budgeting

Like most compact-camera manufacturers, Canon offers point-and-shoots at a range of prices; its PowerShots start at $109.99 and edge up every $20 to $30. The A3000 IS sits right at $149.99. It's a good, if basic, snapshot camera designed for people who really don't want much beyond taking a nice picture.

Optical image stabilization is probably the biggest feature highlight since it's a rarity in a new camera at its price point. It also has a couple of new creative shooting modes--Super Vivid and Poster Effect--but its shooting options are otherwise bland.

I'm not … Read more

Shopping for kitchen appliances can at times be tricky. A host of factors to think about present themselves, with each one vying for attention as the most important thing to consider. No matter how much the color or the material of an appliance may come into the equation, there are always two other things to consider, no matter what personal preferences may be: price and size.

For the budgetary-minded trying to pack a punch onto a small countertop, appliance shopping can be a challenge. With a price tag of just $29.99, the West Bend Nonstick Countertop Grill and Panini Press (model 6113), … Read more

Quicken Essentials offers numerous useful tools to track your finances on the Mac, but it falls short by leaving out some important features found in Windows versions. The interface has been rebuilt from the ground up to make Mac users feel at home by following the design and navigation schemes of other Mac programs like iTunes. All of your accounts, transactions, credit cards, reports, and program tools are easily accessible from the left sidebar (what they call the Source List), showing all the information for each in the main register window. Like iTunes, you can click and drag to expand … Read more

Though budget cameras aren't exciting news, they are what a lot of people end up buying--especially as gifts for friends and family. Casio's low-end models are better than most, too, which is what makes them even more worthy of coverage. The EX-S7 and EX-Z35 are updates to 2009's EX-Z33 and EX-S5.

The 12-megapixel S7 uses Casio's Exilim Engine 5, improving image processing and battery life (it uses a rechargeable lithium ion). On its front is a 3x f3.1-5.6 36-107mm-equivalent lens. On its back is a 2.7-inch LCD and, along with the camera's … Read more

Once you dip below the $50 mark in the portable headphone market, you're generally going to be looking at a noticeable drop-off in construction and sound quality. That's why we've been pleasantly surprised lately at the offerings in the budget price range. One example are the $40 MEElectronics M6 earphones, which offer a shockingly durable design that looks good and fits well. Better yet, they provide plenty of bass and generally good audio quality--if you're willing to make a small sacrifice in clarity and balance.

Read the full review of the MEElectronics M6 headphones.

Frequent fliers have a special challenge when it comes time to pick out headphones. Finding 'phones with a travel-friendly design, but that are also comfortable and provide great sound with some capability to block out ambient noise can be tough. Now add in a budget of $100 and you can forget about getting all those features in one package...or maybe not. Audio-Technica's ATH-ANC1 QuietPoint headphones may have an MSRP of $130, but they can be found online for $100, and they solidly address all of the above considerations.

Read the Audio-Technica ATH-ANC1 review.

Nikon's Coolpix L100 and L20 were very popular models last year and actually continue to be well trafficked on CNET. That has a lot to do with their price tags and far less to do with their quality. I didn't review the L20, but the L100 was a fairly weak camera. (But it had a 15x zoom for less than $250!) Nikon is now announcing their updates: the Coolpix L110 and L22.

For the same MSRP as the L100 ($279.95), Nikon increased the camera resolution to 12 megapixels and the 3-inch LCD resolution from 230K dots to … Read more

Once you dip below the $50 mark in the portable headphone market, you're generally going to be looking at a noticeable drop-off in sound quality. That's why we're always pleasantly surprised to come across earphones that manage to provide good audio at a low price--even better if they're comfortable, as well. The Yamaha EPH-30 is one such set, and though they're not without their pitfalls, we have no qualms about recommending these $40 earbuds.

Read the full review of the Yamaha EPH-30 Inner Ear Headphones.

Though it's certainly hard to get excited about entry-level point-and-shoot cameras, the manufacturers generally sell a lot of them simply because they're cheap. The FinePix AV100 and AX200 from Fujifilm are no different, priced at $99.95 and $109.95, respectively, with just a lens differentiating them.

There's almost nothing to get worked up about as far as features go. I say almost nothing because Fujifilm has decided not to use HD video capture as an upsell feature in its compacts, so even these two get 720p movie modes.

FinePix AV100