"Buy or Lease New and Used Cars and Trucks Online!" Well, not really. While you'll find some decent dealer and vehicle listings here, don't waste your time at DealerNet if you actually want to purchase a vehicle. I filled out the detailed Express Quote form and waited for the promised price quote within 24 hours. Well, a dealer called me all right, but not with a quote; he just wanted me to drive to his lot and check out the great deals. When pressed, he said he couldn't give me a quote over the phone. How is this more convenient than just looking this yutz up in the phone book? It isn't. What a waste of time. - Jeff Titterton
Two years ago, ordering pizza over the Web loomed as the grand promise of the medium. (Yeah, pizza delivery definitely takes advantage of this technology.) Well, the future is now, and World Wide Waiter brings you pizza and more, provided you live in areas covered by the service, you have the foresight to plan your meal an hour in advance, and you don't mind paying $6 to have a burrito delivered. Restaurant selection is slim (lots of pizza and not much else), and ordering anything but pizza usually means a surcharge of about $5. Delivery time supposedly averages 45 minutes, but my order took an hour, not including the 20 minutes it took to establish an account and wait for my password to arrive via e-mail. As with most of what the Web promises, this is luxury, not convenience. - Clary Alward
Since shipping ice cream across the country isn't particularly cost effective or beneficial to the product, most grocery shopping sites you'll encounter contact a market local in your area. NetGrocer, with one location in New York, won't ship you perishables, but it will send nearly everything else you can pick up at a grocery store, within reason. Name brands and discount prices, rather than vast selection, will draw you to whip out your credit card. Items are sent via Federal Express for a reasonable rate ($2.99 for the first 10 pounds), and multitudes of information about each product (including price per ounce and nutritional values) should satiate the most discriminating shopper. This won't get you out of all your grocery shopping, but it will help. - Clary Alward
Can't stand washing with soaps that crud up the water supply, wearing clothes that pollute third-world countries, or writing on paper that ensures the sawing down of old-growth forests and various adorable species? What, aren't you American? If you identify as Green but can't find the products to back up your beliefs, you might want to try Enviroshop. The site sells a whole range of Earth-friendly products, from clothing and computer disks to bathroom cleaners and house paints. Items can be somewhat pricey: A vest made from recycled rubber costs $59, and a radiation-shielded fluorescent light bulb will set you back $39. Still, the breadth of products to choose from, ease of shopping, and secure online ordering make this just the place to turn your chemical-filled life into a sqeaky-clean dream. - Jeff Titterton