Fisher-Price iXL 6-in-1 Learning System (Blue)

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An exciting handheld device, the Fisher-Price iXL 6-in-1 Learning System is a great introduction to technology that provides plenty of fun learning activities for young children. This sophisticated, yet kid-friendly toy features six distinct interactive options--such as a Digital Reader, Game Player, and MP3 Player--that will entertain and teach kids aged 3 to 7. By connecting this device to your computer you can add your own photos and music to the iXL, create profiles, and download extras that will enhance your child's experience.

Intuitive and Kid-Friendly Technology

Made of rugged plastic that will survive all kinds of crazy play, the iXL is similar to popular hand-held game players, but is designed for the use of younger children. The device opens like a book to reveal an LCD touch screen that displays all the action. Your kid will navigate through the activities by touching the tethered stylus to the screen.

The iXL is extremely intuitive and uncomplicated. The stylus has a holster and is tethered to the device by a sturdy nylon string, so your child will never lose it. Opposite the screen is a speaker with volume control, an Action button that allows you to make choices in certain modes, and a Home button that returns you to the Main Menu whenever you wish.

Easy Set Up

To turn the piece on, you or your child will simply press the Power button positioned on the side of the device. All elements of interaction--from the generous buttons and stylus, to the iXL's hearty casing--are practical for children's use.

After unpacking the iXL, you'll get it ready for play by inserting four AA batteries then completing a quick calibration of the touch screen. You'll want to install the software for this toy via the accompanying CD-ROM to access additional features, software updates, and customizations. Additional iXL features include an SD slot for memory expansion, built-in memory of up to 150 MB, and a standard headphone jack for those long car rides or flights.

An Interactive Learning Experience

The iXL will keep curious kids busy, entertained, and learning with its six preloaded activities. Your child will practice reading and comprehension with the Digital Reader, which includes an interactive 15-page story available in either the reading or interacting mode. For kids who love action, the Game Player features a three-level arcade game that promotes counting and learning about sequences and numbers.
Future young writers can practice the alphabet and their penmanship in the Notepad mode, while young artists will flex their creativity with the Art Studio's digital tools. The iXL includes an MP3 Player with five preloaded kid's songs and a Photo Viewer with three sample images that can be embellished and manipulated.

Software Downloads Expand Features

You'll get the most from the iXL by loading the software onto your PC and attaching the device to your computer with the accompanying USB cable. Although with high-speed cable internet software may take up to 30 minutes to download, once you completed this you can transfer files to increase playing options, including additional software for purchase that will add new stories and games for your child to play.
Navigating the software is simple and intuitive.

You can create up to five profiles for the iXL, so this device can be enjoyed by the whole family. Add images or music files to the library and transfer them to the iXL. The software also gives you access to other fun and free extras, such as printable activity sheets for your child or the whole family, craft and party ideas, and other activity suggestions categorized by age.

Minimum System Requirements
OS: Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Mac OS X v10.4 or higher Processor: 1.2 GHz Memory: 256 MB RAM Hard Drive: 150 MB available Video Resolution: 800x600 32-bit color DirectX9.oc compatible	Sound: 16-bit DirectX compatible CD or DVD drive USB port Internet connection

What's in the Box
iXL 6-in-1 Learning System, USB cable, and CD-ROM.

iXL 6-in-1 Learning System - Available in three colors
Silver	Pink	Blue

Product Description

The iXL 6 in 1 Learning System by Fisher Price is the ultimate and coolest handheld learning system designed for kids 3-7.The iXL Learning System has six great applications for kids: Digital Book Reader, Game Player, Digital Art Book, MP3 Music Player, Notepad and Photo Viewer.

The base device comes with pre-loaded software for the various applications listed. Story Book: Features 1 animated story with 15 pages and 2 modes - read to me mode and interact with me mode. Kids will learn

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9 Tips for Sticking to a Holiday Budget

Think of a budget as a financial GPS," says Cate Williams, national spokeswoman for Money Management International, a nonprofit credit counseling agency with offices in 24 states. Drawing up a soup-to-nuts budget helps safeguard cash, without quenching the holiday spirit: "It makes us a cheerful giver because we're not spending money that should go to another expense," Williams says.

Holiday budgeting takes time, buy-in from the entire family and discipline. Here's a nine-step plan to make, and keep, a holiday budget.

1. Decide how much you can spend. Holiday money must come from your current disposable income. If you plan to spend money you don't have, prepare for a credit card bill that could take years to pay off. The National Retail Federation predicts consumers will spend an average of $688.87 on holiday-related expenses this year. If that amount is on a credit card with an 18 percent annual percentage rate (APR), and you pay the minimum payment of 4 percent due each month, it will take you three years to pay off the charges, and you'll pay an extra $203 in interest. (See our CreditCards.com payoff calculator to see how long it will take to pay off your credit card balance .)

Ideally, you've saved some holiday money. If not, cut back on extras such as movies, dinners out or coffee drinks until the holidays are over. "There are always things in a budget you can trim back," Williams says.

2. Budget for everything. "There are a lot of things people don't think about," says David Jones, president of the Association of Independent Consumer Credit Counseling Agencies, a Fairfax, Va.-based accrediting agency for counseling firms. Gifts, the cost of shopping (gas, parking), decorations, food and drink for parties, greeting cards, postage for cards and out-of-town gifts, travel expenses, holiday-related apparel and charitable contributions should all be in the budget.

3. Make a complete gift list with the entire family present. The list should include everyone — relatives and friends, piano teachers and mail carriers — who must be acknowledged during the holiday season. And don't forget the office gift exchange.

4. Decide who's getting what. For each person, set a firm "no more than" purchase price for that gift. Be realistic: $50 might be enough for a terrycloth bathrobe from Sears, Williams says, but not for triple-ply cashmere.

If disposable income is tight, Jones suggests designating half the list "card-only people" and specifying "make or bake" gifts — cookies, pumpkin bread, handmade ornaments — for 40 percent of the remaining recipients. Such "from the heart" gifts are welcome, especially if children make them, he says.

5. Set expectations with family members, especially children. If gifts will be minimal, Williams advises telling children now, to bring their expectations in line and absolve parents of gift-giving guilt. Now is also the time to discuss reasonable and economically feasible gift-giving tactics with family and friends, such as grab bags, name exchanges or skipping gifts altogether. "Open up the dialogue," she says.

6. Start shopping now. Late November and December bring sales, but they also bring crowds and pressure to get shopping (and wrapping and mailing) done.

Donna Thomas-Rodgers, 37, a leadership consultant who lives in Birmingham, Ala., expects to finish her shopping well before "Black Friday," the Friday after Thanksgiving, the day the winter holidays traditionally begin. Thomas-Rodgers is shopping now and getting bargains. "Right now, so many items are on sale and nobody's really thinking about it," she says. One example: She bought her daughter a new bedspread, originally $50, for $19.97 at Target.

To stay within her $1,000 holiday budget, Thomas-Rodgers signs up for e-mail alerts from retailers to get a heads-up on big sales. She saves money and time and reduces stress by not wrapping gifts. And seven years ago, when her daughter was born on Dec. 12, she stopped giving gifts to family members. "I told them, I'm a parent now and my daughter is my priority,'" Thomas-Rodgers recalls. "They understood."

7. Check your emotions at the store door. "Gift-giving deals with emotion, and emotion and spending don't go hand in hand," says Ornella Grosz, the Atlanta-based author of "Moneylicious: A Financial Clue for Generation Y." To keep the feelings out of shopping, Grosz suggests keeping a list of other financial obligations — credit card debt , car payments, mortgage payments — on a slip of paper in your wallet. When tempted to overspend, remind yourself of what you owe.

Grosz also suggests shopping when pressed for time; less time in a store usually means fewer purchases. Shopping with a trusted friend who will firmly guide you away from the sale tables, and shopping with cash only can also help curb impulse purchases.

8. Work sales, don't let them work you. If a gift on your list is on sale, buy it. If it's not, "you're buying stuff not on the list and you'll go over budget," says Joseph Montanaro, a certified financial planner at USAA, a San Antonio-based financial services firm.

9. Keep track of spending. "Cash is king," Montanaro says. "It's very easy to stretch the budget with credit cards." He and others suggest "the envelope trick," giving each household member her or his holiday budget in cash, in an envelope: When the money's gone, it's gone.

If you use credit cards for convenience, hold a weekly reckoning with yourself, your spouse and your credit card receipts to make sure nobody's going overboard.

Montanaro suggests paying off holiday credit card debt quickly, in three months if possible. Yes, you'll still pay interest, but it won't be egregious. Consider the following: paid off over three months, $750 on a credit card with 18 percent interest will cost a total of $772.60. (Use the CreditCards.com payoff calculator to calculate your own scenarios.)

Your best bet: Pay it off in one lump sum. "Don't handicap yourself as you go into the new year," Montanaro says. "It's all about putting yourself in the position to be financially successful."
-Lisa Bertagnoli

Check Christmas Shopping

This Christmas will be very different for everyone: the budget is lower and our first objective is to control for the Christmas shopping does not end up becoming the prologue to a hellish year.

This Christmas, you control what you spend -

These tips can help you not get out of your budget for Christmas.

Please note:

- Think what you want to buy, and how much. If you feel overwhelmed by the need to purchase at this time, and seeks to find alternatives to the shopping.

- Retrieve old hobby, or new features.This will make us feel enveloped in the people we want at this time and forget the obligatory need of gifts.

- Remember that what matters is being together, not gifts given or received.

- If you feel that you do not control, try talking your problem with people around you. Often the best help you can get to control spending.

- Before shopping, make a list with the firm intention not to get out of it.

- It is always better to buy with cash and leave credit card at home.

- Before you buy something, think of its usefulness, if not, you desist from your original intention.

- It is important at this time of recession, a weekly review of the economy, the list of expenses and how they have produced.

- A good technique is to underline in red the wasteful spending or unjustified.