La Vita Bella... Looking to Fly to Italy? Airfare from $536 Roundtrip

If Italy is on your travel destination dream list, Lufthansa has a sale just announced for booking today until 11:59 pm August 14th for travel between late October and mid-December. Fares start as low as $268 each direction from New York; and not much more from many other U.S. departure cities.

You have a choice of many different arrival cities in Italy, not simply the largest airports in Rome or Milan. Examples include Venice, Florence, Bologna or Torino.

The travel dates are from October 27th through the end of the year, but are blacked out from December 12th through 24th. Fares differ by the day of week, so aim for midweek if you can. These fare prices don't include the airport/security fees added the ticket price.

But even after the fees, I was able to find a final price of $665 for New York to/from Milan leaving Wednesday, November 5th returning on November 19th.

Other departure cities can also get you nice deals, with all sorts of choices of arrivals. Samples include:
Houston-Florence: $308
Detroit-Rome: $315
Atlanta-Genoa: $324
San Francisco-Venice: $345
Seattle-Bologna: $351

Remember, these need to be booked by tomorrow night, so if this opens the door to your Italian getaway, don't let the door close on you. Click this link for Lufthansa's Italian special.

Crocs for Sale - Kids' Sizes $7.44 and Up; Women's $9.94 and Up

If you or your children like Crocs shoes, you might want to pop over to West Marine. They have an assortment of styles on clearance, at prices well below the original selling price. Since they're clearance, the size availability is limited on many of the styles, but it seems that different styles have different sizes available so you may still find some that fit your children's feet.

They have Kids' Caymans or Kids' Scutes at $7.44, and Kids' Crockling Sandals at $8.94. Women's Mary Janes are $9.94 as are Beach Crocs and Malindi Flats.

Shipping is free if you order over $100, and also, if your order is over $100 you can use coupon code SCRETPRC to get 12% off your order.

To take a look at the styles and see what colors/sizes are left in the sale, click this link.

Roundtrip Fares on Spirit from $2 for $9 Fare Club Members

I've had a number of posts about Spirit Airlines and some of their ridiculously low airfares (like a penny in each direction sometimes). Lately, more of their special fares have been restricted to members of their $9 Fare Club. But if you are apt to use one of their itineraries, it may be worth joining to be able to take advantage when they announce special offers.

Right now until 11:59 pm on August 13th, Spirit has a number of date-specific flights with fares as low as $1 each way, with others at $2, $3, $5, $8, $13 and some higher. If you can match up your departure and return dates with their special offers, you could get a roundtrip for as low as $2 (plus applicable airport/security fees).

The $1 city-pairs include:
Fort Lauderdale to/from Orlando, Nassau or Freeport (Bahamas)

$2 flights are available certain dates between:
Fort Lauderdale to/from Tampa

$3 flights on certain dates can be found between:
Atlanta to/from Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale to/from Columbia SC

$5 fares on certain dates include:
Atlantic City to/from Fort Myers
Myrtle Beach to/from Fort Lauderdale

$8 fares are available certain dates between:
Atlantic City and Myrtle Beach
Detroit and Myrtle Beach
Fort Lauderdale to/from Santo Domingo (Dominican Republic)

$13 fare city-pairs include:
New York LaGuardia to/from Fort Lauderdale
Orlando to/from Detroit
Myrtle Beach to/from New York LaGuardia
Atlantic City to/from Orlando
Boston to/from Myrtle Beach
New York LaGuardia to/from Detroit

For the exact dates these flights are available and to join the $9 Fare Club to qualify for these bargain flights, click this link for Spirit Airlines.

This sale is good only till the last minute of August 13th.

Samsung Laser Printer $43.94 After Rebate

Most printers that come with PCs are the ink-jet variety. They can be good for a multitude of uses, but they're a bit slower than laser printers, and their ink will run if the paper gets wet. The price-per-page is also higher than laser printers because of the cost of the ink. But for most home use the ink-jet has remained the printer of choice because of low cost compared to the lasers.

But if you print a lot of black-and-white documents, a small laser printer might be an option worth considering. Particularly if you can find one at a nice price. Right now, buy.com is selling the Samsung ML-2510 Laser Printer for $113.94 (reduced from $149.99). And until August 17th, there's a $70.00 mail-in rebate, making the net a low $43.94. And buy.com throws in the shipping for free.

If you've never bought anything from buy.com yet you can also get $5 more off the purchase by clicking $5 off $100 or more in ALL Stores! New Customer Coupon! exp 08/31/08 and then typing Samsung ML-2510 in the search box. That'll bring your final net down to $38.94.

It's a very compact printer (13.9" x 11.7" x 9.7") and it’s easy to install: all it takes is just four clicks. It features a jam-free roller system. It boasts good speed for a printer in this range: 24 ppm for A4 size, and 25 ppm for letter size. Print resolution is 1,200 x 600 dpi. The ML-2510 is compatible with Windows®, Mac® and Linux® operating systems.

If you think a small laser printer might come in handy, click the picture below for more details.

Free Music at Amazon: Billie Holiday, Benny Goodman, Herman's Hermits, Bee Gees, Lena Horne, Beethoven, Vivaldi, Mozart, Stravinsky...

In doing some checking at amazon.com, I ran across some more free music from some big names, including Benny Goodman & His Orchestra, Billie Holiday and Nina Simone, Lena Horne, Herman's Hermits and The Bee Gees. Also a lot of classical music including some of the greatest composers, Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, Vivaldi and others.

Some of the songs are very recognizable, including "God Bless the Child" and "Good Morning Heartache" by Billie Holiday, "There's a Kind of Hush" by Herman's Hermits and "Jersey Bounce" by Benny Goodman.

There are a lot of tracks available free to download. The album itself is not free and some other album tracks are available at a cost, but you can pick out the ones that you find for free and just click the download to get them gratis!

Among the ones I found:
Benny Goodman & His Orchestra "Swingtime" - 11 Free Tracks
Herman's Hermits "All the Hits Plus More" - 12 Free Tracks
Billie Holiday "Troubled Souls" - 5 Free Tracks (Plus 7 Tracks by Nina Simone)
Lena Horne "Lena" - 6 Free Tracks
The Bee Gees "The Family Album" - 8 Free Tracks
Sultans of Swing "The Hits of Dire Straits" - 6 Free Tracks
Beethoven Sonatas for Piano by Eliso Bolkvadze - 4 Free Tracks
Vivaldi "The Four Seasons" by St. Petersburg Radio - 7 Free Tracks
Mozart "A Little Night Music" by Zezerkalye Chamber Orchestra - 2 Free Tracks
Stravinsky "Rite of Spring" by Tbilisi Chamber Orchestra - 12 Free Tracks
Bach "Brandenberg Concerto" by Orchestra Opera - 1 Free Track

...and for fans of The Seven Year Itch with Marilyn Monroe:
Rachmaninov: First Quartet (unfinished) by The Russian String Quartet

So swing on over to Amazon using any of these links and start filling up your MP3, Zune or iPod...

Hint: To find some more free tracks, click on the title of any single free track when you open an album above. It'll open up a window just to that track. A little below the track information you'll see a line "Customers who bought this item also bought" and a lot of other music. Most of the items I saw listed were other free tracks that people had downloaded.

Free Folkways MP3 Album -- 14 Songs Including Pete Seeger, Woody Guthrie, Lead Belly and Many Others

Looking to add something to your music collection? How about an album download that's free for a limited time at amazon.com?

You get recordings of everything from folk legends and backwoods blues to traditional regional music and natural sounds from around the world. The album is A Sound Legacy: 60 Years of Folkways Records and 20 Years of Smithsonian Folkways. It has 14 tracks, and features some well-known musicians in folk music plus pieces from around the world.

Plus, where else are you going to get the sound of a green treefrog?

To check out all the tracks and get your free download, click on this link.

Nextar GPS with Text-to-Speech and MP3 $99.99

Not sure how many of my readers are still looking for a GPS system after the various deals I've posted, but in case you are, buy.com is selling the Nextar X3-01 3.5" GPS with Text-to-Speech and MP3 for $99.99, with free shipping.

I haven't used a Nextar system personally, but it comes with the basic GPS elements along with the handy text-to-speech capability, and has MP3 thrown in as well. Picking your choice of a GPS is a personal choice comparing systems, features etc., but at this price, the Nextar may be worth a look.

This system features:
- 3.5 inch touch screen display
- Built-in speaker for voice-guided directions
- Text to Speech (pronounces instructions including street names)
- Built-in 50 U.S. states + Canada map
- 1.6 million points of interest
- Address book can store up to 300 addresses
- Automatically recalculate the route
- Speed alert
- 2D or 3D map viewing modes
- Day and Night modes
- SD card slot for added memory
- MP3 playing (requires SD card, not included)
- Built-in rechargeable Li-Ion battery

To take a further look, click the picture below.

Planning a Visit to Philadelphia Tourist Attractions? Get a Philadelphia Pass for Savings and Add a 5% Off Coupon Code for More

A while back, I wrote about the New York Pass, a way to get savings while you're on a vacation and want to take in a bunch of tourist attractions. Now, the same company has introduced the Philadelphia Pass for people who want to sample a good chunk of the City of Brotherly Love.

And right now there's a promotional code for an additional 5% off the price of a Pass to heighten the savings.

A pass entitles you to free admission to a wide range of popular attractions, including Franklin Institute Science Museum, National Constitution Center, Lincoln Financial Fields Tour, QVC Tour, Philadelphia Zoo, Lights of Liberty Show, Battleship New Jersey, Longwood Gardens and many more. It even includes the unique Ride the Duck tour that does sightseeing on land and in the water aboard the same vehicle.

There are also additional discounts for dining and shopping in town for even more savings opportunities. The amount of savings you can achieve with a pass depends on how many attractions you want to visit. They have passes available valid for one day, two days, three days or five days, and they are available for adults and children. Today and tomorrow they've also cut the price of the three- and five-day passes by $20 on-line.

You can also get 5% off by applying coupon code 5pc0708. That would bring the price of a three-day pass down from the current sale price of $69.00 (on sale from $89.00) down to $65.55 for adults, and a child's pass down to $52.25. Order your pass by tomorrow to get the best savings.

They aren't inexpensive, but if you're going to visit more than a couple of attractions a day, the savings will exceed the cost of the pass.

To read more and see if this would make your Philadelphia experience more fun, click the following link: Get 5% off any Philadelphia Pass! Use coupon code: 5pc0708

Laptop Travel Kit Free After Rebate: Mouse, Mini-USB Cable, 4-Port Hub, 256MB Flash Drive and Travel Case

If you go on the road with your laptop (and isn't that a part of the reason to have a laptop?), you probably know the experience of trying to keep accessories organized and not all jumbled up where they can get damaged. Right now, Circuit City has a travel kit from Nexxtech that gives you a nice batch of accessories and a case to keep them all organized when you're on the go. And the best part is that the kit is free after rebate (with free shipping as well)!

The kit is on sale for $39.99 and it has a $40.00 mail-in rebate for purchases until August 16th. So your net cost comes to a penny back, other than any tax and the cost of your postage stamp to mail the rebate form. Not too shabby.

The kit includes the following items, all packed into a case with sections to keep all of them in an organized place:
- retractable USB travel mouse with five buttons
- three-foot retractable mini usb cable
- 256MB USB flash drive
- four-port USB hub (adds extra USB outlets to your computer)

To take a look at the kit and see if it'll make your travels with your laptop a bit more convenient, click the Nexxtech Laptop Travel Kit.

4GB Kingston USB Flash Drive $12.99 with Free Shipping

Anyone who has needed to bring files between PCs has probably given thanks for the creation of USB flash drives. That way you don't need to burn a CD or DVD of the files from one PC and load them on another. These portable little devices just quickly plug in to your USB port to upload the files and once you've transferred them to the other system, you can delete them from the USB drive for the next time you need it.

The capacity of memory on these drives can allow a lot of files to get transferred, allowing big business presentations, major photo file collections and many other files to be conveniently brought with you.

Buy.com has Kingston's 4GB DataTraveler 100 on sale now for $12.99, including free budget shipping. You might find 1GB or maybe 2GB drives at this kind of price at local stores but for 4GB of memory it's a very nice price.

Kingston is a very respected name in memory, so this is a reliable little drive (it even has a five-year warranty). The design is sleek and capless, with the USB connector safely housed inside the case so you don’t have to worry about losing a cap.

To check it out, click the image below.

2GB Kingston Secure Digital SD Card $7.97

If you've got a digital device (camera, GPS, MP3, frame etc.) that needs an SD card, here's one with a good capacity of memory from Kingston, which is a top name in computer memory. It's their 2GB Secure Digital Card, and buy.com has it on sale for $7.97, with free budget shipping too.

That's the bottom line price, no rebates involved for this. So if you need one or two of these, you may want to hop on over to buy.com by clicking the picture.

Acer 14.1" Notebook with 2GB Memory, 120GB Hard Drive and SuperMulti Dual Layer DVD Drive $399.99

I try and keep an eye on nice deals for PCs and notebooks in case people are in the market, especially with some kids going back to school. Here's a price under $400 after rebate at Office Depot for an Acer® Extensa laptop that's loaded with some nice features.

The model is the Acer® Extensa EX4420-5239 14.1" Widescreen Notebook Computer With AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor TK-57. It's priced at $524.99 and has a $125.00 rebate until August 16th -- plus shipping is free. That makes the cost a very attractive $399.99 (plus tax) for a much-more-than-bare-bones notebook computer.

It comes with 2GB of PC2-5300 DDR2 memory, rather than the 1GB you see on many lower-end notebooks. That extra gig can make a big difference in performance especially with the Vista Home Premium that's already loaded on the system.

Some other highlights:
- 14.1" (diagonal) widescreen WXGA (1280 x 800) CrystalBright™ LCD screen
- AMD Athlon 64 X2 dual-core processor TK-57 operating at 1.9GHz
- 120GB 5400-rpm Serial ATA (SATA) hard drive
- SuperMulti DVD drive -Double Layer support (reads/writes many format DVDs)
- Acer InviLink™ 802.11b/g wireless LAN
- Ethernet network interface (RJ-45)
- 4 USB 2.0 ports
- 1 FireWire (IEEE 1394) port (not always found on lower-end laptops)
- 1 S-video port
- Fast infrared port
- Integrated 0.3-megapixel webcam, for video chat and still photos
- 5-in-1 memory card reader for SD, MMC, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, xD
- ExpressCard/54 slot: also supports ExpressCard/34
- ATI Radeon X1250 graphics with up to 896MB shared memory
- High Definition Audio with built-in Acer 3DSonic stereo speakers
...and even more.

Acer is one of the systems I've used and have been pleased with the quality and performance. PC's are such a personal preference that you should pick one that fits your own needs and style, as far as screen size, features and such; but for the money, this one seems to offer quite a bit.

To take a further look and see if this one's for you (or a student in your family), click the image below.

Disney Items on Clearance Plus Codes for Extra 10% Off and Free Shipping Over $50

If you have or know any youngsters who love the Disney characters, you might want to pop over to DisneyOutlet.com where a nice selection of items are on clearance. And to drop prices further, you can apply coupon code OUTLET10 for an extra 10% off.

Standard shipping is $8.50 for orders up to $25.00, and $9.50 for orders between $25.00 and $50.00. But if you exceed $50.00, you can enter promo code FREE50 and get it shipped at no cost.

With the extra coupon savings you can get Disney character Beach Balls for $1.79, Beach Towels for $3.59, PJ Pals for $3.59 and $4.49, and many other items.

To take advantage of the free shipping offer, maybe you can pick up some items to give now, and some to have as Christmas presents (it'll be here before you know it).

Click this link for the Disney clearance items.

100-Sheets Kodak 4"x6" Ultra Premium Photo Paper Free After Rebate

With the low prices on digital cameras making it easier and easier for all of us to take more pictures, there are probably some that you'd love to print out to share with people or have for yourself to display on a desk. So being able to buy photo paper for free might help you print out some of those photos without draining your wallet.

Right now, Circuit City is selling a 100-pack of Kodak Ultra Premium Photo Paper (4"x6") for $26.49, and they have a $26.49 rebate that's valid for purchases until August 16th. So basically you can do your printing with virtually no cost for the paper.

This paper is a high-quality, high-gloss paper so you should be really happy with the quality of your prints.

It's not available for delivery, but you can order it on-line and then pick it up at your local Circuit City. To check it out, click this link.

Men's Relaxed Fit Jeans $5.39 at Kohls

Looking for some relaxed-fit jeans to hang around or maybe do some yardwork in? Right now Kohls.com has their Urban Pipeline® Relaxed Fit Jeans on clearance for $5.99. You can use a 10% off code NEW7342 to bring the price down to $5.39. Or even better, if you have a Kohls card you can use it with a code of TAKE15 to get 15% off, making them $5.09.

Kohls card-holders can also get free shipping with code MVC7482. Otherwise, shipping is $6.95 so the deal is better if you're ordering a few pair, or if you buy some other things and the order totals over $75, so you may want to check out other clearance items (they have plenty!).

To take a look at the sizes in stock and place an order, click the picture!

One Day Only - August 8th: Restaurant.com 80% Off Promotional Code!

I hope a lot of readers check the blog often, because this offer is off the charts and it's available today (Friday the 8th) only.

For the balance of the day Restaurant.com has a promo code that gets you 80% off their gift certificates. A certificate for $25 of dining usually costs $10, so today you get it for just $2! Paying $2 for $25 is like getting 92% off that portion of your bill!

If you buy a lunchtime $10 certificate, that normally costs $3.00 so with today's promo code it costs all of a whopping 60¢!

The certificates do have some restaurant-specific conditions (i.e. minimum check or minimum number of entrees, etc.) but these are still a great way to try new restaurants or visit a favorite a bit more often.

An 80%? I've never seen their promos that deep. The code for today is FIRST and it expires at midnight. Don't forget to hit 'apply' after you enter the promo code during checkout so you actually see the savings before placing the order.

Go vist restaurant.com and take advantage!

GPS with 4.3" Screen, Text-to-Speech $129.99

If you are considering getting a GPS system, and would like something a little easier to see than the smallest units with the tiniest screens, buy.com has a sale now for one that has a 4.3" screen (the smaller units come with a 3.5" screen). It's the Nextar Q4 4.3" Navigation System with Text-to-Speech. The current sale price is $129.99.

This GPS includes text-to-speech, which is really helpful when there might be a few roads close together so it tells you the name of the street on which to turn. It includes a pre-loaded map of the U.S. on a 2GB SD card, can play MP3s if you like, and can be mounted on your dashboard.

Some features include:
- 4.3 inches touch-screen display
- Built-in speaker
- Voice-guided directions
- 1.6 million points of interest
- Address book with capacity for 300 addresses
- Instant automatic route recalculation
- Turn-by-Turn voice prompts
- 2D or 3D map viewing modes with built-in compass
- Day and Night modes
- SD card slot for added memory
- MP3 playing & Photo viewing mode
- Built-in rechargeable Li-Ion battery

To take a closer look and see if this might be the GPS for you, click the picture below.

22" Widescreen Monitor with 1000:1 Ratio, Built-in Speakers, $179.99

If you'd like to upgrade the ease of looking at your computer screen, perhaps you're considering getting a larger and clearer monitor. Make those small figures on those documents just a bit easier to read. Or make the graphics pop on those photos or videos you like to watch. Or maybe it's just time for a nice thin monitor to give you some more desk space. Here's a nice deal on a 22" widescreen monitor with some powerful capability: buy.com is selling the SOYO 22" Widescreen DYLM2284 Citrine Series TFT LCD Monitor for $179.99, including free shipping. That's $120 off the list price and close to what you might be paying if you were looking at 19" monitors.

The SOYO DYLM2284 22-inch (21.6 Viewable) Widescreen LCD monitor has a wide-angle flat screen that offers a quality view from various angles. It features high brightness, sharp contrast and vivid colors for comfortable viewing, and built-in speakers for stereo-quality sound.

Some specs and features:
- Display Type: Widescreen LCD
- Viewable Screen Size: 21.6 inches
- Display Colors: 16.7 million
- Vertical Refresh Rate: 50 Hz - 75 Hz
- Horizontal Frequency: 30 kHz - 80
- Input Video Signal: DVI VGA
- Speakers: 2 x 1 Watt
- Contrast Ratio: 1000:1
- Brightness: 300 cd/m
- Response Time: 5 ms
- Horizontal Viewing Angle: 170 degrees
- Vertical Viewing Angle: 160 degrees
- Maximum Resolution: 1680 x 1050
- Dimensions With Stand: 20.71" x 17.05" x 6.89"
- Unit Weight: 13.5 lbs.
- Power Consumption: 54W

They show this as a limited stock item, and it's a hot seller on the buy.com sales rankings, so if this is up your alley, you may want to check it out before long. Just click on the image below.