OK, so I got this orb that claims to be able to add a minor vitality bonus to an item that can be charmed. I have two such items in my inventory (a mace and a necklace, both say charm level one). However, no matter what I try I can't seem to apply the orb to either of the items. Since they slot into different inventory screens, the only way I've found to even attempt to combine the two is to equip the item I'm trying to charm, open the paperdoll screen, open the inventory screen, and then drag the item onto the orb. But it always says that it can't work that way (or something to that effect). The items in question already have various bonuses, but none having to do with vitality. Am I doing something wrong? What's the proper way to use this sort of item?

With your help, figured it out! Thanks again!
A bit off-topic - I'm loving this game, but there is one fly in the ointment for me - I discovered that low-level spells like meteor strike, combined with a few mana potions, make it possible to quickly defeat "boss" enemies (like heavy orcs, skeleton lords, the troll king, etc) by spamming the right-mouse button with the spell and using potions here and there. My character casts the spell just as quickly as I can click, so damage racks up very quickly. These are enemies I'm pretty sure I shouldn't be able to defeat yet, since they slaughter me in seconds if I attempt to attack them with conventional weapons, including bows. With a more powerful spell I imagine one could cruise through the game with relative ease, based on what I've seen. I can, of course, choose not to use this tactic, but knowing it's there has sapped a bit of my enjoyment (just a bit, mind you, I'm still having a blast). (I realize you can kind of spam with the bow also, but the rate of fire is slow and it takes some work to use hit-and-run. Spell-spamming pretty much lets me go toe to toe and beat anything as long as I've got a few health and mana potions; I usually don't even need to move my character, just press right-mouse as quickly as possible).
Is spell-spamming useful throughout the entire game for leapfrogging tough opponents?

Yes and No, some bosses are immune to certain kinds of magic but some weapons with a frost attribute will freeze anyone regardless of their immunities. Also, your opponents grow stronger as you do.
One of the things I liked about DD was any character class can become a powerful warrior, mage or survivor regardless of which character class or sex you start with. The starting skills are not varied too greatly (except for the mage's starting magic level). See attached image. You can very quickly turn your warrior into a powerful mage and use magic alone as your weapon of choice. Add a few magic weapons / armor and some choice charms and you rule the world.
Because I can build any character into any character class, I usually play the warrior because his special move is more useful to me than the other two classes special move. (right click causes damage while invisible, left click by mistake and you become visible though)
I also liked that any character could master any weapon. I always disliked the fact that a barbarian in Diablo could barely use a bow or magic spells. I mostly use a two handed sword and lightning which plays well for me. There are some skill / magic combos that make you almost unstoppable. It makes for some great replay value.
DD is one of the most enjoyable hack and slash RPG's IMHO, I have lots of fun playing it. . . =)

So far I agree with all you've said. My only gripe, if you can call it that (since the game is quite fun overall) is that the game (so far at level 11) is a shade too easy. I've avoided taking any magic spells at all (except restoration) and still one can use a bow to beat up guys that really should be too tough at the stage I'm on. (The meteor spell spamming technique I described came about because I got some artifact that gave me the skill). But still, easy at this stage of my life is good, since I really haven't the time to grind away forever at games anymore. So all's well. :) And thanks for the help.

Did you notice, on the character creation dialog, that there is a "Hard" difficulty? I believe the default is Normal with Easy also being available.
Load your character, press ESC, click Game and check the difficulty level. If not set to "Hard" you might kick it up. That might make it more enjoyable for you . . =)

I usually play games on "normal" difficulty or its equivalent., which is what I picked for DD. I didn't realize you could change difficulty without starting over - if you can, that's a cool feature (that not enough games offer). I'll give it a try. Thanks man!