That's a big bundle of Xbox goodies for just $199.99 shipped.
(Credit: Buy.com)Putting nearly all previous Xbox deals to shame, Buy.com has a complete Xbox 360 Pro bundle for $199.99 shipped.
Until recently, it was fairly exciting to find the console alone for less than $200. The bundle includes not only the 360 (with a 20GB hard drive and HDMI output), but also two wireless controllers and three games. Unheard of, right?
Yes, this is a refurbished system. But before you run screaming for the hills, check it out: Microsoft is backing it with a full one-year warranty, same as new units. So you literally have nothing to lose by going the refurb route.
As I've said many times before, one of the things I like best about the Xbox 360 is that it pulls double duty as a Windows Media Center extender. And you can scarcely buy one of the standalone extenders for such a low price.
On the other hand, it's no Blu-ray player. If you'd rather have that, Dell Home has the Sony PlayStation 3 Slim for $254.99 shipped (plus sales tax in most states).
(Search for A3018856 to find the console, then apply coupon code 6FWJ247J1P44CK at checkout.)
The Slim's on backorder right now, but it appears you can still place orders for it. Don't want to wait? The SonyStyle store still has refurbished 40GB PlayStation 3 consoles for $236.77.
Well, game fans, over to you. Both these deals are really hard to pass up. Which console will you choose?
Thanks to reader Cary for sharing the Xbox deal!
Grab the top-of-the-line Xbox for under $200.
(Credit: Geeks.com)Geeks.com has a ridiculously good deal on a refurbished Xbox 360 Elite: $199.99 (after applying coupon code XDEALS at checkout). Shipping will run you about $16.
For those not thoroughly versed in Xbox models, the Elite is, well, the elite. The top of the line. The Xbox that normally sells for $399.99.
Like a new unit, the refurb comes with a 120GB hard drive, an HDMI port, a wireless controller, and a headset. Unlike a new unit, the warranty expires after 90 days.
On the cabling side, the Xbox comes with only the usual component-video cable. If you plan on making an HDMI connection, you can get what you need for just a few bucks.
If the Elite is overkill for your gaming needs and/or your budget can't stretch quite that far, Geeks.com also has a refurbished Xbox 360 Pro (20GB) for $149.99.
Either way you're getting a killer game console and a damn fine media center extender (meaning it can stream music, videos, and photos from your PC).
The Xbox also lets you stream movies from Netflix, though for that you need both a Netflix membership and an Xbox Live Gold account.
OK, so what do you think? Too good to pass up? If memory serves, this is by far the lowest price I've seen on an Xbox 360 Elite. The deal is available through July 31, but something tells me it'll sell out long before that.
Going to a retail store for consumer electronics purchases can be both exciting and frustrating. After working at Best Buy for two years, I have a few opinions to share that you might want to consider before your next shopping trip.
1. We have no formal training in the field of consumer electronics.
Upon transferring to the computer department from home theater, I expressed concern to the manager: "Will there be time for someone to train me on laptops/desktops? What do these specifications mean?" His reply was simple: "Just do your best. A good salesperson can just read the labels and compare specs." Ouch.
Salespeople are not necessarily experts in the products sold in their departments, even if they are expert salespeople. Though many express a strong interest in the products they sell, your time spent at a retail store fishing for information about a future TV purchase could be better spent online researching the products yourself (I heard CNET has pretty great reviews).
"You need those HDMI cables, you know you do."
(Credit: Amazon) 2. We make little off the big-ticket items, so we smother you with accessories.
Remember the story "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"? Well, if you tell a salesman you're going to buy a TV, he's going to want to sell you a DVD player to go with it. Once he sells you the DVD player, he's going to want to get you to buy an HDMI cable, too.
Managers at Best Buy (and possibly all retailers) tell employees that the store profits surprisingly little from video game consoles and computers. Cables, accessories, mice, and other components, however, have a huge profit margin-- stores can make about $120 from a $150 Monster HDMI cable. Angry yet? The point is, we're going to work really hard to convince you to purchase that big item, but once you've said "OK" you've opened Pandora's Box.
Here's my advice: Grab the big item, and run. Purchase all accessories online, including memory cards, cables, traveling cases, and so on. Amazon, Monoprice, and Newegg are all reputable discount Web sites. You'll find what you need at a much lower price.
... Read more
(Credit:
Mophie)
Not everybody may be thrilled that the new iPhone 3G S looks exactly like the old iPhone. But its unveiling brought some good news for iPhone accessory manufacturers, especially those that make iPhone protective cases: they won't have to retool and create new accessories for the iPhone 3G S.
Case in point: Mophie's Juice Pack Air, an iPhone battery extender that doubles as a case and happened to be last week's Crave Giveaway of the week. (You can flip the battery on and off, so it'll only draw power when and if you want it to.)
Mophie claims the Juice Pack Air ($79.99)--which contains a 1200 rechargeable mAH battery and comes in black, white, or purple--nearly doubles the battery life of the iPhone 3G S. According to Mophie, here's the additional battery time provided by Juice Pack Air:
- Standby Time: Up to 270 hours
- Talk Time: Up to 4.5 hours (3G) Up to 10 hours (2G)
- Internet Use: Up to 4.5 hours (3G) Up to 8 Hours (Wi-Fi)
- Audio Playback: Up to 27 hours
- Video Playback: Up to 9 hours
HP MediaSmart Connect x280n: Member of a dying breed?
(Credit: HP)Call it a one-two punch: Monday's news that HP is discontinuing its MediaSmart Connect line follows Friday's report that Linksys' line of Media Center Extenders is also on its way out.
While two announcements doesn't a trend make (you need three for that), I'm hopeful that one of my consumer electronics wishes is finally coming true. We may be seeing the end of the standalone network digital media player. And I say "good riddance." This is a product category that never really should've existed in the first place.
To be clear, I'm not talking about digital music players--those products like Sonos, Logitech's Squeezebox line, or the growing number of cheap (often sub-$200) Wi-Fi radios available. That's a maturing product line that's providing real value--allowing you to access your PC-based digital music, Internet radio, and the growing array of online music services (both free and premium ones).
No, I'm talking about video-enabled digital media adapters. (Which brings me to gripe No. 1: the industry couldn't even agree on a common terminology. The products were alternately known as digital media adapters, digital media players, network media streamers, set-top boxes--or some amalgamation thereof.)
There were three big reasons the product category continued to languish in the enthusiast realm and never really went mainstream. ... Read more
Updated at 4:50 PDT: You can read the full review of the product here.
No matter how long your iPhone or iPod's battery life is, it's never long enough. (In the case of the iPhone 3G, it's not even long to begin with). So, it's natural that you'd want to get a juice pack, which will provide extended battery power that can double or even triple the amount of time you can use your device between charges.
Most juice packs work with only a particular model of a device. The Juice Pack Air from Mophie, for example, works only with the iPhone 3G.
This doesn't present a problem if you only have the iPhone 3G. But if you also have an iPod Nano, you may get frustrated with its inflexibility. This is when you want something like the iPWR SuperPack from Wireless Input, the first juice pack I've seen that works with most of Apple's handheld devices, including the original iPhone, the iPhone 3G, the iPod Touch (first and second generations), the iPod Video, the iPod Nano (third and fourth generations), and the iPod Classic. It's also one of the most affordable devices for extended battery life, costing less than $60.
Other than that, the iPWR SuperPack is equipped with an 1,800mAh battery to double the iPhone 3G's battery life. As the iPhone 3G is the biggest battery drainer on the list of supported devices, the SuperPack will likely increase use time even more for others, such as the iPod Nano.
The iPWR SuperPack does have a few easily noticeable shortcomings, however. For example, when connected to a device, it can't be charged, and you can't sync the device with a computer at the same time. It also doesn't have a battery gauge to show how much juice it has left.
Check back at CNET soon for a full review of the product. In the meantime, enjoy a quick slide show.
If you don't mind a smaller hard drive, you can save nearly $150 on the Xbox 360 Pro.
(Credit: Buy.com)Whoa! Buy.com has the refurbished Xbox 360 Pro for $155.99 shipped. That's way less than the price of a new Xbox 360 Arcade, which has no hard drive and only a wired controller.
The Pro comes with a 20GB hard drive, a wireless controller, and...drum roll...HDMI! However, although component video cables are included, HDMI is BYO. (Meritline, always a good source, has a 6-foot HDMI cable for $4.99 shipped.)
The 360 is not only a killer gaming console, but also a damn fine media center extender (meaning it can stream music, videos, and photos from your PC).
It also lets you stream movies from Netflix, though for that you need both a Netflix membership and an Xbox Live Gold account.
Buy.com doesn't specify the warranty (which is weird--it's not like the company's new at this), but it's almost certainly 90 days. Hey, that's the "cost" of getting a refurb on the cheap. In this case, the really, really cheap.
Following a long wait after my first blog, I finally got my hands on Mophie's Juice Pack Air for the iPhone 3G. The company announced the availability of the accessory Tuesday with a price tag of $79.95.
If you own an iPhone 3G, you know how bad the device's battery life is, especially when you have 3G, GPS, and Wi-Fi turned on. For this reason, extended batteries, such as the original Juice Pack from Mophie are a must. However, this juice pack is rather bulky and doesn't cover the top of the phone. This is where the Juice Pack Air comes into play.
The new Juice Pack Air is thinner, though not by much, and has a top part to make it a complete protective case for the iPhone 3G while doubling the phone's battery life.
Unfortunately, the Juice Pack Air comes with a Micro-USB port, instead of the Mini-USB port that's used in many handheld devices, including the original Juice Pack. This makes it a little inconvenient to use. Other than that I liked it.
Before making the purchase, make sure you read the full review of the unit here.
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(Credit:
Photobucket)
First, there was the Red Ring of Death (RRoD) epidemic. It struck thousands of early Xbox 360s and led Microsoft to announce in 2007 that it would repair all afflicted consoles free of charge and offer an extended three-year warranty on those machines.
The latest XBox 360 bug? The "E74 error," which has become enough of problem that Microsoft has had to announce that it will repair all consoles affected by it--and extend its three-year warranty to cover any potential E74 problems.
Like the Red Ring of Death, it's not hard to figure out whether you have an E74 error. Instead of your console displaying three red lights, death comes swiftly in the form of an E74 on-screen error message that appears along with instructions to contact Xbox 360 support.
According to Gamezine.co.uk, the E74 error is "either related to the AV cable, or the more fatal occurrence of a burnt-out scaler chip or even the death of the console's GPU." (Apparently, the error isn't 100 percent fatal, and while there are some suggested fixes up on YouTube, they don't always work--or they work only temporarily).
Here is Microsoft's official statement:
While the majority of Xbox 360 owners continue to have a great experience with their console, we are aware that a very small percentage of our customers have reported receiving an error that displays "E74" on their screen.
After investigating the issue, we have determined that the E74 error message can indicate the general hardware failure that is associated with three-flashing-red-lights error on the console. As a result, we have decided to cover repairs related to the E74 error message under our three-year warranty program for certain general hardware failures that was announced in July 2007.
Microsoft also said it will refund anyone who paid to have an E74 error-afflicted console fixed. If you fall into this group, you should automatically receive a refund within the next 4 to 12 weeks. However, if you don't get your money back, you should go to the Xbox support page before November to get info on how to place a claim.
Gamemagazine notes that for now, the announcement covers only Xbox 360s in the United States. But it expects the warranty and refund to be rolled out around the world soon.
Comments? Anybody had their Xbox 360 offed by error E74? Is the console destined to be plagued by reliability problems, or is this just an isolated incident?
(Source: Gamezine.co.uk via Engadget)
The DMA2200 features 802.11n wireless and an upscaling DVD player.
(Credit: Linksys)Your PC's in one room, and your big, fancy HDTV's in another. How can you bridge the gap between the two? Answer: with a media center extender, which wirelessly pulls music, photos, videos, and more from PC to TV.
Newegg has the Linksys DMA2200 Media Center Extender with DVD for $94.99 with free shipping. These are new units, not refurbs, and they're rebate-free, to boot.
Easy to mistake for a DVD player, the DMA2200 doubles as one. Even better, it upscales your regular old DVDs to 720p, 1080i, and even 1080p. Given that you could easily pay upward of $90 for a standalone upscaling player, the media center stuff is just gravy.
And good gravy, that's good gravy. The DMA2200 streams content from Windows Media Center, the menu-driven multimedia front end that comes with most Home versions of Vista. The end result is akin to connecting your PC directly to your TV--a desirable but rarely practical solution.
The box joins your network via Ethernet or Wi-Fi--preferably 802.11n, though it can do 802.11b/g as well. (Just don't expect reliable high-definition streaming at those speeds.) It joins your TV via HDMI or component/composite video.
Space doesn't permit me to get into all the nitty-gritty on the DMA2200, so be sure to read CNET's review. It's not overwhelmingly positive, but I think that the dirt-cheap price tag makes this a more desirable buy.
Indeed, the DMA2200 originally listed for $350, at which point you were better off buying an Xbox 360 (which nicely doubles as an extender). At $95, it's definitely a worthwhile option for anyone looking to make the PC-to-TV connection.
