This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Charter. All opinions are 100% mine.

Once again charter is doing an amazing giveaway this time it’s for laptops and not just one person is going to win but a school could win 50 new laptops in their laptop-a-day giveaway, the laptops are pretty cool they are Lenovo G555′s with a 15.6″ screen, 160GB drive and 3GB ram and come with a Targu bag. Of course you can also enter to win one for yourself if your not a student or are just greedy, like me. Hey, theirs nothing wrong with wanting a laptop of your own, it’s normal and at least I will admit I’m greedy!

How it works

• Ordering any Charter service automatically gives you a chance to win and get up to $300 cash back. You can also register online with no purchase necessary.
• Parents and others to nominate their local schools and encourage their friends to vote for their school to win the 50 laptops.
• Schools need to be nominated by Aug. 12. There is a short nomination process
• 50 finalists will be chosen by Charter (based on the nomination stories submitted) and announce them on Aug. 16
• Open voting occurs between Aug. 16 and Sept. 20 and Charter will announce the two winning schools on Sept. 27th.

I’m going to be nominating our local school as it’s such a small school that 50 laptops would go a long way and we all know small town schools don’t get much when it comes to funding. I’m sure they would love to win a few laptops. I’m also going to talk to many people I know about nominating a school in the area, these kids deserve something nice that will help them in the real world.

If you would like to stay updated with this giveaway or other charter events, deals and news check out Charter on Facebook.

A great gift for kids is something that they can use and have fun with. That is what the Disney Netpal is. Not only does it come with Windows XP and some great web cam software is also has amazing security features to keep your kids save online.

Another great thing about this computer is that it’s a laptop so your kids can keep doing what they love no matter where they are. You also will be able to keep a better eye on what they are doing since you can move them wherever you are.

Sometimes you need more memory on your computer that is. Memory can be expensive, but there is a great way to get a boost to your computer without buying and trying to install memory. If you are not computer savvy you can always buy a sd memory card or flash drive to use to help boost your computers performance. I use on myself as I just have not gotten around to buying more memory for my laptop. It really doesn’t need it, but I want more.

I am not sure if this is something new with windows vista or not, so please find out if it will work before you spend money. If you have vista you should be set, the best part is a flash drive only cost a few dollars and you can use it to store other information too.

There are so many sales going on right now that you may want to do some research before you buy. Laptops seem to be a big deal right now and you need to make sure you get the right one. Many people when looking for any type of computer forget the big picture: What you are actually going to use it for! I have compiled a short list of things you need to think about when buying a laptop.

1. What do you need it for? Do you need it for business, personal use or travel? These all make a difference in the size and type of laptop you buy

2. How much space do you really need: Look at the programs you are going to use how much space do they actually use.

3. Are clients, or other people who may judge you going to see it. You want a laptop that looks professional if people are going to see it who may order something from you or who may be investing in you. Yes looks matter.

4. Do you need the camera, headset and all the other accessories they offer with some laptops? If you can’t think of when you will use them, do not pay extra just for these features.

5. Mac or PC. There is a difference. If your buying for business use and are not self employed check with your office about what they use and try to keep it the same. If not find out which one you like more by checking out both brands.

Money right now is tight for everyone, you want to make sure that you invest in the right product for you before you buy. Trust me if you don’t do the research the sales person will sell you more then you need. Remember they are trying to make money too.

If you are looking for some really great PC speakers at a great price you should check out the The Speaker Company. Recently I was able to check out one of their PC speakers and I have to say after a week of using them I am very impressed with the sound quality and ease of set up. All I had to do to get them going was hook the two satellite speakers up to the sub woofer and plug that into the volume control and that plugged into the computer. That was it.

One thing I like about these speakers is that they are very easy to switch between computers. I have both a desktop and a laptop and because these speakers only require you plug into the headphone jack you can move them easily between the two computers. I use my laptop most of the time, but most of my games will not work with vista so I also love using the speakers with my desktop.

Shipping is free right now and if you don’t like them return shipping is free too. In fact I have actually experienced working with their customer service as I had to order my speakers useing a code for the review. Something went wrong and my credit card was charged. They did attempt to cancel the order, but I used my pay pal card and that is sometimes hard to cancel so I got two sets of speakers, the one I will be sending back as I need the money back. Overall customer service has been very helpful and was very easy to work with.

Deal update! (8/02/2009)

Save $50 on The Speaker Company’s iDV1 iPod docks — enter iPOD69 at checkout and pay only $69.97 for our amazing iDV1

or

Save HUGE on The Speaker Company’s headphones and earphones. Enter CLEARYOURHEADS at checkout for 60% savings

My Rating

10/10

I finally got my laptop this week and I was going to do a review the next day but I decided that I wanted to use it for a few days before I decided how I liked it. I have to say though I am very impressed. I bought mine though circuit city online. I choose to pick it up in store and it was ready when I got there. I even got a coupon for 10% off an accessory, I choose to get a laptop bag. I will be reviewing that later when it actually gets some use. It’s a very cool bag.

On to the laptop, it’s an HP Pavilion Entertainment Laptop with a 15.4 monitor and some other nice features I’ll talk about later on. I have to say it was very easy to set up and looks great. It has a built in web cam with programs installed to use it, I still have to figure out how to get it to work with my programs, but I have got it working with the programs on the computer. It also has a built in microphone that works very well. I was surprised. I thought about doing this as a video post, but decided against it.

So far the laptop runs well, the battery last anywhere from 2-4 hours depending on what your doing. I have been able to watch a movie and a tv show as long as I turn off the wireless and shut down the internet. I may end up getting another battery, just because I travel a lot.  I also have not had any problems with it running slow, it’s actually quite fast, that may have to do with the 3 gigs of RAM is has.

It also comes with a light scribe DVD burner, I have not been able to use that yet, as I can’t afford the cd’s or dvd’s right now, but I have used this before and liked it. The only problem i have had so far is getting use to the keyboard and my drastic need for a mouse, which I went out and bought the day after I got the laptop. It’s just easier that way. Over all I would have to say I’m very happy with this product and would recommend it to anyone looking for a computer for themselves or a collage student.