The Cheapskate

MacMall is bundling a 20GB hard drive with this refurbished Xbox 360 Arcade.

(Credit: MacMall)

The Xbox 360 Arcade comes without a hard drive. That's bad.

The Xbox 360 Arcade bundle at MacMall comes with a 20GB hard drive. That's good! Especially considering the price: $134.99, plus about $12 for shipping.

The only catch: It's a refurb, meaning you get a 90-day warranty. I have no idea if Arcade models have the same red-ring-of-death gene as other Xboxes; someone more knowledgeable on the subject will undoubtedly speak up in the comments (hint, hint).

In any case, I'd be surprised if this didn't sell out quickly, so I'm just going to leave it there. If you're looking for an Xbox on the super cheap, you've found it.

(If it does sell out, check back later for another deal. You know I won't leave my cheap-peeps hanging!)

Backup deal (sort of): Happy Free Shipping Day! Over 700 merchants are offering free shipping today, and promising delivery no later than Dec. 24. (Alas, MacMall isn't among them.)

Just lay your Wii controllers on this inductive charger and poof: they start recharging!

(Credit: Buy.com)

Last year around this time, it was still a challenge just to get a Wii. Now that everyone's got one, let's take a look at some inexpensive gift ideas for the Wii people ("Wii-ple"?) in your life.

1. Buy.com has the Wii AirCharge Inductive Charger for $17.99 shipped. "Inductive" means you just lay the controllers on the charging base and presto: they recharge. It even works through the silicon sleeves and with the new MotionPlus connected. The package comes with the base and a pair of rechargeable batteries. I'm getting one.

2. Amazon has the hilariously kooky games Rayman Raving Rabbids, Rayman Raving Rabbids 2, and Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party for $11.98 each. Get your cart total above $25 to qualify for free shipping.

3. Meritline has a Wii steering-wheel adapter for $6.99 shipped. Even better, get a two-pack for $9.99 or three for $12.89. It may seem like a silly accessory, but in my experience it makes Wii racing games a lot easier to control (and therefore a lot more fun).

Now that we're getting down to the wire, holiday-wise, any suggestions for what kinds of deals you'd like me to post in the last couple weeks before Xmas? I'm all ears!

Backup deal: I love coffee and tea equally, so I'm digging today's Woot deal: a Gevalia Pod Coffee Maker for $9.99 (plus $5 shipping). It's new, not refurbished, and it works for both coffee and tea.

It's a match made in heaven: the Eye-Fi card and Google's Picasa.

(Credit: Eye-Fi)

About a month ago, Google made some serious price cuts to its Picasa Web photo-storage service. For example, a mere $5 per year now buys you 20GB of online storage.

In other news, Eye-Fi memory cards are really cool. They wirelessly upload photos from your camera to your PC OR online storage service of choice--like, say, Picasa.

Right now, if you sign up for a 200GB Picasa account for $50, you'll get a 4GB Eye-Fi Home card for free.

That card, which works in most digital cameras, normally sells for $69.99, so here's another way to look at the deal: Buy a 4GB Eye-Fi Home for $50, and get 200GB of Picasa storage for free.

Either way, I think it's a smokin' offer. Picasa effectively gives you an online backup of your entire photo library, along with basic slideshow, sharing, and print services.

I'm also an Eye-Fi fan, as manually copying photos from card to PC--and then PC to Web service--is a huge hassle. This is a great gift item, in my opinion.

This is a while-supplies-last offer, and I suspect it'll sell out quickly. So grab it while you can!

Backup deal: If you've been eyeballing "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" (and what avid gamer hasn't?) but unable to stomach the $60 price tag, the Microsoft Store has it for just $41.99 shipped. That's the lowest price I've seen anywhere.

Cyber Monday score! This new classic for the PC is on sale for just $4.95.

Sigh. Sellout blues today, people. But I'd like to see a digital download sell out!

As part of a Cyber Monday promo, Direct2Drive is offering the award-winning, uber-popular PC game Mass Effect for just $4.95.

How award-winning? How uber-popular? Check out GameSpot's review of Mass Effect, which awards it the rarely achieved score of 9.0. Average user score? About the same: 8.9.

In fact, the PC version of the Xbox 360 classic offers "streamlined combat and numerous minor improvements." (Sounds good to me: I prefer to game on my PC anyway.)

The game sold for around $40 when it debuted in summer 2008, so $4.95 is just too good to pass up--especially for fans of the action/RPG genre.

Direct2Drive's deal is good until noon (ET) Tuesday. Get it while you can!

Real Tennis 2009 is one of eight games now on sale for 99 cents.

(Credit: Gameloft)

Remember a few weeks back when Konami cut its iPhone/iPod Touch game prices to 99 cents? (They're still available, FYI.)

Now Gameloft has followed suit, offering some (but not all) of its game titles for the appetizing price of a buck apiece--a significant savings in some cases. Here's the rundown (links are to CNET reviews where applicable, otherwise to the App Store):

• Blades of Fury (originally $6.99)
• Brothers in Arms: Hour of Heroes (originally $9.99)
• Castle of Magic (originally $4.99)
• Hero of Sparta (originally $5.99)
• NFL 2010 (originally $4.99)
• Real Tennis 2009 (originally $4.99)
• Shrek Kart (originally $4.99)
• Terminator Salvation (originally $9.99)

These prices are good until Sunday, November 29, so act fast if you want to stock up on some seriously good games for some seriously low prices.

Me, I'm grabbing NFL 2010, Terminator, and maybe Castle of Magic for the kiddos.

This 25-inch LCD sports a pair of HDMI inputs and an impossibly low price tag.

(Credit: CompUSA)

Update: Unsurprisingly, this is sold out. Sorry if you missed it! Killer deals like this rarely last long.

You all know my motto by now: "Cheap things come to those who wait." The last time I posted a 25-inch LCD monitor was in July. The price back then: $199.99.

Today, CompUSA is offering a 25-inch I-Inc LCD monitor for $149.99 shipped.

D'oh! Wasn't it just yesterday that a 24-inch Synaps was selling for $159.99? (Yes, yes it was.)

So, to amend my motto, cheap things come to those who wait--a whole entire day. The I-Inc is not only $10 cheaper and one inch larger (diagonally speaking) than the Synaps, it also comes with an HDMI input. Two of them, actually.

That means if it's not destined for PC duty, you can pair it with a game console and a Blu-ray player. It also has built-in speakers, natch, though don't expect room-filling volume or Dolby-quality sound.

Other noteworthy specs include 1,920 x 1,080 resolution (aka 1080p), a 2ms response time (faster than most), and a one-year warranty (this is new, not a refurb).

Without putting too fine a point on it, this is the best monitor deal I've ever posted. Consequently, it'll probably sell out seconds after I click Publish, and then everyone will be mad at me (and I wouldn't blame them--even though it's not my fault :).

On the other hand, maybe we'll all get lucky and CompUSA will have enough supply to last the day--because I guarantee you these will sell like hotcakes. And rightly so.

Save up to $5 on each game in Konami's impressive iPhone catalog.

I once wrote for an app review site where the guidelines insisted price shouldn't factor into a game's rating. Nuts, right? That's like saying as long as you like the car you're test-driving, forget about the sticker.

For a cheapskate like me, price absolutely matters, which is why I'm happy to see every game in Konami's iPhone catalog temporarily on sale for 99 cents each.

That includes Metal Gear Solid Touch, which is widely regarded as one of the top iPhone shooters. It normally sells for $5.99 (and was $7.99 at launch).

Other 99-cent titles include:

• DanceDanceRevolution S
• DanceDanceRevolution S+
• Field Prowlers Police Rush (a brand-new game)
• Frogger
• Krazy Kart Racing
• Power Pros Touch
• Silent Hill The Escape
• Silent Scope

These prices are good until Saturday (November 21), at which point they'll return to their previous levels: anywhere from $2 to $6.

Most of Konami's games have earned pretty high ratings from users, but there are some--like Frogger and Power Pros--that I just wouldn't buy for $2 or $4 (respectively). (Again: cheapskate.)

But 99 cents? That's my trigger point, the number that pushes me into what-the-hell mode. So I'm stocking up.

How about you? Does price factor into whether you'll buy an iPhone/iPod Touch game? If so, what's your magic number?

The PS3 version of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock includes a wireless Les Paul.

(Credit: Buy.com)

It's a great day to be a PlayStation 3 owner: Buy.com has the Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Bundle for just $18.67, plus $3.99 for shipping.

The package includes a Les Paul wireless guitar controller, meaning you don't have to worry about tripping over a cord while, um, getting your Slash on.

The game itself features 70-plus tracks from the likes of Aerosmith, Heart, Guns N' Roses, and the Rolling Stones.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, GameSpot's review of Legends of Rock praises it for having "the best tracklist of any Guitar Hero game to date."

I've never really been into the whole Guitar Hero scene, but for 20 bucks I'd almost certainly grab this bundle--if I owned a PS3. Alas, the Xbox 360 version still runs around $50.

I realize there's a fairly small audience for this deal, so check back later--I might just have something with more universal appeal.

In the meantime...rock on!

Start your own Fab Four with The Beatles: Rock Band.

(Credit: Target)

If you're a fan of A) music, B) The Beatles, C) Rock Band, or D) looking silly (I kid, I kid), you've no doubt had your eye on the recently released Beatles Rock Band bundle.

It normally sells for $159.99, but Amazon is offering The Beatles: Rock Band Value Edition for $99.99 shipped. It's available for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii.

The bundle includes the game itself, natch, along with three "instruments": guitar, drum set, and microphone. You can optionally add two more microphones and sing three-part harmonies, which sounds pretty cool.

However, much as I love the Beatles (who doesn't?), I don't really get into games like this. Of course, they obviously have their audience, and GameSpot positively loved The Beatles: Rock Band.

Walk into any Best Buy, Target, or the like, and you'll pay full retail price for this bundle. Shop online and you may be able to find it for as low as $130. Needless to say, $99.99 is a mighty sweet deal. Definitely worth considering as the holidays grow near.