how-to

There are so many snapshot cameras available that it can actually be a fairly miserable experience shopping for one. Add in concerns about pricing and you're likely going to continue using your camera phone as your primary point-and-shoot for digital photos.

Finding the right camera at the right price is easier if you start by asking yourself two questions: how will I use the camera and how will I use the photos? These are important for determining what type of user you are and how little you can expect to spend without being disappointed with your choice.

Check out our full digital camera buying guide to help determine what specs will meet your needs. Then, use the tips below for finding the best deal on your new camera. Happy hunting.

Eliminate features There are three key components most people look for when picking a camera: megapixels, LCD size, and zoom range. Current entry-level models start at 10 megapixels for the most part, which is plenty of resolution for snapshot prints of 8x10 or smaller. The common LCD size on these models is 2.5 inches, and they typically have a 3x or 4x zoom. Features on these cameras usually include basic face detection, a dozen scene modes, a low-resolution movie mode, a full automatic mode, and a program auto mode giving you controls for ISO, white balance, light metering, and focus. (Here are some good examples.)

Any additional features start to drive the price up--in other words, they are things used to upsell you to another model. So if you don't think you'll ever want to control shutter speed or aperture settings, don't need a 3.5-inch touch-screen display, you won't be using the movie mode for anything except YouTube clips, or a 10x zoom will get you way closer to your subject than you want to get, feel free to skip them.… Read more

If you're on a budget and shopping for a new MP3 player, here are a few general tips for locking down a good deal.

First and foremost, do some math so you can get a realistic idea of how much storage you'll need for all the music, photos, and video you want to take on the go. The less storage you need, the cheaper the price. If an MP3 player includes a slot for memory expansion, you can always increase the capacity down the road.

Also, be realistic about the features you need. MP3 players that support video … Read more

There are a lot of good reasons to pay the extra bucks for a digital SLR over a point- and-shoot, including better photo quality (especially in low light), faster shooting, and the flexibility of interchangeable lenses. But it's also err on the side of too much or too little when buying, especially if you don't have a solid idea of what you need or want from the camera.

Define budget Buying a dSLR is more like buying a computer than a TV or an MP3 player; you're not shopping for the cheapest model you can find, you'… Read more

I swear: the next time I see or hear "in this economy" as an intro to an advertisement or buying advice article, I'm going to drop kick the responsible party out of the nearest window. Regardless of gainful employment, who doesn't want to spend a little less to get something cool? I don't know about you, but finding a great deal always puts a little bounce in my step. What I like even more is helping others find what they want without requiring them to drop a massive wad of cash. In that spirit, here'… Read more

For some, finding the lowest price for a computer monitor trumps all other factors, including features, size, and brand. For those "some" of you, this is the blog you've been waiting for.

Here, I'll outline what I think are the best techniques for finding monitors that are priced the lowest.

Go small The smaller your monitor's screen size, the less work it takes to illuminate. Thus, the less expensive it is. Simple math, really. Obviously, you'll buy per your needs, but if funds are an issue, go as small as you can stand. I … Read more

You've heard every mantra and cautionary tale a dozen times, but if you still haven't backed up that hard drive by now, the lessons haven't sunk in. It may not seem like a big deal if everything's humming along, but losing files or precious photos to malware, food spills, fire, or any other corrosive indignity brings on those twin sensations of panic and despair. This article takes you through some simple hardware and software solutions to save those files, then weighs the pros and cons of each approach.

Back up to an external hard drive

External hard drives and network-attached storage are local ways to back up your files to a physical drive that lives outside your PC. Since network-attached storage devices are typically for the home networker with multiple computers to safeguard from data loss, most people looking for a basic backup option will lean toward external hard drives, like some of these CNET favorites.

After purchasing an external drive, you'll just plug it into your computer to get started. Most conventional drives like the ultraportable 320GB Seagate FreeAgent Go will trigger your computer to open a separate drive folder, like "Removable Drive F:". Copying or dragging the files you'd like to save from their original folder into the external drive folder transfers them over.

The purpose-built 320GB Clickfree Portable Backup Drive provides an even simpler backup method. After plugging it in, the drive's native software automatically finds and backs up all of your computer's data. Not bad for about $200. If that's not enough storage space for you, there's also the four-bay Drobo for serious data nuts. It's not without its shortcomings, including its high price. For backups, it's best used for creating redundancy in case one of your other drives fail.

Desktop backup software

One of the primary advantages of using software to copy your files is being able to schedule backups of your data, although all programs will let you manually back up data as well. While most people will find online storage solutions the easiest to maintain, desktop backup software has its merits.

For example, for $50, the Acronis True Image Home 2009 images your hard drive, including your programs, documents, music, photos, and Outlook e-mail. In the event of a crash, you can boot it from the PC or from a CD.… Read more

How To Videos from Howcast.com is a free app for watching and browsing through videos from this popular how-to Web site when you're away from your computer. The useful (and often funny) videos from Howcast cover everything from "How to Roast a Perfect Chicken" to "How to Clip Your Cat's Nails" to "How to Kiss Like Angelina Jolie."

The iPhone and iPod Touch app for Howcast lets you quickly search for videos or browse through playlists as well as featured, top-rated, and most recently uploaded videos. You can also add a … Read more

In order to share files on a network in the past "classic" Mac operating system, you had to access and set up items in several locations. First, you needed to enable file sharing in one location, then add users in another location, and finally navigate to individual folders in the finder to set up sharing for those locations. Because of the multiple steps for sharing items, people could lose track of the shared folders, and the permissions that each user had for the specific share point.… Read more

Updated August 18, 2011.

If you're an iTunes user (download for Windows|Mac) whose appetite for music, movies, and podcasts is outstripping the capacity of your computer, it might be a good time to think about offloading that library to an external hard drive or a separate internal drive. If you do it right, the process is relatively simple, although the transfer time could take an hour or more, depending on the size of your media library.

To walk you through it, here are a step-by-step video and slideshow tutorial on how to move your iTunes library to an … Read more