The Cheapskate

Much as I love services like Pandora and Songza for streaming music, sometimes you want to hear exactly the songs you want to hear -- hence on-demand services like Rdio and Spotify.

Of course, most of those services cost around $10 per month. If you like the idea but not the price, Sony has a deal worth considering: a one-year Music Unlimited subscription for $59.99. That's 50 percent of the regular price and the equivalent of $5 monthly.

Even better, if you're a PlayStation Plus subscriber, you can get the Music Unlimited plan for $41.99.

Sony'… Read more

A couple weeks back I suggested that Kingsoft Office Free 2013 might just be the best Microsoft Office alternative you can get, especially if you need only the core elements: word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations.

Kingsoft offers a Pro version, of course, one that includes more goodies. A one-year license normally sells for $29.95, but today only, Giveaway of the Day has Kingsoft Office Professional 2013 (Win) absolutely free.

Let me note right here that this version has just a few key benefits over its free counterpart: a Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) editor, support for macros in the … Read more

Now that ESPN has announced plans to drop its 3D channel, it's pretty obvious that, despite TV manufacturers' claims to the contrary, 3D isn't going to be the Next Big Thing in home entertainment.

What will be? If you attended (or read about) this year's CES, you know that manufacturers have shifted their breathless attention to 4K Ultra HD. Of course, as with any new technology, the first models come at a premium: Sony's 55-inch 4K Ultra HD TV lists for $4,999.99, effectively five times the price of your average 1080p TV of the … Read more

Sometimes it's hard being the Cheapskate. I don't mean the rigors of finding awesome deals on a daily basis, though that certainly can be a challenge. (What? Another tablet?!)

No, the tough part is when a frustrated reader e-mails me because the product he ordered hasn't arrived after three weeks. Or, even worse, it arrived in poor condition. And the company that sold it to him won't help or even respond. Although I have no control over these kinds of situations, and can't offer much in the way of assistance, I feel terrible for indirectly … Read more

You know what my iPad doesn't have? A DVD player. So how am I supposed to watch all the great movies in my DVD collection? I'm talking "The Rock," "The Shawshank Redemption," "The Incredibles," "The Matrix," and so on. (It's true: I have awesome taste in movies.)

No doubt Apple, Amazon, and Google would love for me to buy their digital versions of all my platter-based movies, but I already bought them once. Do I really have to spend $10 to $15 to buy them again?

Not today. Movie-discovery … Read more

Sorry for the confusion with yesterday's OBi100 deal. First there was a link boo-boo, then the product sold out. But don't worry: even at the usual price of $39.99, that's a great landline alternative. And it'll be back in stock before long, I'm sure.

Much as I'm loving ultrathin, ultralight ultrabooks these days, there's still a place in the world for a laptop with a roomy screen, DVD drive, and other desktop-friendly features. (That DVD drive in particular will prove important when you read about the sweet deal I'm writing for Marketplace … Read more

Whenever I write about landline alternatives like the NetTalk Duo or Ooma Telo, readers invariably line up to sing the praises of the Obihai OBi100, a voice-over-IP phone adapter that many say is a better alternative.

It's definitely a cheaper one, especially today: Obihai (via Amazon) has the OBi100 VoIP Telephone Adapter for $29.99 shipped. That's after applying coupon code TALK2DAD at checkout, and about 25 percent off the regular price.

Update: The coupon code does not appear to be working at the moment. I'm checking with Obihai and will update the post again when I … Read more

This is an update of a deal I wrote about earlier this year.

Need a last-minute Father's Day gift for Dad? Nothing says, "Thanks for being such a great guy" like unlimited online storage.

Through Sunday, you can get a one-year Bitcasa Infinite subscription for $79 when you apply coupon code JUSTFORDAD at checkout. That's not quite as sweet a deal as it was last time out (the subscription was $10 less), but it's still a very good price for Bitcasa's unique brand of no-limit cloud hold-'em.

The service supports all the major … Read more

Not everyone needs the latest, greatest smartphone -- the big screen, the blazing processor, the uber-camera. Plenty of users can get by just fine with something simple, especially if they can save money while still experiencing the joy of apps.

Republic Wireless offers perhaps the best money-saving smartphone deal on the planet. For $249, you get a Motorola Defy XT Android phone, then pay just $19 per month for unlimited service (with an asterisk, but still). Nineteen bucks! And you're not stuck with a contract, either.

The whole thing just got a little better: For a limited time, you … Read more