As the holidays draw to a close, it's a good time to register new products you or your family may have received as gifts or new purchases, especially for toys, computers, TVs, music players and cameras.

Although the forms may seem like a humbug part of the fun-new-gift process, they can help consumers in the long run because they provide proof of your purchase documented with the company. And that comes in handy for warranties and future product problems and even provides a record in case the product is stolen.

Registration means that the company knows how to notify you if there's a problem. That's especially important with toys or car seats or any other item that has safety concerns. And after all those toy recalls last year, it's an important precaution.

(Another good option for those who have children or track toy and child safety issues is to sign up electronically with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission at www.cpsc.gov and you can get e-mails whenever there are recalls.)

What about all those questions about whether you have a dog, where you work, how much you make and whether you golf, garden or collect stamps? You don't really have to answer those questions.

Usually the required questions that register your product for the warranty have an asterisk near them, are written in red or somehow designated.

You should also be careful of what other sign-ups or check-marks there are so you don't accidentally ask to be put on every mailing list that the company has ever heard of ... or sold its list to.

If you forgot to grab the registration card before you tossed the packaging, you can often find a toll-free number or a Web site that offers you an easy way to register

A friend who bought a used iPod figured he was out of luck when the music player didn't work when he got it home. He didn't know exactly when it was purchased.

He went to the Web site, got out his magnifying glass to track down the tiny serial number, typed it in and found his player still under one-year warranty. He took it in for service and came out with a fully functioning player for free.

Another way to help make life easier is to find a place to keep the boxes for those new products for a few months. Many companies will ask you to mail back the products in the original packaging. Usually, you can throw them away when the warranty expires.

I registered a digital camera this month, and the process took just a couple of minutes. And when I was done, it offered me an online code of 10 percent off any camera accessories I might buy from the company. Other times, signing up has prompted special offers of sales that don't appear elsewhere.

But sometimes these sign-ups result in unwanted e-mail. So it's important to check what you are agreeing to and decline what you don't want. Some people sign up for an additional e-mail account through Yahoo or hotmail or gmail that they use only for those sorts of business and sales purposes so they don't risk clogging their regular account with any junk mail.

Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.

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