CSA Online Buying and shipping online It used to be that sending a present back to grandkids meant a trip to the mall to buy the thing and a trip to the post office to send it. Online shopping makes that a problem of the past. Now, rather than buy, receive, pack and ship, you can cut out the middleman. Buy stuff from Amazon, for example, and enter the recipient’s address for shipping and your address for billing. Heck, many merchants will even gift wrap whatever it is that you’re buying for free, or as a value-added service. When shopping online, a little pre-planning goes a long way. Many (most?) online merchants offer free shipping above a certain minimum order...typically $25 or $50. If possible, buy all of the gifts for a given household in one order, so as to meet the minimum. Continuing with Amazon as our example, you can have gifts individually gift wrapped and labelled within the larger order. Parcel shipping has become a lot more efficient. That said, allow at least five business days for your stuff to get where it’s going and you’ll be in good shape. Wait longer than that to start your shopping and you may end up with no choice but to cough up for pricey express shipping. Olympus Tough TG-Tracker $349 USD getolympus.com/tough Perfect for: Adventurous spirits. The action camera segment was created by GoPro. GoPro has been usurped. The best action camera which we’ve seen comes from the company that wrote the book on rugged cameras. The Olympus Tough TG-Tracker can capture full 4K video with its ultra-wide-angle lens. It employs optical image stabilization to smooth out video. With GPS, a compass, barometer, accelerometer and thermometer on board, it beats out every other action cam on the market in that regard, too. The camera boasts a 60-lumen headlight to light up the trail – and the video – at night. Unlike some other action cams, the TG-Tracker is rugged by design; no housings or add-on accessories are required to make it waterproof (to 100ft) dustproof and freeze-proof. A comparative rarity, the TG-Tracker has a flip-out LCD viewscreen as standard equipment. Xbox One Elite Wireless Controller $149 xbox.com Perfect for: The dedicated gamer on your list. This is the Cadillac of game controllers. It’s called the Xbox One Elite and it’s designed for that game system, but it also works beautifully with games running on the computer. This game controller is balanced and tuned to perfection. Gamers can switch out the D-pad and thumbsticks to suit their personal playing style, and they can tune and adjust the trigger buttons. Everything, including the shoulder buttons that typically require some digital acrobatics to reach, is within easy reach thanks to the metal trigger extensions on the back of the controller. For times at which gamers must leave the safe glow of their home screen and venture out into the wide world to play with others, this singular game controller comes with a sweet travel case that doubles as storage to keep all of the various customizable pieces in one safe place. Tip Orders need to top at least $25 to qualify for free shipping from Amazon. We’ve all been there – searching around Amazon for something cheap that we can add to our virtual cart in order to tip the scale to get free shipping. Filleritemfinder.com simplifies the process. Input the amount that you need to spend in order to qualify for free shipping and this little web tool links you to products that are either that exact price or a couple of cents more. Sure, you might end up buying something you neither need nor want, but it’s often much cheaper than paying for shipping. For example, for around $1.44, I could get a clarinet mouthpiece cover (can never have too many), some alphabet flash cards (gotta stay sharp!) or one of any number of other items, useful or otherwise…including a two-pack of tape measures in an organza bag, labelled “love beyond measure,” (aww!). CSANews | WINTER 2016 | 61
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