Bill 'OBrien
Hankering for an LCD TV? For $300? Yes, you're in luck! Magnavox's model 19MF337B is a 19-inch TV that supports NTSC/ATSC/QAM and will downvert 1080p to fit its 1440x900 resolution. Best of all, you can probably find it for around $280.
Moderate Spending Sprees
All right, you got a $600 check. Your eyes are ablaze and here are some possibilities:
You need an iPod Touch. You do, really. It's amazing and it's not the iPhone. We could have suggested that you purchase the teeny-weeny 8GB model for just $299 but it's not enough. Trust us on that evaluation. You need either the 16GB version ($399) or the, gasp, drool, 32GB model ($499). It's these two that have enough storage space for music and videos that will get you through a plane flight. (The 8GB Touch is fine for a gym workout.)
Yes, we might have mentioned the 16GB iPhone for a meager $499 but adding in the cost of the service contract required to make your calls will push that price well above even the top $1,200 stimulus check you're likely to see. Sorry.
Instead, go upscale on laptop and desktop PCs. There's the Asus Eee PC 4G with a 4GB solid state disk for $350 or, go big time with an Eee PC 900 ($550), which has an 8.9-inch screen that you can actually look at for long periods of time without getting a migraine. Need a desktop PC? No problem. Acer's ASL310-UD430A will grab $400 from your pocket. It's minimalist (both in size and talent) but it will let you browse the Internet without breaking a sweat. A keyboard and mouse are included, but bring your own monitor.
If you have some room on your desk, consider HannsG's Amazon has it for $588.
High-Ticket Splurges
Real HDTVs can be expensive, but Vizio markets a 42-inch model (VS42LF) that will take a $1,000 bite out of your group hug and delivers a 1920x1080 resolution for HD viewing (1080p, 1080i, 720p, 480p, 480i). It's NTSC/ATSC/QAM compatible, has multiple inputs for a variety of external components, and even has two 10-watt speakers.
Your choice of computers rises considerably as the value of your stimulus check does. Apple's MacBook starts life at $1,099 and, to be blatantly honest in an otherwise PC-centric environment, Apple's laptops are quite good. On the desk, you could easily find yourself setting up Cyberpower's GI7270. The 3GHz Intel E8400 processor and 3GB of memory give it some honest computing "oomph" but the Nvidia 8500GT graphics card won't do much for gaming. As with most such deals, you'll need a monitor but the GI7270's $800 price tag should leave you with enough change to make that happen too.
Do you like someone to talk to when you get lost in your vehicle? How about you don't get lost (mostly) and can talk your lips off? You can do that with Garmin's nuvi 880. This $1,000 GPS device has a 4.3-inch, 480-by-272-pixel screen and that's great. But what earns the 880 its gold standard is that it has speech recognition technology inside with a remote push-to-talk microphone that you can mount on your steering wheel. No training is needed and all of its function can be (literally) called upon. And it does talk back.
While you may be thinking about paying down some bills, forget about it. The goal of the program is to see you spend, spend, spend. After all, it is your money you're getting back and what better way to celebrate its unplanned arrival than to send it off again in exchange for goods and services?
On The Cheap
You open the mail and you find yourself staring at greetings from the President and a check for $300. That's not very much, is it? It'll get you a tank of gas, but can you actually buy something meaningful? Oh yes!
See original article on InformationWeek
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