The Happy-Clicks Site Blog

Mobile and PDA cases reviewed: Proporta Alu-Crystal and Alu-Leather Case (N95 8GB)

Following up on my reviews of Mobile and PDA protection, Proporta have sent me their Alu-Crystal and Alu-Leather cases for review.  To read my findings go for the Alu-Crystal for the Nokia N95 8GB go here. Or for the Alu-Leather for the Nokia N95 8GB go here.

The Dane-Elec Zpen - writing gone digital!

I recently contacted the company Dane-Elec about their Zpen, a pen with a difference.  As well as working just like any old Bic biro, the Dane-Elec Zpen also stores all of your scribblings as .eli files, which can be converted by “Pen & Ink viewer” software onboard the included usb dongle to pdf and even be converted into word editable format by the additionally included ”Myscript Notes” software.  To read the full review go to Biology-Protocols.info.

Online Surveys

As many resourceful people are aware, there is the opportunity to earn money online through applying to receive and complete online surveys in return for cash or prizes.

There are many sites that promote their ability to make you enough money to work permanently from home, most of which require a subscription, and few of which have good reviews for living up to their claims.

In reality, filling out forms or questionnaires is never going to make you enough money to work from home!  The most you will make from these sites, at least in my experience, is the occasional amazon voucher, and possibly the odd small cash reward or prize.  The rewards are generally proportional to the time you take to complete the surveys, so don’t expect a massive windfall.

Out of the many survey companies out their on the web I have selected the best four to refer you to, should you wish to earn yourself the odd reward or voucher.  In my experience, these are the most rewarding available:

Ciao (http://www.ciao.co.uk) offers users the ability to fill out surveys through an online interface.Rewards are generally in the region of £0.50 to £2.50, with the option, in addition to the surveys, to write review of products to earn extra cash.

GlobalTestMarket (http://www.globaltestmarket.com) rewards users with “MarketPoints” for filling out surveys, which are redeemed in dollars and then converted to your local currency (1 “MarketPoint” = $0.05).

Testandvote (http://www.testandvote.com) gives points for completeing surveys, that can be converted into amazon vouchers (40,000 points for a £10 voucher).

Opinion World (http://www.opinionworld.co.uk) offers entry into prize draws and the occasional cash reward for participating in surveys.

Realistically, over the course of a few months, filling in the majority of surveys,  you should be able to make ~£30 using all of the features of these sites.

 Go out there and make yourselves some extra cash, but don’t give up your day job!!

Screen Protection for PDAs and Mobile Phones

I have recently started a review of screen protections and cases for the nokia N95 8GB, based on samples sent to me from relevant companies.  The reviews are mainly aimed at the Nokia N95, however many of the products are available as variants for PDAs and other mobile phone rands and models.  Check out my review of the Martin Fields Overlay Plus Screen and Camera lens protector here.

Mobile Phone 2D barcodes

The barcode scanner on your nokia phone is indeed useful!!  Instead of typing in web addresses, text, or business cards manually, use nokia’s barcode maker to do it all for you (link). 

Simply open up “Office” on your nokia phone, select “barcode” and then “Scan Code” (Currently available on N93, N93i, N95 or E90 phones, but third party software is available for most camera phones) Try out the link below and give it a go (It will give you the web address to cashback.happy-clicks.info on you phone).

I will start uploading links for useful coupon and code sites in thsi fashion (as well as standard links for those without a phone capable of this function) so that you can save money when you are out and about shopping!!

Nokia Phone Survey - Get a £15 amazon voucher

I came across this interesting Customer Research organized by Nokia and have myself signed up for it. This research examines how people use their mobile devices in real life. Taking part is easy and as a reward, you get £15 gift certificate to Amazon.co.uk.

You only need to install the study application on your phone and answer two short web questionnaires during the study. The study application works in the background to collect data on how you use your phone and sends it in encrypted form to the study servers every day. Personal information is not tied to usage data and only aggregated results are reported.

Follow this link and use the code: ff53iph

Additional earners: Magazine subscriptions

Following my initial post about best ipoints earners on the site, following my guidelines, these magazine subscriptions also fit the bill (although make sure you cancel the direct debit after initial trail period):

Marie Claire 650 ipoints / Subscription offer (3 issues of Marie Claire for £1)

Time Out Magazine 750 ipoints / £2.50 Spent (Simply order your first issue of Time Out Magazine for £2.50 in order to qualify for ipoints. You will then receive 8 issues absolutely FREE)

Woman and Home Magazine 675 ipoints / Trial subscription (3 issues of Woman & Home for just £1)

In Style 650 ipoints / Subscription offer (3 issues of In Style for just £1)

Pc Pro Magazine 500 ipoints / Subscription offer (3 issues of PC Pro Magazine for £1)

Sailing Today Magazine 675 ipoints / trial subscription (3 issues for just £1)

Current best ipoints offers

Here are the best ipoints offers that I would recommend, based on the prerequisites mentioned in my previous post, as of 03/06/08:

Vegas Red Casino 10,000 ipoints / £26 deposit and wager

bet365 casino 4000 ipoints / £10 deposit and wager

Jackpotjoy 3500 ipoints / £10 deposit and wager

Hollywood Poker 3500 ipoints / £10 deposit and wager

VIP Casino Club 3350 ipoints / £10 deposit and wager

Paddy Power Poker 3500 ipoints / £10 deposit and wager

Getting ipoints for next to nothing!

The trick to using ipoints is to use the casino and gambling links.  This does require you to take a certain risk with your money, so never spend more that you can afford!  However, assuming that all the ipoints are awarded, you will always be better off than when you started (NOTE: It does sometimes take up to 60 days for ipoints to be awarded for sites such as these, so be aware of this before you start.)

The basic principle is this, if you select offers that will give you >3000 ipoints for every £10 you spend on that offer, you will get about 30% extra for your money i.e. spend £10 on an offer such as this and you will get ~£15 worth of ipoints.

The important thing to remember is that you do not want to be tied into any bonus terms.  A lot of casinos/poker rooms will offer you a 100% bonus when you first deposit.  What they don’t immediately tell you is that if you take this offer up, you cannot withdraw the money until you have wagered 25x the total amount of your deposit plus the bonus e.g. £25 deposit + £25 bonus = £50, so the total amount to wager before you can withdraw is £1250.  Not all casinos have these bonus terms, but it is worth checking before you accept/deny bonuses.

 In order to better the deal with ipoints, it is worth trying to save or multiply your money so that you effectively get your ipoints for free.  To do this, you need to be quirte cautious with the way in which you gamble.  The terms of the ipoints will in general expect you to deposit and then wager a certain amount.  To do this with less risk, choose games you know well, and use small wagers so as to meet the wagering requirement for the terms of the ipoints offer.  In this way, you will be able to withdraw some, if not all, of your money from the casino in question.

I have on average from all of the casinos I have joined in this manner through ipoints, taken 50% of my stakes back in addition to the ipoints I have earnt in the process.

 So far, I have received enough vouchers to buy an XBOX 360 + a good selection of games (including GTA4 and Wii Fit for my nintendo wii), various gadgets from prezzybox (including a milkshake maker and a hammock and a stand) and various magazine subscriptions for my family (National Geographic and Top Gear magazine included).

 If you found this article inspiring and want to sign up please use my referral.

Ipoints

For the last year or so I have been mainly using ipoints as a source of cashback (in the form of ipoints, which can be redeemed as vouchers or products from selceted partners).  Having looked at the various cashback sites out there, the general value of cashback through ipoints, for gambling and magazine subscription sites, seems to be be higher than that for other sites, such as quidco or rpoints.  For instance, where you might earn £25 cashback through a site such as quidco for a gambling site, ipoints will in general offer you ~£35 worth of ipoints.  On other offers however ipoints can sometimes be less generous.