Last time our DVD player broke, I went out and bought a new one. The Best Buy salesman said he wasn't surprised that it had only worked for a year; he called them "disposable."

Two years later, the new one is broken. But this time, instead of going shopping, my husband had an idea.

"Check online for recalls," he told me.

I don't know what gave him the hunch. Maybe it was that time a few years back when our microwave started sparking like crazy and we found out (after several failed attempts by Sears to fix it) that it had a recalled part.

At any rate, he was right. I Googled the maker (Toshiba) and the model number (SD-3980SU2), and immediately came up with an information page about a recall. One 5-minute phone call later, and I am expecting a new, 2008 model of the DVD player to arrive within a couple of weeks. I will have to package up the old DVD player and mail it in, but a new DVD player is worth a trip to the post office any day in my book.

Now I have to get Googling to see if the broken cord to my Roomba could have possibly been recalled ...