Must have Gadgets and Gizmos   The Three Tomatoes  love cool new gadgets and gizmos, especially ones that do not require multi-remote controls (a male conspiracy we’re convinced), or more than one cord.  Here are three we have to tell you about—a throw away camcorder, a hair dryer you’ll want right now, and a battery powered razor.   Cool gadget #1:  The CVS One-Time Use Video Camcorder You know those throw away cameras?   Well now, there’s a one-time use video camcorder, available from, of all people, CVS. This amazing little point and shoot device fits in the palm of your hand and records up to 20 minute of digital video and sound. You return it to CVS and in a day or two get your video on a DVD that’s viewable from any DVD player.  And here’s the best part.  Since it records in short segments, you can download video snippets and email them to your friends.  In addition to getting all that fun/interesting stuff that’s been forwarded to you and you forward to them, along with the digital photos of your kids, grandkids, precious pets, and latest vacation, now your friends can view your little homemade videos. Just think of the joy they’ll get every time they open their in-box!  (Hey, it’s better than making them watch home movies in your den every time they come to visit.)   The cost is about $30.00 and processing is $13.  The quality is not high-end digital, but for outdoor video, and close range indoor, it’s pretty darned good.  A bit pricey, but you can’t beat the convenience of a little camcorder that you throw in your bag so you’re always ready to capture those priceless moments.  It almost makes you want to like CVS.  Do you think they hire people who smile and are pleasant and actually want to help customers and then train them in the fine art of customer rudeness? Must be the same customer-training program that Duane Reade uses.   Cool gadget #2: Vidal Sassoon Ionic Sensor Touch Hair Dryer This is one of those “why didn’t they think of this sooner” products. You know the routine. You’re standing in front of the bathroom mirror, hair dryer in one hand, styling brush in the other. You turn the hair dryer on. You set it down and turn it off. Repeat process at least a dozen times. Well  Vidal Sassoon has a new hair dryer that turns on when you pick it up and off when you set it down!  Absolutely brilliant.  And it’s only $35 to boot.  Wow, we haven’t been this excited about a new product since the microwave.   Cool Gadget #3: Gillette’s Venus Vibrance razor for women The Three Tomatoes love products that promise “soothing vibrations” and here’s one you don’t have to hide.  This new razor from Gillette looks like one of those plastic throwaway type razors, but will actually last for months.  It runs on a AA battery and comes with easy to change razor heads. It’s an amazingly smooth shave that won’t leave your legs looking like you got hacked in a horror movie, and the razor is small enough to pack in your travel kit.   We put this is the same “must have” category as the battery powered tooth brushes that replaced those big ugly plug ins that use to sit on our bathroom counters.    So there you have it for this week.   Thanks for reading us!    Copyright©2005.  The Three Tomatoes.   All rights reserved.

You know you’re a tomato if…you remember independently owned local “drug stores” usually named after the pharmacist who could knowledgeably tell you everything from how to get rid of warts to how to sooth a colicky baby.  And you’re really a tomato if you remember drug stores with soda fountains! ************************ The CVS Throwaway Camcorder Fits in the palm of your hand, easy to use, carry it anywhere. ******************   The Venus Vibrance Razor.  Click here for a $2.00 coupon.  ******************* Vidal Sassoon’s ... new automatic shut-off hairdryer.  Get it now at Drugstore.com.  ********************* Vote in This week’s The Three Tomatoes Poll What do you think about retail customer service? ***********************  Last week’s The Three Tomatoes Poll Results 58% of tomatoes think it’s about time that marketers feature real women instead of retouched “perfect” models in their ads. ********************* You can find all The Three Tomatoes emails in our archives at www.thethreetomatoes.com.  If you missed charm school for cabbies, cheating on your hair stylists,  facial products that work, and other such stuff, you can get them on demand in our archives.   **************************** Help us grow our list.   If you enjoy The Three Tomatoes, tell your friends.  It's free, a chance to learn something new and trivial, and you might get an occasional chuckle too.   Sign up www.thethreetomatoes.com.     *****************************