By Real deals, not cyber scams
If you want to see how morally bankrupt the post-Thanksgiving shopping season has become, just poke around online during “Cyber Monday.” You’ll find many of our nation’s major retailers marking up their list prices to advertise “savings” that don’t actually exist, and pushing “limited-time” offers that are readily available elsewhere. But worry not; we’ve dug through these borderline scams to find 11 deals you should actually know about.
Motorola.com: Unlocked Moto X for $140 off
The 2014 Moto X is one of our favorite Android phones. You can customize it with different colors and textures (including real leather and wood), and it bucks the bloatware trend among Android handsets. Motorola’s also good about updating its software—the Moto X is already running Android 5.0 Lollipop. The $140 discount starts Monday at 12 noon Eastern time.
Why it’s a good deal: The discounted base price of $360 is killer for an unlocked “hero” phone, and AT&T or T-Mobile will give a discount on wireless service. [Link]
Best Buy: LG G3 for $1 on-contract
The LG G3 was this year’s sleeper hit among Android phones, and unquestionably the one to get if you value camera quality above all else. With laser-assisted auto-focus, the G3 lines up shots quickly and excels in low light, so you rarely have to call for a do-over.
Why it’s a good deal: Most carriers are still selling the G3 for its sticker price of $199 on contract. While that price will probably fall as the new year rolls around, it doesn’t get any better than a buck right now. [Link]
Microsoft Store: Acer Aspire E15 for $399
The Aspire E15 is a run-of-the-mill budget notebook, with an Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM, a 500GB hard drive and a built-in DVD player. But because it comes from the Microsoft Store, it has none of the trialware and bloatware that comes standard on laptops from other major retailers. That alone makes it worth a look.
Why it’s a good deal: This is one of the rare Cyber Monday laptop deals that packs Intel Core i5 power for $400. Just don’t expect miracles from the display and build quality. [Link]
Newegg: Samsung 500GB SSD with Far Cry 4 for $180
With many new PC games gobbling gigabytes by the dozen, you’re going to need a roomy solid state drive to run them at top speeds. Samsung’s 840 EVO SSD has a whopping 500GB of storage and respectable read/write speeds of 540Mbps and 520Mbps, respectively. There’s also a handy transfer tool for upgrading from a smaller drive.
Why it’s a good deal: Newegg has a bunch of storage deals right now (including a $50, 128GB SSD from Sandisk) but $180 is darned cheap for a 500GB drive. The free copy of Far Cry 4 (normally $60) is the cherry on top for your new PC gaming rig. [Link]
Walmart: PlayStation 4 bundle for $449
Console bundles are everywhere this holiday season, but Walmart’s $449 bundle will be hard to beat, especially for families. It includes the PlayStation 4 console, LittleBigPlanet 3, Lego Batman 3, your choice of another game, and a second controller.
Why it’s a good deal : The PS4 normally costs $400, and most other holiday bundles are throwing in a game or two for free. This bundle has three games and an extra controller, so you’re getting about $120 in value over other deals. [Link]
MacMall: 13-inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display for $1,030
Apple’s current MacBook Pros are over a year old now, but they’re still among the best professional-grade laptops you can buy. The discounted model has a dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 4GB of RAM and 128GB of solid state storage, and it lasted nearly 11 hours in Macworld’s battery test.
Why it’s a good deal: You rarely see Apple products discounted by more than $100 on Black Friday or Cyber Monday, but MacMall’s MacBook Pro deal manages to be $270 off the sticker price. [Link]
Google Play: LG G Watch for $99, $50 of Store credit
The LG G Watch, one of the first wave of Android Wear smartwatches, was quickly upstaged by classier-looking wearables such as the Moto 360 and LG’s own G Watch R. Still, it does a decent job of showcasing how Android Wear works, and it’s practically an impulse buy for the curious at $99.
Why it’s a good deal : The $50 credit toward apps, videos and games from the Google Play Store effectively halves the G Watch’s price if you were planning to buy some content anyway. You can still get the $50 credit when paying full price for a G Watch R, Asus Zenwatch, Samsung Gear Live, Sony SmartWatch 3 or Nexus 9 tablet. [Link]
B&H: iMac with Retina Display for $2,299
Apple’s iMac with Retina Display is a fine piece of machinery, packing 14.7 million pixels into its 27-inch “5K” panel. B&H is knocking $200 off the base model, which includes a 3.5GHz quad-core Intel Core i5 processor, 8GB of RAM and 1TB of fusion drive storage.
Why it’s a good deal: You don’t often see big discounts on Apple products, especially brand-new ones. B&H’s discount doesn’t make the Retina display iMac cheap by any means—rather, a slightly easier splurge. [Link]
Microsoft Store: $100 to $150 off the Surface Pro 3
The Surface Pro 3 is a shining example of what a high-end Windows machine can be, weighing as little as an 11-inch MacBook Air but with a taller, higher-res touchscreen. Detach the keyboard cover, and you have a 1.7-pound tablet with a pen for sketching and a kickstand. Microsoft is knocking $100 off the price for Core i5 models, and $150 off for Core i7 models.
Why it’s a good deal: The discount brings the base price to $1,030 with 128GB of storage and 4GB of RAM. That’s just $30 more than a 13-inch MacBook Pro with similar specs. If you missed the same deal on Black Friday, now’s the time to pull the trigger. [Link]
Staples: Acer Chromebook for $150
Like all other Chromebooks, this one can’t run traditional Windows software such as Office and iTunes. But Acer’s CB3-111-C670 Chromebook gets you online with a full mouse and keyboard at your disposal. It has an 11.6-inch, 1366×768 display, Celeron processor and 2GB of RAM, which should be all you need for basic browsing.
Why it’s a good deal: Normally, Asus’ competing 11-inch Chromebook is the slightly better buy, but these are two very similar machines. The $50 discount on the Acer is just enough to give it the edge. [Link]
Dell: 22-inch 1080p monitor for $99
The holiday shopping season can be a good time to upgrade aging computer monitors, and Dell’s deal in particular is worth a look. The S2240L on sale for $99 has a 21.5-inch display, narrow bezels and a choice of VGA or HDMI input. The screen also tilts from 5 degrees down to 21 degrees up.
Why it’s a good deal: You don’t typically see 22-inch monitors of decent quality cracking the $100 barrier, so multi-monitor users may want to think about stocking up. You’ll have to move quickly, though, as Dell says it will have limited quantities starting at 8 a.m. Eastern. [Link]
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