Bargains

Shopping for a budget printer doesn't have to be an exercise in anger-management and self-abasement. Contrary to the stigma, many printers can produce great quality photos and documents without breaking the bank or eating up expensive consumables. Now release your fingers from your hair, put down that club, and check out these tips for getting the best deal for your money.

Before you even start shopping, decide whether you want a laser printer or an inkjet printer. Laser printers use bulky toner cartridges and are typically reserved for home offices that print monochrome text documents and presentations. Businesses also … Read more

OK, so maybe 100 bucks or less isn't cheap in the scheme of things, but when you take into consideration that some of the most highly rated, excellent-sounding in-ear headphones can cost more than $400 (or, if they're custom molded, close to a grand), a $75 pair suddenly doesn't seem so pricey. Plus, can you really put a price on great sound quality? Chances are, you're not getting it from the cheapo stock earbuds that most manufacturers include with their MP3 players.

Taking that into account, we've rounded up a selection of great earbuds that cost less than $100. … Read more

Rick Broida from CNET's Cheapskate blog joins us to talk bargains.

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Max from England asked how to get 5.1 surround sound from his iMac into his speaker system. If he has a TOSlink cable already, he … Read more

It's happened to just about everyone who has bought an iPhone application at the iTunes Store: At some point the application you paid $7.99 for goes on sale for $1.99--sometimes it's even free the next day. I've had this happen to me many times, but only because it's part of the job to get applications when they're hot off the presses. Fortunately, as part of the job, I don't have to (personally) pay for the applications I review. Most people aren't so lucky.

Fortunately, an application made for bargain hunters that … Read more

Iriver does a solid job with its MP3 players. They're always packed with features and generally offer good sound quality. The company isn't exactly known for competitive pricing, though, so it's always nice to see lower tags on its devices.

For the holiday season this year, Iriver is slashing prices on the Spinn, the LPlayer, and the E100. Starting November 1, you can pick up a 4GB or 8GB Spinn for $189.99 or $229.99, respectively (down from $249.99 and $279.99). Prices on the E100 and the ultracompact LPlayer are being cut by $40 … Read more

Is it too early to look forward to holiday price drops while you wait to buy a new HDTV? Not if you're in the market for a no-name model, according to DealNews.com. The site predicts that plasma TV prices on Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving that kicks off the holiday buying spree, will fall to as low as $499 for a 42-inch model and $699 for a 50-incher. Meanwhile a $149 Blu-ray player may be in the offing, again from a no-name brand, along with $10 Blu-ray discs.

The upcoming DTV transition will help contribute to the price drops, according to the article, and as usual, plasma is less-expensive than LCD on an inch-for-inch basis. "LCD prices will remain higher than plasma, but they'll still dip considerably, with generic 42-inch 720p LCD HDTVs going for $599. Additionally, look for name-brand 46-inch or 47-inch 1080p LCD HDTVs to hit $799, and larger 52-inch 1080p HDTVs to drop to $1,199."

… Read more

With the CompUSA liquidation in full swing, some of the deals at closing stores have started to get quite interesting.

The hardware was not necessarily much of a bargain. During a recent stroll through the downtown San Francisco store, I found desktops and notebooks discounted 20 percent, and in many cases there was only a well-used demo model for sale. There were also printers (some new in boxes and some demo machines), but I suspect one can get a PC or printer for a better price just by shopping the weekend circulars.

The real bargains were in the software area. … Read more

Best Buy appears intent on expanding its line of MP3 players. The latest addition, dubbed the Insignia Kix (1GB), screams budget: It has a small screen, a plastic body, and a price tag of just $50. No doubt, the Kix is cheap (and feels it), but it's not without its merits. The player offers decent sound quality, comes with interchangeable USB covers, and includes a couple of compelling features, such as an FM tuner and subscription music support. Read Insignia Kix review.

It may be hard to believe, but you can actually find a decent MP3 player for around 50 bucks. In fact, we may see more and more devices start to hover near that price point if flash memory costs continue to fall the way they have been over the past couple of years. Of course, there's no sense in dropping even $50 on a complete piece of junk, which is why I've scoured the site looking for some worthy options.