Bass Guitar Buying Guide
If you’ve been looking to live out your rock star fantasy or just pick up a new hobby, a bass guitar is a great place to start, but before you form that garage band you need to know a few things.
Sewing Machine Buying Guide
Whether you’re looking for an easier way to hem the occasional pair of pants or want more fine control over your quilting, you can find a sewing machine that’s suited to your project and skill level.
Easel Buying Guide
Whether you’re a hobbyist who dabbles in watercolors or a serious student of the fine arts, you need a comfortable and sturdy painting easel to support your work in progress.
Electric Guitar Buying Guide
Want to become a real life guitar hero? Of course you do. Playing the guitar is probably one of the coolest things you can do (unless it’s an air guitar).
Backpack Buying Guide
Thoreau “went into the woods into live deliberately and to front only the essential facts of life”, but he still needed something to carry his things. If you’re headed into the great outdoors, the backpack you wear can mean the difference between pleasure and pain.
Briefcase Buying Guide
A briefcase may say as much about you to your coworkers as the cut of your suit or the quality of your shoes. Although a well-organized briefcase can make you more productive and professional, it can also be a fashion statement. In fact, as the only accessory most men carry, your briefcase may well define your style.
Diamond Buying Guide
It doesn’t matter if it’s for an anniversary, engagement or for no event at all—buying a diamond can be traumatic. For something that comes out of the ground, there sure are a lot of things to know before you can buy a diamond with confidence! You can simplify the diamond buying experience if you have a firm budget and do your homework in advance.
Portable Air Conditioner Buying Guide
For some, a portable air conditioner may be the only way to get relief from summer heat and humidity. A portable air conditioner can also cut your energy use, reduce your carbon footprint and solve cooling problems in your home.
Wine Chiller Buying Guide
There is an old Spanish saying that “good wine ruins the purse; bad wine ruins the stomach.” Storing wine improperly may lead to a host of problems, all of which result in ruining a good (and expensive) bottle.
Tankless Water Heater Buying Guide
How does a limitless supply of hot water for your home, increased energy efficiency and lower fuel bills sound? That’s the promise of tankless water heaters.
Air Purifier Buying Guide
Electric air purifiers have become a common sight in many homes over the last 10 years. People who own air purifiers swear by their efficiency and the benefits they reap from their use.
Space Heater Buying Guide
Space heaters are the tool of choice for consumers looking to fight rising energy costs and lower their carbon footprints. Many consumers choose a space heater that is inadequate for their needs or expect more from a space heater than it can deliver.
Clothes Washer Buying Guide
A good clothes washer is an essential member of your household, whether you’re a busy professional who needs to show up for work looking presentable or a frazzled parent buried in a landslide of juice-stained onesies.
Iron Buying Guide
Innovations in ironing technology deliver performance and convenience features that almost make pressing pleats and smoothing shirts fun.
Refrigerator Buying Guide
Refrigerators have evolved considerably from the tin-lined iceboxes used by our grandparents. Most refrigerators on the market do an admirable job of keeping your perishables from perishing, so the best way to start shopping for your new refrigerator is to consider how many—or how few—high-tech “extras” you need.
Steam Cleaner Buying Guide
Whether you want to clean greener or clean deeper, a steam cleaner gets the job done. Sometimes called vapor cleaners, steam cleaners are gaining popularity for their ability to clean deeply without detergents by using pressurized steam.
Air Conditioner Buying Guide
Even the most passionate fans of summer will concede that an air conditioner is a great addition to a home. When heat and humidity make it impossible to function, an air conditioner provides cool comfort in the bedroom, office, or family room.
Kitchen Range Buying Guide
The traditional kitchen range with a 4-burner cooktop above that sits atop a standard oven is still the most common choice for homeowners looking to save money and space in the kitchen.
Compact Refrigerator Buying Guide
Whether you’re a college student moving into a dorm, a city-dweller moving into a small apartment or an office administrator looking for new break room supplies, you should consider the benefits of a compact refrigerator.
Cooktop Buying Guide
You may be at home on your range, but if it’s time to update your kitchen, a cooktop gives you ultimate design flexibility. A cooktop can be installed anywhere you like, including on a kitchen island, thanks to models that offer downdraft ventilation.
Vacuum Cleaner Buying Guide
Roseanne Barr once said, “I’m not going to vacuum until Sears makes one I can ride on.” While riding vacuum cleaners at home may still be a thing of the future, buying one can be surprisingly overwhelming.
Dehumidifier Buying Guide
If you live in an area prone to high humidity or if you just have too much dampness in your basement, a dehumidifier can help reduce the risk of mold and mildew and even protect the structure of your home when moisture threatens to damage the foundation.
Humidifier Buying Guide
Dry skin, itchy eyes and throat, and static-electric shocks every time you touch a door handle are all sure signs it’s time to invest in a humidifier. Useful in warm, dry climates and during winter in colder climates, humidifiers put moisture back in the air, creating a balanced, more comfortable living environment.
Dishwasher Buying Guide
If you are looking to upgrade your current dishwasher or you are one of the last hand-washing holdouts, you might be surprised to see what is on the market today.
Wall Oven Buying Guide
Oven choices were once limited to fuel type, exterior color and whether to splurge for self-cleaning. Today, there are more oven options than you can poke a fork at.
Freezer Buying Guide
Since refrigerator freezers are not intended for long-term storage, a separate freezer can help you save money by buying on sale, in season and in bulk.
Humidor Buying Guide
For the cigar enthusiast, humidors are the stylish, practical way to store your goods. Because cigars respond to their environments, you will want a humidor to provide the right moisture for your cigars, help promote their cultivation and protect your investments for years to come.
Electric Toothbrush Buying Guide
If you’re like most people, you probably don’t look forward to your twice-yearly visits to the dentist, but love how your teeth and gums feel afterward. Craving that ‘just cleaned’ feeling at every day?
Home Gym Buying Guide
Do work and personal obligations keep you busy during gym hours? Investing in a home gym is a great way to keep your commitment to health and fitness, but what are weight stacks, adjustable position cable systems and weight ratios?
Treadmill Buying Guide
Fitness fads come and go, but treadmills are consistently the top-selling piece of home exercise equipment in America. Why? Treadmills are simple to use and they’re extremely versatile.
Women’s Electric Shaver Buying Guide
A women’s electric shaver is just the thing if you’re tired of suffering nicks and razor burn for the sake of beauty.
Stair Climber Buying Guide
Stair climbers provide an excellent workout for the lower body, targeting the quadriceps, hamstrings, glutes and calves. Stair climbers also provide excellent cardiovascular and endurance-building exercise more efficiently and in less time than other fitness machines.
Elliptical Trainer Buying Guide
Once you got a taste for the elliptical trainer at the gym, you were hooked. Elliptical trainers, also called cross trainers, help you get a great workout with reasonable effort that doesn’t strain your back and joints.
Exercise Bike Buying Guide
There are many reasons to bring an exercise bike into your home. Maybe you don’t have time to get to the gym for a full workout. Maybe you’re a bicycling enthusiast in an area with a variable climate, or you’re just starting a fitness program and looking for a low-impact way to start exercising.
Bathroom Scale Buying Guide
Whether you’re simply health conscious or trying to shed a few pounds, a bathroom scale can help you know what you weigh and track your progress toward your goal weight.
Heart Rate Monitor Buying Guide
Used for years in high-intensity athletic training, the heart rate monitor has worked its way down, in price and usefulness, to the average person who wants to monitor his or her fitness goals and performance.
Robotic Lawn Mower Buying Guide
The robotic lawn mower gives consumers an opportunity to escape yard work forever. Improved technology makes the robotic lawn mower a better choice for the overall health of your lawn, as well as an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional emissions-producing lawn mowers.
Lawn Mower Buying Guide
For most homeowners, the lawn mower is the most frequently used outdoor tool, yet most consumers choose a lawn mower based on status rather than performance.
Hot Tub Buying Guide
Once a luxury reserved for the rich and famous, hot tubs are now quite affordable, even regarded by some as an integral part of living a healthy lifestyle and a necessary home improvement.
Hedge Trimmer Buying Guide
Hedge trimmers are ideal for the homeowner trying to maintain their property and for commercial companies clearing land. Hedge trimmers, sometimes called hedge shears or hedge clippers, are power tools designed to quickly trim and sculpt bushes.
Smoke Detector Buying Guide
A smoke detector is an essential purchase for your home, not only for your own safety, but for the safety of those you live with, your pets, roommates or family. Buying a smoke detector—or detectors—is more than just grabbing one at the hardware store and slapping it on the wall.
Water Filter Buying Guide
The term “water filter” can be a bit misleading, because there are drastically different types of equipment for filtering water that share the same name. Pitchers and faucet mounts filter tap water for drinking, while whole-house water filters reduce contaminants like sediment and rust in your plumbing.
Leaf Blower Buying Guide
Few things are more beautiful than bright autumn leaves—until they’re blanketing your lawn. The rake can still get the job done, but there’s no denying that a leaf blower will get it done faster.
Carpet Cleaner Buying Guide
The Institute of Inspection, Cleaning and Restoration Certification recommends a deep carpet cleaning at least once every 12 to 18 months in high-traffic areas.
Electric Grill Buying Guide
Electric grills have joined the ranks of microwaves, ovens, and stovetops as a popular method of cooking in millions of American homes.
Gas Grill Buying Guide
Grilling meat, fish and vegetables is a great way to eat healthy without sacrificing flavor. It’s no surprise then that gas grills have become one of the most popular grownup toys in recent years.
Smoker Buying Guide
A smoker is the tool of choice for those who are serious about barbecue. A smoker provides a primal connection with our past, while infusing your food with true barbecue flavor.
Carbon Monoxide Detector Buying Guide
Carbon monoxide (CO in chemistry) is the leading cause of accidental poisoning deaths in the United States, which makes a carbon monoxide detector an essential item in your home.
String Trimmer Buying Guide
Those cramp-inducing grass clippers of the Leave It to Beaver era have evolved, mercifully, into the string trimmer. String trimmers reduce the time and effort involved in yard work, which has landed them among the most popular and best-selling yard tools.
Mattress Buying Guide
How much thought did you put into your last mattress purchase? Most people spend a third of each day on a mattress and two hours or less in a car, yet comfort tends to be a greater factor when people buy a car than when they choose a mattress.
Greenhouse Buying Guide
Tired of replacing your plants when the first frost hits or planning your planting schedule around Mother Nature? Greenhouses are the solution for anyone interested in a protected environment that offers year-round gardening.
Faucet Buying Guide
It’s easy to take a faucet for granted, unless you’re buying a new one. All too often, shoppers get hung up on design and forget that function is more important than form, leaving them with a faucet that looks pretty but disappoints with each use. Pronto’s Faucet Buying Guide will help you balance features with appearance to get a faucet that you’ll love to use for years to come.
Paper Shredder Buying Guide
Horror stories about identity theft are leading many consumers to buy a paper shredder for the home. While a paper shredder won’t guarantee you immunity from identity theft, it will prevent thieves from stealing personal information from your trash, or from your home during a burglary.
Pedometer Buying Guide
Whether you’re starting on a new fitness regime or simply trying to gauge how healthy your current activity level is, a pedometer can help track your progress by counting the number of steps you take in a day, track the distance you traveled and estimate the number of calories you’ve burned.
Ski Buying Guide
Bunny slope or black diamond, skiing is America’s most popular winter sport because it’s an activity that appeals to people of all ages and all levels of athletic ability.
Tent Buying Guide
Tent camping is a fun and adventurous way to enjoy the natural splendor of the landscape. A tent lets you get back to nature, but it’s important to choose a tent that won’t let nature get to you.
Camping Stove Buying Guide
Camping stoves may lack the romance of sitting around an open fire, but there are good reasons to consider packing one for your next outdoor adventure. Camping stoves are faster and more efficient than fire boxes and pits, you don’t need to burn up some of the environment to use them, and they present less of a fire hazard to the great outdoors.
Golf Club Buying Guide
Whether you’re a seasoned superstar on the PGA Tour or a first-timer eager to start hacking away at your local public course, the thrill of playing with a good set of golf clubs never fades.
Bicycle Helmet Buying Guide
The Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute estimates that a careful bicyclist will crash on average every 4,500 miles. Some states require riders to wear a bicycle helmet, and even where it’s not the law, a good bicycle helmet is a solid investment in your health and safety.
Snowboard Buying Guide
Snowboarding is no longer a fringe sport turned to by those rebelling against the conservative sport of skiing. Snowboarders are showing up at mountains across the country, both the young and more mature slicing through the snow on a lone snowboard. Interested in joining them?
Snowboard Binding Buying Guide
Snowboard bindings are the last thing you probably think of when picking out a new snowboard setup. You know you need a board and boots, but don’t forget about the snowboard bindings that connect your boots to your board while you enjoy a day on the mountain.
Kids’ Bike Buying Guide
Your child’s first bike is more than just a rite of passage—it’s a way to get good exercise and to start to explore the world around them. Choosing the right kids’ bike is as much a matter of safety as style, as the wrong bike can be hard to ride or even dangerous to your child.
Golf Ball Buying Guide
You can’t play golf without golf balls, but you can play better with the right golf balls. New innovations in technology have resulted in golf balls that soar higher, longer and faster than ever before, making golf balls just as important as clubs when it comes to getting the most out of your game.
Inline Skate Buying Guide
Inline skating is an effective way to get and stay in shape while having fun at the same time. Besides recreational skating outdoors, inline skaters can participate in a variety of activities including speed skating and hockey.
Equestrian Saddle Buying Guide
Whether you ride horses professionally or just as leisurely way to relax, you need the right kind of saddle. Choosing the right saddle not only results in better riding, but it ensures that both you and the horse are comfortable.
Showerhead Buying Guide
Few everyday items affect your morning as much as your shower. When choosing a showerhead, you’ll need to look at design, water flow and spray patterns.
Table Saw Buying Guide
From finish work to furniture making, you can’t beat the accurate cuts you’ll get from a table saw. The simple design of table saws makes it easy to get straight cuts at almost any width, which saves time and gives your projects a professional finish.
Snow Blower Buying Guide
Admit it—you’re jealous when you toil away in your driveway with a shovel, clearing a path for your car and a walkway for your mailman while you watch your neighbor come out, start up a snow blower and go back inside a few minutes later with a clean drive and a smug expression.
Garage Door Opener Buying Guide
If you’ve sat in your car in the pouring rain or driving snow, wishing the garage door would open by itself, now’s the time to get that garage door opener you’ve been promising yourself.
Mosquito Trap Buying Guide
If you’ve ever had a backyard party ruined by pesky mosquitoes, tried to apply mosquito repellant on a squirmy toddler or are concerned about mosquito-borne illnesses, you should be in the market for a mosquito trap.
Miter Saw Buying Guide
If you’re a professional woodworker or hobbyist, a miter saw is an essential tool for your workshop. Framers and do-it-yourselfers can also benefit from the precise cutting power a miter saw offers.
Electric Keyboard Buying Guide
If you have an itching to tickle some faux ivory keys, an electric keyboard may be just what you’re looking for. But before you can play like Beethoven, you’re going to need to know how to choose the electric keyboard that’s best for you.
Drill Buying Guide
Drills are the most popular power tool sold in America. There are hundreds of uses for a drill around the home, from hanging pictures to replacing hardware to do-it-yourself projects, even changing your car’s tires.
Circular Saw Buying Guide
Circular saws are among the most versatile tools available, and your investment in a circular saw will pay off with just one or two home-improvement projects.
Pressure Washer Buying Guide
Pressure washers are great tools for difficult residential cleanup, advanced construction detailing and heavy-use industrial and agricultural applications.
Nail Gun Buying Guide
You’ve heard it at every construction site, the rhythmic pop-pop-popping sound of nail guns in action. Let’s face it, hammers are great for removing nails, but nothing beats a nail gun for making quick work of home improvement and woodworking projects.
Women’s Running Shoe Buying Guide
Women who run more than 10-15 miles a week for training or exercise should invest in a good pair of running shoes. When you run, your feet absorb 2.5 times your body weight at every impact.
Women’s Hiking Boot Buying Guide
All hiking boots are not created equal. Women’s hiking boots are designed around the differences in the way that women walk, providing extra support to your feet and ankles. Hiking boot manufacturers have tapped in to running shoe technology to create a slew of new super-light, breathable options for day hikers.
Pocket Watch Buying Guide
Most people think of the pocket watch as an accessory of a bygone era that’s been replaced by modern technology like wrist watches and cell phones.
PDA Buying Guide
Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) have been around since 1996 when Palm introduced the Palm Pilot. PDAs took the paper to-do lists and bulky address books into the digital age, storing all your most-needed information in one, portable place.
