminals, and the criminals are innocent. A secret speech composed by Stalin’s successor Khrushchev is distributed to the entire nation. Its message: Stalin was a tyrant. Its promise: The Soviet Union will change. Facing his own personal turmoil, former state security officer Leo Demidov is also struggling to change. The two young girls he and his wife Raisa adopted have yet to forgive him for his part in the death of their parents. They are not alone. Now that the truth is out, Leo, Raisa, and their family are in grave danger from someone consumed by the dark legacy of Leo’s past career. Someone transformed beyond recognition into the perfect model of vengeance.

When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris
Trying to make coffee when the water is shut off, David considers using the water in a vase of flowers and his chain of associations takes him from the French countryside to a hilariously uncomfortable memory of buying drugs in a mobile home in rural North Carolina. In essay after essay, Sedaris proceeds from bizarre conundrums of daily life — having a lozenge fall from your mouth into the lap of a fellow passenger on a plane or armoring the windows with LP covers to protect the house from neurotic songbirds — to the most deeply resonant human truths.

Any Minute by Joyce Meyer and Deborah Bedford
Sarah Harper is driven to achieve success no matter what the cost. She wants to do good and not hurt the people she loves — especially children and her husband, Joe — but her desire to succeed in her career too often leaves little time for family. One cold, autumn afternoon, all of that changes when Sarah’s car plunges off a bridge and into a river. She is presumed dead by those on the “outside,” but Sarah’s spirit is still very much alive. What she discovers on the other side transforms everything about Sarah’s view of life — past, present, and future. When Sarah is revived, she is a changed woman. And the unsuspecting world around her will never be the same again.

The Book of Lies by Brad Meltzer
In Chapter Four of the Bible, Cain kills Abel. It is the world’s most famous murder. But the Bible is silent about one key detail: the weapon Cain used to kill his brother. That weapon is still lost to history. In 1932, Mitchell Siegel was killed by three gunshots to his chest. While mourning, his son dreamed of a bulletproof man and created the world’s greatest hero: Superman. And like Cain’s murder weapon, the gun used in this unsolved murder has never been found. Until now. Today in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Cal Harper comes face-to-face with his family’s greatest secret: his long-lost father, who’s been shot with a gun that traces back to Mitchell Siegel’s 1932 murder. But before Cal can ask a single question, he and his father are attacked by a ruthless killer tattooed with the anicent markings of Cain. And so begins the chase for the world’s first murder weapon.

Kill for Me by Karen Rose
Five teenage girls have been murdered. One survived, and only she can reveal the secrets of a disturbing ring of people who kidnap and sell teenage girls on the black market. But those responsible for the crimes will do whatever it takes to maintain her silence. Susannah Vartanian and Luke Papadopoulos have both sworn to stop the murderers for their own reasons. Susannah suffers from a mysterious past that is connected to the sinister black market. Luke is an investigative agent and a computer expert who refuses to let another child predator get away. Susannah and Luke are instantly attracted to each other, but their troubled pasts prevent them from immediately acting upon their feelings. The case will lead them to the shady realm of Internet chat rooms, where anyone can mask their identity. As Susannah and Luke draw closer to the criminals, they discover a chain of deception so intricate they don’t know who to trust. Susannah and Luke find comfort in one another’s arms, but the killers are ruthless and determined, and will take extreme measures to insure their anonymity and keep their business intact.

A Summer Affair by Elin Hilderbrand
Claire Danner Crispin, mother of four young children and nationally renowned glassblower, bites off more than she can chew when she agrees to co-chair the Nantucket’s Children Summer Gala. Claire is asked to chair the benefit, in part, because she is the former high school sweetheart of rock star Max West. Max agrees to play the gala and it looks like smooth sailing for Claire — until she promises a “museum-quality” piece of glass for the auction, offers her best friend the catering job, goes nose-to-nose with her Manhattan socialite co-chair, and begins a “good-hearted” affair with the charity’s Executive Director, Lockhart Dixon.

Miscarriage of Justice by Kip Gayden
Based on actual events, Anna Dotson is a passionate modern woman of the 1900s who finds herself stifled by the lingering outdated rules of Victorian society. When her every attempt to rekindle romance and affection with her husband — a prominent local doctor — fails, she finds herself turning to the friendship of Charlie Cobb, a new man in town. But as their relationship becomes more intimate, small town tongues start wagging, and their star crossed affair leads to a shocking public murder.

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