Deal of the Day - 3/5/11

Hello All,

Apple has announced the iPad 2, debuting March 11th, and has started selling the original iPad, refurbished, from their store for $349.00.  This is $150 off the original price, and $50 off the new, lowered price, of the first model.  If you want an iPad this is the way to go.  If you buy refurbished from Apple you get a full one year warranty, and it looks new, the only difference is that the packaging is a plain brown box, not the pretty box the iPad usually comes in.

The only reason not to buy one of these refurbished iPads is because you want a new iPad 2.  Here is a quick run down of the changes to the new iPad 2.

• Faster processor - 2 A5 chips, the original iPad has one
• Dual cameras for FaceTime and recording video and snapping pictures
• Slimmer and lighter, with a better shape and new back cover material

I had an iPad for my old job and had to turn it back in.  Surprisingly I do not miss it as much as I thought I would.  It is cool, but for me it was only really a reading device (blogs, Facebook, email, web) and a music player.  I do not like the touch keyboard so I would not do any really work on it.  It was great as a game machine as well, but I did not use it for that very often.  Do not misunderstand me, I think the iPad is a great idea, and I used mine daily, it is just not completely there yet.  Maybe the new processor will make it more versatile, but for most people I imagine a decent Netbook would be more useful to them, and save them some green.  One last rumor floating around out there, to make you think twice about the iPad 2.  Rumor has it that the iPad 3 will be out this fall, in time for Christmas.  It will have the same incredible display on the iPhone 4, just in the larger size.  That would really be something.  Comparing the iPhone 3GS to the 4's screen is like bringing a picture into focus, it is that big of a change.  That would be a worth while upgrade, and worth waiting for, but as I said it is just a rumor.

You can find all the refurbished iPads here.

One last thing that I am thinking of doing, is trying a Color Nook out as my iPad like device.  Here is why

• It is only $250 - brand new
• It is easily hackable to make it into an Android tablet
• You can use microSD cards to increase the storage capacity

The downsides to this plan are 

• The nook is only a 7" screen vs a 9.7" on the iPad
• The battery life is not as good as the iPad
• The processor is not as fast as the iPad
• The Android marketplace is not as developed as the App Store

The real question is $250 and the downsides a better deal than $350 with known quantities.  This I have not yet determined.

Later,

John

Deal of the Day #4 - 7/24/09

Hello All,

Dell is once again selling the highly rated Mini 9 netbook for $199. This price is good until the morning of 7/27/09, and includes just the basic machine with ubuntu installed on it.

NOTE: The discount is not reflected until you click the customize button.

Although this does not sound awesome, sources close to me tell me it is easy to make it into a super cheap MacBook Air.

You can find this deal here.

Later,

John

Deal of the Day - 5/19/09

Hello All,

Dell has a nice deal on a 23" 1080p monitor. It has a 1000:1 contrast ratio and a 5ms response time. It is on sale for $209 right now.

You can find this deal here.

Later,

John

Deal of the Day #2 - 4/29/09

Hello All,

Sellout.Woot is selling a refurbished 17" Dell for 554.99 shipped to your door. It is a 2 GHz Core 2 Duo, and 17" screen, which is huge. This machine also has a 9 cell battery for longer life, great for people who will use it away from a power source. The video card is not great but for anyone who does not play high end games on your laptop, this is a great deal.

You can find this here.

Later,

John

Deal of the Day - 4/7/09

Hello All,

Dell has a sweet deal on a new laptop for $399. It is a 15" Core 2 Duo, which is all good, and only $399 to boot. Here is my new quick run down.

The Sweet

• 15" Screen
• 1.6 Ghz Core 2 Duo
• 2GB of ram
• 160Gb Hard Drive
• DVD Burner
• Firewire
• It looks like you can install XP on the machine without much trouble
  

The Sour

• Shared Intel video card
• No bluetooth
• Only a 6-cell battery
• Vista is the O/S
  

Overall this is a sweat deal for only $399.

Find this deal here.

Thanks Jesse for finding this deal.

Later,

John

Deal of the Day - 3/24/09

Hello All,

The Dell Inspiron Mini 9 is on sale for $199 once again. This is a Linux netbook with great battery life and small size.

You can find this deal here.

I wrote a bit more on the unit the last time it was on sale, you can find that here.

Thanks,

John

Deal of the Day - 3/13/09

Hello All,

Friday the 13th comes in for us this year, Woo Hoo. Dell is selling the Canon XSi for $619 plus tax. This is a great price for an awesome camera. You can find it here.

I do not know why Dell is selling the camera this cheap. Canon did not announce a replacement to the XSi at the recent photo conventions and as a result the price on this camera has gone up in the last couple weeks. The rumor mill now says summer before Canon's replacement model is released so if you cannot wait until then, you should jump now.

Later,

John

Deal of the Day #3 - 2/19/09

Hello All,

Dell is selling the canon SD1100 for $132+ tax shipped to your door. This is a great camera, we have one and love it. Its replacement, the SD1200, was just announced so the prices on them should fall everywhere, but $132 is the cheapest I have seen it anywhere.

Use coupon code K3F53V3GHL433D for an additional 5% off and to get the camera down to 132. You can find the camera here.

SD1100 review here.

SD1200 announcement here.

Later,

John

Deal of the Day - 2/16/09

Hello All,

Today only Dell is selling it's Inspiron MINI 9 netbook for $199. This is a really small laptop with great battery life but is only really good for taking notes, browsing the web, and email.

You can find a review here.

You can purchase a unit here.

Later,

John