I would buy this measuring tape: MyoTape Body Tape Measure

I am in the process of getting in shape. One of the most important things to do when trying to achieve any goal is to track and measure progress.

Each month I take measurements of my waist, chest, thighs, calves, biceps & forearms. This MyoTape measure was designed to do just that. It works really well.

I Would Buy This Netbook - HP 2133-KR922UT 8.9-Inch Mini-Note PC

Samsung Digimax A402

At a price of just over a $100.00 this digital camera is about as affordable as they come. Digital cameras in this price range are not all alike and you should do your homework before deciding on merely because of resolution (megapixels) and price. This tiny 4.2 megapixel camera performs exceptionally well. The menu options are easy to navigate through and while the default options work well for most, the “tweaker” will want to squeeze a bit better performance from the camera, and they can. You can also setup custom parameters that are easily selectable for several different types of “shooting” environments. The camera does have a 5x digital zoom but I would be doing you a disservice if I stated it was useful. If you prefer zoom features then you should really look to a camera with an optical zoom. Difference being that a digital zoom merely enlarges the pixels and crops the image whereas an optical zoom truly does enlarge the object in the viewfinder, much like a binocular. In my experiences I generally do not use a zoom. If you want to zoom with this camera a better way to do it is to maximize all capabilities of the camera and then zoom, via software, the downloaded images. In my opinion this is a better method of “zooming”. Maximum image resolution is 2272 x 1704. This yields about a 1.5MB image. The camera comes with no real memory so you will need to buy a memory card (SD or MMC) and I recommend a 512MB (max) card for the camera, which will allow you to hold about 400 images.

Batteries…. get yourself a good set of AA rechargeables and a charger. Do not throw away your money on alkalines. A set of four AA rechargeables will allow you to have one pair in the camera and one, just in case. Do not even bother with anything less then alkalines (aka cheapos) as this camera will eat ‘em up.

There is no passive optical viewfinder in this camera so the LCD screen will always be needed for subject selection. This is the primary reason batteries of a lesser stature then alkaline or rechargeables will be dead quickly. The LCD panel is quite large for the camera and is a welcome feature.

The color of the images this camera takes are right on and quite remarkable, in my opinion, in a camera of this price range.

There is a macro adustment at the lens of the camera for taking close-up shots. This is helpful but more then once it was either left in that position or was bumped to that position while removing the camera from the case. This makes for blurry images when not taking close-up and can be quite irritating if you do not realize it is in this position. Thankfully you are given feedback that this feature is enabled by an icon in the viewfinder.

Flash feature works well and is automatic if you so choose to leave it set that way. There is also a red eye removing flash feature. If the camera states “low-light” in the viewfinder you will need to enable the flash (this message is only displayed when the flash is disabled and low light conditions exist) or put the camera on a tripod as the exposure will be lengthened and any camera movement will blur your picture.

I personally love this camera. If I had to name one drawback it would be the lack of optical zoom. I love the image quality, I love the compactness of this camera. It has a rich feature set for its price range and it seems plenty durable. It is a good entry point into the digital camera world and a worthwhile compact addition to those that need something much smaller then their current camera.