Upper and lower bounds for the norm of a linear combination of vectors are given. Applications in obtaining various inequalities for the quantities ||x/||x||-y/||y|||| and ||x/||y||-y/||x||||, where x and y are nonzero vectors, that are related to the Massera-Schäffer and the Dunkl-Williams inequalities are also provided. Some bounds for the unweighted Čebyšev functional are given as well.