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If you want to listen to your iPod or iPhone in your car, you have precious few options. You can spring for a pricey stereo dock that requires pricey installation. You can use one of those tape-deck adapters, assuming your car is old enough to have a tape deck. Or, you can try an FM transmitter, which broadcasts audio from your player to an unused band on your stereo. Buy.com has such a product, the aptly named Av Lab iPod/iPhone FM Transmitter, for free after a mail-in rebate [PDF].

Compatible with most iPod and iPhone models, the transmitter features a backlit LCD and plus/minus buttons for setting its broadcast frequency (anywhere from 87.9 to 107.9). Find an unused frequency on your stereo, set the transmitter accordingly, and presto: your music should come piping through your speakers.

Full disclosure: In my experience, FM transmitters generally suck. But your mileage may vary. And, hey, it's a freebie! After you pay your $14.99 (shipping is free), you get back a check for $15. So you actually pocket a penny. Heck, it's like you're getting paid to buy this! (I know, I know, the stamp...)

I'm not wild about DVD camcorders (for reasons I'll explain shortly), but there's something to be said for the convenience of capturing video on a disc you can pop into any set-top DVD player. If that sounds appealing, Circuit City has the Panasonic VDR-D210 mini-DVD camcorder on sale for $169.96 with free shipping (plus sales tax in most states).

Though an entry-level camcorder, the VDR-D210 offers some nice features, including a 32X optical zoom, optical image stabilization, a 2.7-inch wide LCD, and a reasonably compact design.

Not bad, right? Right--but be sure to read CNET's review of the VDR-D210 before you pull the trigger. As with all mini-DVD camcorders, you get limited recording time per disc, and there's no easy way to import your video to your PC for editing. But if you want to watch little Johnny's soccer game on the big screen the minute you get home, this is a fine solution. I can remember when DVD camcorders started at around $600, so $170 is a pretty smokin' deal.

Why spend big bucks on graphics software when you can get many, if not most, of the same features from freeware? Here are three mui-expensive graphics apps and their free counterparts:

• Adobe Illustrator Available for Windows only, Creative Docs .NET (yeah, weird name) is a vector-based graphic design tool for creating illustrations, manuals, flow charts, icons, and the like. It offers advanced features like Bezier curves, styles, convert-to-curves, and curved-path text.
• Adobe Photoshop You've actually got two choices here: GIMP, which is available for all platforms, and Paint.NET, which is Windows-only. Both programs offer powerful, Photoshop-caliber image-editing tools, everything from layers to special effects.
• Corel Draw Want to sketch, draw, paint, etc? In addition to an assortment of "digital brushes" including chalks, charcoals, and pencils, Artweaver offers the usual array of image-editing tools: crop, gradient-fill, transparency, layers, and so on. It also supports (and, in fact, recommends) tablet PCs for a more realistic drawing/painting feel.

I also have to include a shout-out to longtime favorite IrfanView, which is great for viewing images, making quick edits, and changing formats. Any free graphics apps you'd like to recommend? Hit the Comments and discuss your faves.