Eye-Fi Makes Backing Up Photos Even Easier

I've listened to several people at blog conferences rave about their Eye-Fi cards, and for the longest time I never knew what they were. Wi-fi for your camera? How does that work?

I recently had the chance to try out an Eye-Fi card, and now I think I understand a little better. The Eye-Fi card is an SDHC memory card with built-in 802.11n wireless ability. That means that when you're in your home wireless network, you can easily upload your photos from your camera to your computer with no cables, and no need to remove the memory card.

Setup for the Eye-Fi card is a breeze. Put the card in the included USB card reader, plug it into your computer, answer a few questions, and you're ready to go. It took about 10 minutes to completely set everything up and take a test photo to make sure it was working properly.

I put the 4GB Eye-Fi Connect card to work at Halloween, as I took many, many photos of my girls in their superhero costumes, snapping away safe in the knowledge that the 4GB card could hold hundreds of images. The Eye-Fi software gives you the option to upload all photos directly to a website like Flickr or Picasa, but I prefer to edit and pick and choose which photos I want share so I didn't enable that option.

However, each photo was quickly transferred to my computer only seconds after being taken. At the end of the night, I turned off the camera and went to my photos folder on my computer, where all of my photos were waiting for me. Perfect!

Eye-Fi cards can transfer video as well as photo, too. All Eye-Fi cards also feature the Endless Memory setting, freeing up memory on the card as soon as photos are securely transferred to your computer. Upgraded features include Geotagging and the ability to upload photos to your computer from any Wi-Fi hotspots in the US.

Overall, I like the Eye-Fi card. Being able to transfer photos without taking out the memory card is a nice feature, and the Endless Memory setting is nice, too. But unless you have the upgraded Hotspot Access feature, the card will only transfer photos when in your home wireless network.

Also, one disadvantage to me is your computer and camera have to both be on and awake in order to transfer photos. I have a laptop, so I have to keep it open while photos transfer, and my Canon Rebel has a tendency to go to sleep mode if not used for 30 seconds. When I wanted to transfer several photos at once (taken outside of my home wireless network) I had to keep hitting buttons to keep my camera awake so the photos would continue transferring.

Do I recommend the Eye-Fi card? While I don't know how useful it would be if you only take a single photo here and there, I think it would be very useful for someone with a taste for photography, whether hobby or professional. If you take a lot of photos away from home, I'd recommend the 8GB Eye-Fi Explore or Eye-Fi Pro, both of which include Hotspot Access.

Eye-Fi cards are available in 4GB and 8GB memory, and can be found in many retail locations, including Amazon. They'd make great gifts for the photography fans in your family!

Full disclosure: I was provided with a 4GB Eye-Fi connect card on loan to facilitate this review. No compensation was received and the Eye-Fi card was returned after writing the review. The links above include an Amazon Associates code, meaning that if you click them and purchase anything at Amazon, I get a tiny percentage of the sale. (And thank you if you do!)

Find Your Perfect Holiday Card With Shutterfly

Halloween may be my favorite holiday of the year, but the entire month of December is not far behind it. It's hard for me to believe that it's already time to start unpacking the decorations and gearing up for the winter holidays, but as soon as Halloween is past, the remaining weeks until Christmas will be a whirlwind of activity.

Which means now is the perfect time to start thinking about holiday cards. Ever since the rise of the photo card, I've become a fan of sending out Christmas cards each year. We love sending out new photos of the family to distant friends and family members, getting photo cards in return to display on the mantle.

In our house, there are a few rules when selecting our annual card. First, it needs to not be a folded card. (This rule comes from me.) The holidays are already so busy, and a folded card - with all of that beautiful blank space inside just begging for someone to fill it with words- is too much stress for me to handle. I want my greeting to be printed on the card along with our names and have it ready to go. Sounds impersonal, I know, but I think friends would rather receive a card from us without my messy handwriting rather than no card at all.

Second, the card has to keep to a semi-generic "Happy Holidays" theme. (This rule comes from my husband.) My family celebrates Christmas, while my husband's family celebrates Hanukkah, and some of our friends simply enjoy the holiday season. The thought of getting two or more different sets of cards and trying to figure out which ones best suit which recipients makes my head spin. Instead, we choose one design that we hope will offend no one.

Thankfully, Shutterfly has hundreds of gorgeous designs to choose from, and no matter the rules your family may have for picking just the right card - whether they be Christmas cards, Hanukkah cards or just holiday cards - they will have a card for you. Here are three of my favorites:

Mod Snowflakes

Isn't this design gorgeous? The black background with the brightly colored snowflakes is so modern, and the colors just make me happy. Looking at this card, I'm wishing for the snow to get here soon!

Seasonal Chic 2010

I love the color combination on this card as well as the ability to add three different photos. Sometimes I have a horrible time choosing the right photo for a card, but with a card like this, I've got a lot more flexibility. Also, the text is customizable, so I can easily omit the "Merry Christmas" in favor of "Happy Holidays" or simply "With love."

French Vintage

I know, this one really doesn't look like a holiday card, does it? But I love it because it's so different. The interesting color, the flourishes - it's perfect for someone who doesn't want a traditional holiday card.

Which one will I choose? I have no idea. Honestly, these are three of about ten favorites I have saved, and it may come down to simply closing my eyes and picking one. No matter which one I choose, I know it will look amazing on the premium cardstock.

Bloggers - Get Your Own Cards Free!

Do you want 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly? Click here to go to Shutterfly for information on how you can get 50 free cards this holiday season, and make sure to select Clever 1000 as the referral source.

Full disclosure: This post is part of a series sponsored by Shutterfly. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.

A Valentine's Day Gift With Staying Power

Have you seen the crush of red and pink filling stores recently? I've never been one for pink, so I try to avoid the aisles of cheaply made stuffed animals, boxes of chocolates I've never heard of, and lots of perfumes that would make your nose hairs retreat.

In other words, a bunch of stuff you're likely to throw away months from now.

If you're looking for a gift that won't be forgotten by July 4, look no further than Planet Jill and their collection of beautiful photo jewelry. They have photo lockets, pendants, bracelets, and keychains - all elegant and available in a choice of silver or gold.

I wore my 2-piece engraved photo locket necklace to Blissdom this weekend, and I can't count the number of times people noticed my necklace and commented on how lovely it was. The photo I chose for this locket was of Cordy and Mira at Christmas, and I loved having that happy image so close to me while I was so far away from them.

If you have a guy who spends a lot of time on the road or at work, Planet Jill's keychain or cufflinks might be the perfect gift to remind him of his favorite people back at home.

Planet Jill also features home and office photo gifts, including trinket boxes, letter openers, magnets, and paperweights.

I can't say enough how much I love this necklace. The folks at Planet Jill took care of everything - all I had to do was e-mail them a photo and the initial to go on my locket. They took care of making the photo black & white and editing it to look best in the frame.

Planet Jill is offering readers $10 off your order by using the code mommyblog when checking out. Even if you've already got that Valentine's Day present all picked out, it's never too early to start shopping for Mother's Day, right?

A Printer For Any School, Work, or Home Project

With the beginning of the new school year, I knew I needed a new printer. My old printer, an HP all-in-one, has been a reliable printer for over 4 years, and still works fairly well despite heavy use and abuse.

But my desktop computer has reached a point where it needs to be retired, and my printer is connected to that computer - a computer that no longer has access to the internet. Printing required us to load anything from our laptops to a flash drive, then upload it to the old desktop and print. I wanted an easier system, I wanted to get rid of the desktop, and I also wanted to print photos. I needed something new.

So when HP e-mailed me to tell me about their new products for fall, I immediately told them I needed a new printer. Originally I asked about the Officejet J4680, but my friends at HP asked me to try a similar printer to suit my needs. Less than a week later, I opened the box of my new HP Photosmart C7280 printer. This is an all-in-one printer that offers printing, scanning, copying, faxing, and photo printing. It has one other important feature, though: it can connect over a wireless network. I immediately set it up and decided to put it through a tough test.

Set-up was fairly simple (aside from network set-up - mentioned later), with a small color graphics display that guides you through most of the process. It does most of the work on its own. There are 6 ink cartridges for this printer that produce brilliant colors. The software was also just as easy to install.

The big question: can it print well? Yes! I can now print from my laptop in a different room from my printer, without the use of a flash drive. The HP Photosmart C7280 prints quickly, quietly, and brilliantly clear and colorful. The on-screen menus are intuitive and easy to use. It also has some added features, like built in templates for lined or graph paper, should you need some for school projects. (That will be extremely useful for my statistics class next quarter.)

On the top of the printer is a document feeder that lets you scan or copy more than one page without needing to manually switch out pages. Scanned images can be saved to a flash drive or saved to a computer on your personal network. Ports on the front of the printer can accept most memory cards (including the SD card from my digital camera) and USB flash drives.

The paper tray holds up to 100 sheets of paper, plus there is a smaller tray built in that holds up to 20 sheets of photo paper (4x6 or 5x7). Photo printing produces very good results - not as good as some photo labs, but still perfectly acceptable for framing or giving to grandparents. I'll continue to play with the photo settings to see if I can get the look I want.

The networking feature is by far the feature that thrilled me the most. With this printer, you can connect to your computer via a USB cable, an ethernet cable, or wirelessly using a wireless router and home network. The printer's network card can find and access your wireless network - you can enter your security code using the LCD panel to connect through any wireless security.

I had only one small problem with this printer, and it also involved the network. At first I had to deal with my computer constantly losing the printer in the network, even though it was visible on another computer. I solved this problem by not only adding the printer to my computer using the supplied HP software, but also by using the Add a Printer wizard from Windows XP and adding the printer's IP address. I haven't had any problems with it since I did that.

Overall, the HP Photosmart C7280 is a dream printer for a family. It can do anything I need it to do - print school papers, make copies of coloring sheets for my daughter, scan images, fax paperwork to Cordy's school, and print photos from my digital camera. With the power of wireless networking, it's also perfect for the busy family who all need access to the printer from different computers.

It's original retail price is about $300, but you can find it cheaper at Amazon and other online retailers. Amazon has it right now for $194.02 and free shipping. I consider that an excellent price for a multifunction printer that offers wireless access as well.

This printer is a very successful replacement for my old HP - it does many of the same things my old HP printer did, only now with higher resolution and additional features. I think it will do a great job under the pressure of my last year of nursing school as well as 2 years of preschool and hopefully a few years of elementary school to come.

Never Again Hear "Why Don't You Send Me Pictures Of The Kids?"

As I've said before, my mom is constantly upset with me because I never give her new pictures of the girls. I show her new pictures on the computer when she comes to visit, and each time she asks me to print off some of them for her. I always forget.

While I do give her digital versions of the photos, she has no idea how to get them printed off. (It's not like when she could take a roll of film to the store and have it developed.) Which is why I was interested in trying out Kinzin, a photo sharing service that offers several advanced features to keep grandparents happy.

Kinzin has many of the features that other photo sharing services offer - the ability to keep your photos private, the ability to e-mail photos, etc. But unlike other services, Kinzin specifically is targeting families with children in the services they offer.

When you first set up an account, you have the option to set up separate categories for each child. You can then upload your pictures into each one, adding in information about your child to their "kidstream" if you want, such as a wishlist or your child's favorite things. You can also create virtual books using the pictures you upload, adding in titles and text.

This service is extremely easy for less tech-savvy grandparents to view. Simply send them an invite e-mail, and they can then access the photos. There is very little clicking involved, and each section is clearly labeled, making it less likely to cause any confusion.

Uploading is fast and simple. You can either upload from your computer, or pull your pictures from your Flickr account, and add a caption if you want. My only complaint is that I haven't found a way to go back and edit an image in any way once you upload another image to a kidstream.

But the most unique service from Kinzin is their automated print delivery system. For $2.99 a month (per recipient), you can have your ten most recent photos printed and mailed to the person of your choice. It requires no effort from you other than uploading your pictures and if you have more than ten uploaded in a month, selecting the ones you want to print and send. They do all the work from that point - printing, packaging, and mailing.

I'm really impressed with the automated print delivery, and feel this is what sets Kinzin apart from other photo sharing services. I set up three addresses for my account (you can set up as many as you like, and every third is free): one to my mom, one to Aaron's dad, and one to myself so I could see how well the photos turned out.

My mom received hers first, but only by a matter of hours. Each of us received our package on the same day. She was thrilled to see some of her favorite images on paper, and immediately started putting them in frames. My father-in-law also commented that he was happy to have some printed copies of the photos.

The photo quality is pretty good. It's not the best out there, but then again, my digital camera doesn't take the best shots, either, so the blame could lie with my camera. But the pictures were clear, the colors were good, and I was impressed that the photo paper was so thick. My only complaint is that the photos have a matte finish, and I wish I would have had the choice between glossy or matte. It's a minor thing, but some people really love that glossy finish.

Overall, I like Kinzin, and think it is a great way to keep your family in touch. If you have family members who live far away, getting ten photos of the kids each month will be a welcome thrill for them. If, like me, your family lives nearby but you use a digital camera, they will also enjoy getting hard copies of photos. If you're worried about the safety of your images, Kinzin is also a good choice, because you have complete control over who can see your pictures.

I'm glad that Parent Bloggers introduced me to Kinzin, because thanks to them I will no longer have to deal with nagging grandparents who want more pictures of their granddaughters. For more reviews of Kinzin, be sure to visit the Parent Bloggers Network.