Deal of the Day - 8/13/09

Hello All,

Newegg has a couple TomTom gps units for cheap cheap prices. They have a refurbished 4.3" TomTom One XL for $88.00, a TomTom One without text-to-speech for $69.00 and one with text-to-speech for $87.99. The last two have rebates making them even cheaper, but most people forget to fill those out so I am not including those in the prices.

The One XL is the best deal. It has text-to-speech (it says the street names, a great feature), bluetooth, and a large screen. The other two are good deals as well, depending on your needs. I do not like the turn in 500ft models myself, I like the turn on main st, but both work.

Find the XL here.

Find the non text-to-speech one here.

Find the text-to-speech model here.

Lastly, I am a Garmin man. They make the best GPS's out there. If you plan on using the GPS a lot they are worth the extra money. But if you are not after something you will use a lot, the TomTom is fine. Someone has to be second place :-).

One more bonus thing, both the TomTom and Garmin allow you to plan your routes on Mapquest and then upload the route to the GPS. This is great as a keyboard and mouse beats a touchscreen any day of the week.

Later,

John

Deal of the Day #2 - 1/13/09

Hello All,

RadioShack is selling the Garmin Nuvi 360 for $159.99. This unit has bluetooth for connecting to your cell phone and text-to speech. This is also the GPS I have, and love. You can read more about my Garmin love here. You can find this deal here.

Later,

John

Deal of the Day - 1/8/09

Hello All,

--UPDATE--SOLD OUT--

I am not surprised, $80 GPS does not last long. Ok, here is what I will do for you all today, alternatives :-).

The GPS I have, and paid $220 for it. It is only $170 and totally worth the money. It has bluetooth and the best navigation system there is. Garmin is the best GPS on the market. In case you missed the above link, click here.

Here is a Navigon, with traffic updates, and a larger screen. I know nothing about Navigon, but the reviews are decent.

And last but not least, an Omnitech for $100 from Staples, although it is after rebate. It is wider than the Sony, with text to speech. The reviews are not as good as the navigon or the sony, but it is only $100 and it is in stock.

If you want to go with Sony, here is a bigger refurbished one from Sony. It has decent reviews here and here.

Sources on the tubes tell me this about the sony online store:
Call 1 (866) 525-7669 for extra discounts. They can usually apply a discount on certain products manually. NEVER place the order online by yourself. ALWAYS CALL!! Itll save you money, guaranteed!

John

Crutchfield is selling a Sony GPS for $80. This normally would not be that big of a deal however, this unit has Text to Speech, which is the most important feature on any GPS. This unit says turn right on Main Street, as opposed to turn right in 500 ft. When you are driving alone and using this as the navagator, that feature is invaluable. It allows you to keep your eyes on the road, not on the screen. You can find this unit here.

You can find reviews here. I could not find any other reviews for this unit.

I like GPS. I never thought I would need it or want it, as I can read a map. It is nice to never have to print out directions from google, and it is really nice to be able to find something, lets say a Subway, when you are driving a long distance and do not know the area. You can use the GPS to tell you there is a Subway in 10 miles and it is right off the off ramp of the interstate, making for a quick stop. That is great.

Later,

John

Deal of the Day - 12/26/08

Hello All,

Sony is having a 15% off sale on all of their factory refurbished merchandise until 12/27.  I would act quickly as the best stuff will likely sell out fast, or they could end the sale early.  Of note are TVs and car stereos.

• TV outlet
• Car Stereos
• GPS
• DSLR

You can get a Sony 32" TV for under $400 shipped to your door, and a Sony car stereo with auxiliary inputs (for your ipod), and it plays MP3 and WMA cds, for $59.  The GPS is a 4.3" for $85 and the DSLR is a Sony A100 with a lens for under $400.  

I screwed up yesterday and did not grab the extra battery for our DSLR.  The battery in it died and we were forced to use Laura's moms point and shoot.  It was painful.  Once you use a DSLR you will not go back to point and shoots.  I cannot emphasize this strongly enough.  It is like riding a spree after driving a Ferrari.  They both get you from A to B, but that is where the similarities end.  Buy a DSLR, you will be happier than you knew was possible.

I am on vacation or I would post links, and calculate more prices.  If you are at work, you are probably slacking so you can do it yourself.  If you are at home then you have all the time in the world to figure it our yourself :-).

Later,

John

Deal of the Day #2 - 12/14/08

Hello All,

Dell is also offering deals on other stuff, aside from just video games. All include free shipping. You will likely have to pay taxes, but these are still great deals.

• 15% off GPS units of $199.99 or less via code 6?54QT$2NJ0SF5
• 20% off GPS units of $200 or more via code 9G69QQ4?5CK018
• 15% off MP3 players of $149.99 or less via code L9NM75SFZVRRSC
• 20% off MP3 players of $150 or more via code B1D1Q8HJ31GZ29
• 10% off handhelds, tablet PCs, and phones via code DJTNC9J4R?XCWT

Of special note for you high end TV buyers out there

• $700 off the Sony Bravia 52" 1080p LCD HDTV via code T4969NFBQ77PB4, dropping it to 2100.
  

You can find anything Dell sells from here.

Later,

John

Deal of the Day - 11/6/08

Hello All,

Buy.com is selling a Nokia 500 GPS unit for $99.99. This unit has all of the really important features including

• text-to-speech - the unit says turn on Main Street as opposed to turn in 500 ft
• Bluetooth integration
• a 4.3" LCD screen
• All required connectors including car charger and car mount

The unit uses Navteq maps, which is the best map provider for North America, and is used by all of the major web based map software from Google, Microsoft, and Yahoo.

I found reviews here and here, and a video demo here.

We bought the Garmin Nuvi and love it. You can see my detailed post on the unit we have and GPS in general here. I would recommend the Nuvi unit over all others, however this unit has the same features, and is less than half of the price. In thinking about that, it is $100, how can you go wrong. One note though, Buy.com says they have limited stock, so beat feet if you want to pick one up.

Later,

John

Deal of the Day - 8/29/08 - #2 with GPS recommendation

Hello Again,

On my brilliant wife's recommendation, I have switched fonts to... the default font in Blogger. I personally like Times, but she said it was stiff. Being I am young and hip, I switched.

Post two, before the long weekend. I should have posted this earlier, as it might be useful for this weekend. Buy.com is selling refurbished TomTom One 3rd edition GPS units for 99.49 after rebate, with free shipping. You can find them here.

There are a couple of reviews, here and here.

People at Amazon liked the units, you can see that here.

I think this is a fine unit, and one of my friends has one and likes it. I bought the Garmin Nuvi 360 myself, and I would buy it again. You can find it here. I bought the 360 because of these features

1. It has Text-to-speech. In other words it tells you what streets to turn on. Instead of saying turn left in 500 feet, it says turn left on Broadway. This is a huge deal as it allows you to easily drive with the GPS in a location that you do not have to look at it. You can keep you head up and your eyes on the road. For me this is the must have feature.
   
2. It uses Navteq maps, which are better than the Tele Atlas maps that TomTom uses. This is only true for North America, but that is where I live and where I drive. If you plan on going to Eurpoe with your GPS, you might want to check further into this.
3. It can be used with traffic subscriptions. I would need to buy an antenna and subscribe to the Garmin service, but if I move to a larger city, or Madison gets this service I liked the fact that I could upgrade the 360 to make use of these features.
   
4. It has Bluetooth. I can use my phone with the GPS as a hands free device and make calls to places in the phone. This was not a make or break deal, but it was only $25 more dollars so I went for it.

You can see a detailed breakdown of the different Garmin units here. Overall TomTom units are fine units, and their maps updates are cheaper, but I would recommend Garmin if you want to spend double the money. If you are looking for a basic unit and are unsure how much you will use it, this TomTom One is definitely the way to go.

--Update--

I have a third alternative, right in between the two units I mentioned above, the Nuvi 250w. Dell is selling it brand spanking new for $149. You can find it here. I would recommend this one above the TomTom if you have the $50. It is new, it has a bigger screen which is a big deal if you do not have the text to speech, and it uses the Navteq maps. All of those things are better than the TomTom. You can find Amazon reviews here.

Later,

John