Friday, July 27, 2007

Registry Cleaners

No one wants computer errors messages, especially when we spend so much time and effort trying to ward off viruses, hackers and other bothersome intruders. Registry cleaners eliminate a major problem inflicted on PC’s today: Windows registry errors. The problem is, many of us haven’t a clue what one is or how to deal with the aftermath.

One major characteristic of the dreaded registry error is your inability as a computer owner to avoid them. Unless you just took your new Dell out of its box and freshly loaded your drivers, you will have some errors lurking around your files, software programs and processes. Why? Registry errors are the result of any changes made in your system files. They may or may not be intentional.

When installing new software or hardware, downloading most anything or performing daily PC tasks, your computer’s registry can be affected. The Windows registry is designed to coordinate all functions and direct files in which actions to take. If a process redirects a file elsewhere, an entire program or chain of events can be obstructed, leading to error messages or a crash.

6Star Reviews.com cites one registry cleaner that can clear up these headaches, Registry Booster. If your PC needs a tune up, you can expect features like registry defrag, automatic updates, increased scanning speeds, choose error type and registry backup and restore.

That way, in the instance an important file was deleted or incorrectly repaired, you can revert back to your system status before the changes were made. The top registry cleaners available on the Net may prevent your second-least-favorite pop-up-a legitimate error message.

Thursday, July 26, 2007

Online Dating Services

Finding true love or a casual relationship can be a daunting task in the 21st century. The 9-5 workday sounds like an unattainable dream to most of us, and somehow everything we do in a 24-hour time span revolves around the Internet. Dating is no exception and online dating services have come through when so many just want to give up on love.

What are the benefits of trying an online single dating site, you ask? Well, for starters, you might actually find someone who wants a relationship too. Ever been in that imperfect dating dilemma where your date seems to hang on your every word and three weeks down the line, doesn’t even return your calls because he “needs his space?” It happens to most everyone who is single or who has been single.

StarReviews.com reports that one online dating service, True, screens their new members for criminal activity, so you won’t end up with an America’s Most Wanted protégé. For you gutsy group of singles, Chemistry is a pretty unique online dating site that matches you with Mr./Ms. Right based on scientific chemistry. Ok, so they say. But, they do let you fill out fun profile questionnaires, with abstract questions such as “Give this book a name,” letting your inner artist come through.

While you may have your doubts, remember that if you can pay your bills, trade stocks, shop for anything under the sun, and talk to friends online, why can’t you meet your match on the Web as well? There is a singles pool in the millions within some of the best online dating services and those sick of blind dates and being the third wheel may find them beneficial. Remember, just because the woman of your dreams doesn’t live down the block, it doesn’t mean she’s not worth it. She may very well be in Alaska. Weekend snowboarding soiree, anyone?

Thursday, July 12, 2007

Genealogy Services

For many of us, comprehending our family’s rich and diverse history may not be the easiest task at hand. Many extended families are marked by numerous divorces and separations, the conjoining of several lineages and even adoption. While figuring out one’s family tree may look intimidating, genealogy services are a reputable source in untangling even the most complex family background.

A genealogy service allows inquisitive individuals to enter their family names and scour through results in the family tree database. While every service is unique in its search mechanisms, one popular genealogy service reported by StarReviews.com is Ancestry.com. Ancestry gives users access to fun facts like the meaning of surnames and international record collections for paying members.

Say you’re a “Smith” and you feel like the quest for your true family background may be worthless because of the prevalence of your last name. One genealogy service, One Great Family, allows members to utilize special family tree software and link their lineage with global ancestry links. That way, you’ll be able to browse through existing records and have your family tree updated automatically for you.

There is no feeling quite like knowing where you came from and discovering a hidden family secret, such that you’re related to Abraham Lincoln or Marilyn Monroe somewhere down the line. While relying on Uncle Barry’s word that you’re delineated from royalty may be trustful on your part, a genealogy and family tree service can truly divide fact from fiction.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Magazine Subscription Services

No matter what your hobby of choice is or if you even enjoy reading at all; there is a magazine available for your interest and literary level. Magazine subscription services have stormed the Internet in popularity, as more readers realize the benefits of subscribing through a subscription site, as opposed to buying directly from an issue-provider.

Maybe you enjoy catching up on world news in Time or even flipping through celebrity gossip in Us Weekly to find out if Katie and Tom are planning a sister for Suri. Whatever your niche, online magazine subscriptions give you plenty of reasons to sign up from the comfort of your home.

First of all, many online magazine sites provide customer reviews and ratings, so those of you readers foreign to magazines will know that Maxim is not coffee table material before you subscribe. Another added perk in subscribing online is the ability to snag the lowest rates possible. When purchasing issues from the newsstand, you may get the benefits of a quick-buy, but at a higher price.

6StarReviews.com notes one subscription service, MagazineAgent, allows customers to search for magazines by category, top sellers or price range. When searching through the category “Food & Gourmet,” numerous results popped up, giving potential customers several choices in this specific search.

You are even given a 90-day-risk-free trial in case doubts arise or the first issue of your annual subscription doesn’t sit well with you. In any case, magazine subscription services give readers the opportunity to shop and compare simultaneously, without a worry.

Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Hotel Reservation Services

Say your wife’s been hinting about a romantic rendezvous to Paris this summer, yet you have no idea where to begin. Planning that perfect weekend or dream getaway may be a challenge in itself, but finding the right hotel can pose an even greater obstacle for travelers. Hotel reservation services are an answer to anyone’s cry for help when struggling to find a decent hotel room with loads of features.

Hotel booking sites are taking the hotel reservation process to a whole new level, as more and more sites recognize people’s desire for convenience. No one wants to get the shock of their life when stepping in a one-diamond rut they expected to be reminiscent of the Waldorf Astoria. 6StarReviews.com makes note of one reservation service, Hotels.com, which offers vacation bookers options like 360-degree room tours, extensive customer reviews and local maps and activities so there won’t be any unpleasant surprises upon check-in.

Many hotel reservation services offer those booking hotels options like travel insurance, comparable price matching and vacation packages unavailable elsewhere. Ok, so maybe a romantic getaway to France doesn’t fit your bill, but skiing is your hidden passion.

There are many ski resort packages for your inner athlete, and if you have kids, many hotel reservation sites offer Disney vacations at amazing rates. Booking through online hotel sites allows travelers the flexibility they need to compare pricing, find special add-ons and sort hotels by price, hotel class or even category.

Imagine a virtual collection of every hotel listing in every city in the world, complete with color photos, ratings and unbeatable sales. This is what a run-of-the mill hotel reservation service provides you with, so your next beachside weekend in Nantucket is just what you had in mind.

Monday, July 09, 2007

Borders for Online Books

The Borders website uses Amazon.com’s layout and interface, so finding what you want through this online bookstore is simple if you are accustomed to Amazon like we are. The best part about this partnership is if you are an Amazon user, you won’t have to open a separate account; you just use your existing Amazon.com account to complete your order.

When we entered our search criteria, a large list of possible titles were generated, and we could sort these further by relevance, customer reviews, price, bestselling, publication date, and alphabetically. When you pick a title to look at further, you’ll clearly see the price, product details (length, publisher, book description, and more), and customer rating. Who are we kidding...when you're partnered with Amazon, very little is left overlooked.
  • Borders has partnered with Amazon.com to handle all online orders.
  • Book listings available in Spanish, as well as in English Customer support was impeccable, answering our phone call immediately. Our questions weren't out of this world, since we are so familiar with navigating Amazon.

Border's selection and effectivness cannot be beat now that it's backed by Amazon. With little to nothing negative to say at all, 6Star Reviews awards Borders with 5.5 stars!

Barnes & Noble: Popular Online Bookstore

6Star Reviews notes that the Barnes & Noble website is simple to navigate. They offer your typical online bookstore search functions. Unfortunately, the search feature isn’t fool-proof.

When searching for “Saint Bernard,” the top result was a dog book about the breed, but The LittlePrice was second because “Bernard” was the editor’s surname and What Paul Meant by Garry Wills was the third option because the book discusses saints. This could be a beneficial feature for those that can't necessarily pinpoint the exact title they're looking for.

6Star Reviews really liked that when you look at the details for each book, you’ll find a customer rating, comments from critics if available, a summary of the book’s plot, as well as the price of the book for consumers and for members. Barnes and Noble is very thorough and efficient!

  • Biographies of and interviews with best selling authors.
  • A growing selection of items, including video games and toys.
  • Gift reminder service, so you won’t forget to purchase presents for the people in your life.
  • For $25 per year, you can join the program and save 40% on all hardcover bestsellers, 20% on all other hardcover books, and 10% on everything else.

Barnes and Noble is a staple in most of your local communities, as well as online. 6StarReviews awards them the Most Popular spot with 5.5 Stars! This site is very user friendly with an enormous selection. With the member discounts, we were able to snag our book up at a very good price. Customer support is offered live and we received our answers within minutes of our call.

Find Online Books at AbeBooks

Abe Books’ search interface is straightforward and makes narrowing down your book results very easy. On the main page, you can search by the typical search functions: author, title, keyword, or ISBN. During our navigation, we found Abe Books' website to be very bland compared to their competitors' graphic designs.

Good thing we didn't "judge a book by its cover!" This online bookstore is packed with books - over 100 million books from 13,000 independent book sellers! As we narrowed our search down, we were able to learn more about the individual titles and their condition, plus details about the bookseller and their terms.

Because the booksellers set their own terms, you need to review all of the information carefully before placing an order. Even though your purchases will be made through separate booksellers, all of your items will be combined in a single order for added convenience.

  • Three newsletters you can subscribe to – one for collectors, readers, and book club members.
  • Giftsleuth – a forum where users ask one another for gift suggestions. All in All, Abe Books' is a relatively large online bookstore. They proved to be very effective finding all our hard-to-find books, not to mention popular new releases.
Even though the site is a little plain, it is very easy to navigate. We were a little let down with their customer support - Only email and online help for book buyers. During our price comparison, Abe Books beat everyone elses price by a long shot. 6StarReviews gives them 5.5 Stars!
Powell's Books: Great Online Bookstore

The Powell’s Book's website is very easy on the eyes, boasting a well-put-together interface.

We really appreciated the significant amount of information Powell's provides, including the ability to browse the table of contents, price comparisons for the book in different formats, reader comments, publication date, and more.

You’ll also be advised where the book or similar titles can be found in the actual Powell's store, which might be helpful if you’re near one of their Oregon bookstores.

  • Now accepts payment through Paypal.
  • Blogs written about books, authors, and other related topics.
  • A chance to win $250 in books just for signing up for Powell’s newsletter.
  • Powell’s has managed to snag exclusive interviews with some of the top authors in the industry, including Martin Amis, Frank McCourt, and Stephen King.

Powell's Books offers the same selection as larger online bookstore competitors, plus the ability to search for rare, hard-to-find books. With a clean site layout, we were able to zip through the content, locating everything we needed, including customer support.

While their email responses are slightly standardized, we had a clear, knoweledgeable response by phone. We were very pleased with all aspects of Powell's, except for their higher prices. This brought their rating down to 5.0 Stars.

Books-A-Million for Online Books

As we began our review of this online bookstore, we thought the Books-A-Million website was fairly easy to navigate when using the search box at the top of the page. Other than that, we did not find this site as user friendly as some of the rest, and it had a less-than-appealing site design.

Once your results appear, the most recent release matching your search criteria can be found at the top of the page. After you click it, you’ll see some basic information, including the number of pages, the release date, customers’ ratings, as well as the price for users and the reduced price for club members.

As far as book information goes...Books-A-Million did a good job at covering these features. 6Star Reviews stumbled upon a really cool feature - Books-A-Million’s Personal Shopper Service. You can receive gift recommendations for anyone by simply sending an email with a few details about the person and your price range for the gift. Then, you'll receive an email back including great gift ideas for your loved ones!

  • Books-A-Million now has a bargain books section for finding cool books at low prices.
  • Millionaire’s Club Discount Card which saves users an extra 10% off purchases for a year – joining the club costs $15 annually. 6StarReviews was disappointed with Books-A-Million's selection. We didn't find CD’s or DVD’s and our book results did provide the large selection that others did. Their prices are competitive if you are a club member.

We thought customer service could use some work considering we received two different answers (email and phone) for the same question. 6StarReviews sums up our experience by giving Books-A-Million: 4.5 Stars.

Friday, July 06, 2007

Online Poker Sites

Atlantic City and Las Vegas have nothing on the best online poker sites available to those who enjoy a friendly tournament or full-fledged competition. Even if a game of Texas Hold 'em isn’t necessarily your style, online poker services surprisingly offer some unique features that simply cannot be replicated in a casino.

About 70,000,000 Americans take part in the adventurous, yet risky game of poker. More recognition has been rewarded to this precarious past time, as it’s transformed from simply a game into a pseudo-sport. However, with any website, (especially if it involves cash) it’s pertinent to shop around.

6Star Reviews reports one online poker site, Poker Room, offers no-software-required gaming, first-deposit bonuses and even cool features like account conversion, so you can try your luck with blackjack or roulette if poker’s not doing it for you.

Another site for online poker, Pacific Poker, offers players a loyalty system, where for every $10 spent on Pacific Poker, users receive a point. Get to 100 points? You get a dollar back. This may not sound like much, but for zealous online poker fans, this may be a worthwhile feature. As with any game of chance with anyone’s money up for grabs, it’s always beneficial to exercise precaution.

Thursday, July 05, 2007

Flower Delivery Services

Contrary to popular belief, flowers aren’t just for women…and guys, it’s ok to admit you like to stop and smell the roses every once in awhile. Many Americans are taking advantage of flower delivery services for far more than holidays or birthdays, though. Half of all flower sales last year were reportedly made for non-occasions like birthdays or holidays.

As the Internet makes flower delivery lightning-quick for those that forgot sis’s birthday, some of the best online flower services are stepping up their game to provide consumers more floral options at competitive prices.

6Star Reviews notes that FTD, a popular flower delivery service gives their customers added convenience through their 24/7 available customer support options. Not only does this flower delivery service offer special sales that are continuously changing for their customers, they offer designer flowers by names like Vera Wang and Todd Oldham™.

Flowers are a wonderful gift to send someone who may not live right around the corner from you or even to yourself! Everyone enjoys a fresh bouquet and the plethora of seasonal flowers makes it a perfect, year-round present.
Popular Apartment Rentals: Apartments.com

When we visited Apartments.com, we found the layout to be easy to navigate and very user-friendly. The search functions were very detailed and painless in filtering our results down to a manageable level. Most of our search results included comprehensive apartment rental information.

6Star Reviews found interior and exterior photos, floor plans, in-depth descriptions for each premium apartment community, classified listings (from more than 140 newspapers), local maps, driving directions, community information and more.

The Moving Center and Apartment Living sections were also very helpful with detailed information that many apartment seekers would find useful, such as community info or how to deal with a noisy neighbor.

  • Corporate and short-term rentals available.
  • Sign up to get listings via email.

Apartments.com proved to be highly effective with its large number of listings and extremely functional site. Even though customer support is geared towards property managers, they still answered our call and proved to be knowledgeable and courteous.

With such a vast selection, 6Star Reviews awards Apartments.com the Top Rated spot with 6.0 Stars!

Metro Roommates: More than Apartment Rentals

At first glance, Metro Roommates seems to be geared more towards leaseholders looking for roommates rather than those looking to rent an apartment. However, once we were on the site for a few moments, we found the link that allowed us to search for a room.The search feature was very straightforward.

We just entered our search criteria and in just a few seconds, we were presented with a list of possible matches. Navigating our apartment rental service search results was also easy and the listing details included pictures, as well as a detailed description.

6StarReviews was disappointed that we would have to pay for a 90-day subscription if we wanted access to all of the Metro Roommates listings. With larger competitors offering free, full access searches, we can't believe Metro Roomates maintains such a loyal following.

  • Receive new listing updates by mail.

With many apartment seekers unwilling to pay for a service that is often free, we can't give high ratings for effectiveness. We will say that the site was easy to use and had it been a free service, we would have ranked MetroRoommates higher.

We must admit that they do offer phone support, which is a huge plus in our eyes. However, our questions weren't answered in a manner we like and expect out of telephone support. We give MetroRoommates 4.0 Stars.

Move.com Finds You Apartment Rentals


When we visited Move.com, the initial landing page surprised us, offering much more than just a rental guide and apartment rental search engine. They also offered access to real-estate listings, senior living searches and more. We were very pleased with the variety of available options.

Searching apartments for rent on Move.com was very simple, and the search options were quite in depth, allowing us to narrow our results to just the properties that offered exactly what we were looking for...a place that has a pool for the kids and allows Tyson the family boxer - Not a problem!

Move.com is affiliated with Realtor.com and is the only rental website that has exclusive access to all of Realtor.com's listings.We appreciated all the additional information Move.com provided us with. The finance, home and garden and moving sections provide resources for those looking for a new place to live.

  • Perform customized "senior living" apartment rental searches.

Move.com becomes even easier to use with their free account option. We were able to come back later and view our saved results. With the backing of Realtor.com, this site has one of the largest selections available and proved to be exceptionally on point. After a good customer support encounter, we were able to give Move.com the Most Popular spot with 5.5 Stars!

Sublet for Apartment Rentals


When we visited Sublet.com, we found this apartment rental service's site layout rather busy.We were disappointed to see that only a paid membership gives you access to all of the Sublet.com listings in your selected area.

The cost of a paid membership varies depending on what geographical location you are interested in. The membership prices generally range from $25 to $100 for a 90-day period.As far as the search mechanism is concerned, Sublet.com's were easy to use, allowing us to locate the apartments in our specified area in just under a minute.

No digging here; as cities and districts were fairly easy to find. The site, in all its chaos, proved to be rather effective.

  • 25% off- paid memberships by providing Sublet.com with the email addresses of those who may be interested in the website's services.
  • Sign up for daily listing updates.

Sublet.com didn't win us over nor turn us away. In our eyes, this site is average. They offered a fair selection that was simple enough to locate results on. We don't love their pricing structure, as we feel these services should be free. Our email to customer support was replied to in a few hours, but they don't offer any phone support. 6Star Reviews gives Sublet.com 4.5 Stars.

Best Apartment Rentals on Rent.com?

Rent.com's design was both functional and visually appealing. Performing a search for both an apartment and a roommate was pretty standard and the site features allowed us to filter our results by our specific needs.

The listings on this apartment rental service provide an address, phone number and a detailed description with professional photos, floor plans and 360° virtual tours. 6StarReviews loved the 360° tour; forget wasting your time, as you get a feel for the place without having to go see it in person.

We weren't able to restrict our results to "downtown" Chicago, but rather into neighborhoods. We thought this was fine for those living in suburbia, but college students seeking apartments near their designated schools may not find this to be easy or effective.

  • $100 Rent.com reward when you find and rent an apartment through Rent.com.
  • Use the site to get free quotes from movers.

Rent.com is feature-packed, offering more options than their competitors. We weren't as pleased with the functionality of the site. It worked great, but we would like a little more flexibility within the listing results. After our one day wait on their email-only support, we felt that Rent.com deserved 5.0 Stars.

Find Apartments on Rentals.com

When we visited Rentals.com, we were impressed by its fluidity and easy-to-access search mechanism located right on the home page. The layout of Rentals.com is very intuitive, providing links to customized category searches such as lofts, vacation homes, college housing, senior housing, corporate housing, etc.

The only negative opinion we have about this apartment rental service's site is the design being a bit cumbersome, littered with many links and text.Performing a search on Rentals.com was very easy. However, the site did not let us narrow our search to specific sections of metro areas, leaving us digging through hundreds of results to find what we were looking for. We did not appreciate how much of our time was eaten up because of this.

  • Customized off-campus college housing search.
  • Search the site for vacation home rentals.

Out of all of our reviews, we were least pleased with Rentals.com's website design. We were very distracted during our searches. The selection was decent, but not very easy to find exactly what we were looking for. Between this issue and our non-existent customer support encounter, we give Rentals.com 4.0 Stars.

Tuesday, July 03, 2007

Best Flower Services: Save Money on Specials!

Everyone loves receiving flowers and some of the best flower services the Net has to offer cater to anyone's whims. 6Star Reviews decided to compare flower delivery services in order to save you time and money the next time it's grandma's birthday or your girlfriend hints how much she loves gerber daisies. Check out some of the newest highlights as seen in our online flower reviews:

FTD:
  • Vera Wang customized designer flowers: beautiful and fashionable.
  • Todd Oldham™ designer collections
  • Summer celebrations-Fabulous summertime arrangements at hot, summer prices.

1-800-Flowers:

  • FREE- MOTOSLVR™ phone when purchasing flowers & gifts--Note: Restrictions include that you must sign up for a 2-year activation plan of $39.99 or higher with Verizon Wireless.
  • Birthday SALE-Save 30% off select birthday flowers and gifts

GrowerFlowers:

  • FREE vase-When sending Grower Fresh Cut Flowers for a limited time only-certain restrictions apply. Unique gifts such as: Fleur de Lis Wine Coaster with Fleur Wine Stopper, Dreams Journal with Flower Pen, Louisa Salad Bowl & Utensils & Cracker Tray, Zen Gardens and so much more.
  • $49.95 sale-24 red roses + FREE chocolates-$7 off the original price!

ProFlowers:

  • Buy 12-Get 12 Free-$29.99 for 24 assorted roses
  • 36 Assorted Petite Roses-$29.99-Save $10 & add a dozen more on for only $9.99.

Teleflora:

  • Teleflora now offers a "What's New" collection, which 6Star Reviews truly appreciated! Customers can scroll through all-new flower arrangements, picking bouquets that catch their eye.

Monday, July 02, 2007

Photo Printing Services

Everyone knows how inconvenient it can be to develop your digital photographs at your corner drugstore. Although photo processing has come a long way in terms of speed and convenient, hour-long wait times, there is nothing like popular digital photo printing services.

Online photo printing is a new wave of digital photo sharing, in which images can be digitally transferred to your PC, edited, and then printed at affordable prices. Ever spend $10 on a roll of film that you ended up hating and wondering why you ever took the pictures in the first place? Photo printing online allows consumers to pick and choose which images they truly want and even have them customized in items like frames or t-shirts.

6Star Reviews notes Snapfish as a great choice in their digital photo printing reviews , as this site offers customers photo printing options like magnets, personalized stationery, gift mugs and coasters. The Internet took the ordinary photograph and re-vamped it into an interactive, customizable entity that can be swapped, emailed or printed and sent straight to your doorstep.

Another noteworthy option in photo printing services is Shutterfly, a popular site that allows customers to order by the print or in bulk, saving money in the long run. Whether you’re the casual photographer who snaps digital photos every once in awhile at family functions or a die-hard photojournalist who makes photography your career, photo printing services give you the flexibility and fun features you need.