Crave

Episode 60 of Digital City has arrived, and whereas last week saw Joe, Julie, and Scott out sick, this week Dan and Joe are out. In with Scott and Julie are CNET editors Josh Goldman and 404 co-host Justin Yu, both of whom share thoughts on some of the good, bad, and ugly Cyber Monday shopping deals out there, and whether or not any good point-and-shoot cameras are being offered. Plus, some quick holiday movie reviews, Scott's buyer's remorse over a PSP Go purchase, and one of the largest backpacks we've ever seen. Kick up your feet, it's Digital City!

Related links:
>>CNET's Cyber Monday shopping deals
>>Holiday travel: sometimes it's nice not to have an app for that
>>Pointed, shot: 2009's best compact cams

>>Watch the Digital City live every Monday at 3pm EST on CNET Live!
>>Subscribe to Digital City on iTunes
>>Join the Digital City Facebook fan page
>>Need more? Follow Dan on Twitter!
>>Follow Scott on Twitter.

Score a 22-inch Acer LCD for $109.99--and get a three-year warranty!

(Credit: Staples)

Update (10:10 a.m. PT): Looks like everything but the Dell laptop is sold out. Sorry, folks! It's worth checking back on the other items, though, as sometimes stock gets replenished.

Ah, Cyber Monday. Now this is a day of deals I can get behind. No crowded parking lots, no unruly mobs, no pushing and shoving. (What? The old lady got in my way!)

Of course, as regular visitors to The Cheapskate know, nearly every day is Cyber Monday--the deals keep coming all year 'round.

But this Monday is special, so I've rounded up four particularly sweet bargains that are good today only. And, as always, the sellout risk is high, so get your mouse-clickin' finger(s) warmed up.

1) In the market for a monitor? Staples has the Acer X213HBbd 21.5-inch LCD for $109.99 shipped (plus sales tax in most states). Specs include VGA/DVI (HDCP) inputs, a 5-ms response time, and a three-year warranty (score!). This is the lowest price I've seen on a new 22-inch monitor.

2) Need a desktop replacement? Dell has an Inspiron 17 laptop for $549 shipped. It sports a whopping 17.3-inch display, a Core 2 Duo processor, and Windows 7 Home Premium. You can customize just about every feature to your liking, but the base configuration is mighty solid. That's the best deal on a 17-inch lappie I've seen all year--not the lowest price, mind you, but the best bang for the buck.

3) Still shopping for the perfect portable PC? Best Buy has the Samsung N140-14R Netbook for $279.99 shipped (plus sales tax in most states). That's higher than other models I've posted recently, but this is a decidedly high-end Netbook. Specs include Intel's Atom N280 processor, a 10.1-inch screen, a 250GB hard drive, 802.11n, and a six-cell battery. The OS: Windows 7 Starter.

4) Here's a great stocking stuffer: Newegg has the Zune Premium Headphones for $9.99 shipped. I've had a pair for years; they're my preferred earbuds for travel. They do a great job isolating outside noise (like airplane engines), and they're extremely comfortable. Obviously you don't need a Zune to use them; they'll work with any phone or MP3 player. Microsoft sells them for $39.99, so I can't recommend this deal highly enough.

Well? See anything you like? If not, don't worry--there's always tomorrow. In the meantime, hit the comments to share your tales of Cyber Monday scores.

P.S. Anybody catch me on Good Morning America today? No worries: you can catch me daily on CNET's Holiday Help Desk at 1 p.m. PST.

The 720p-shooting Kodak Zi6 is on sale for just $99.

(Credit: CNET)

The deals are coming fast and furious this week, to the point where I couldn't pick just one for today. Instead I've rounded up a little cheapskate trifecta. (Note: All have a high sellout risk!) Take a look:

1) CompUSA has a 24-inch Synaps LCD monitor for $159.99 shipped. It's a 1080p display with VGA and DVI inputs (no HDMI, alas), built-in speakers, and a 5ms response time. User reviews are overwhelmingly positive. And this is almost an all-time low for a 24-inch monitor.

2) Amazon is offering the Kodak Zi6 HD pocket camcorder for $99 shipped. It can record 720p video on inexpensive SD/SDHC cards (here's an 8GB card for just $15.45). CNET liked its "solid video quality" (read the full review here), and Amazon customers collectively rated it 4 stars out of 5.

3) At US Appliance you can score a new LG BD270 Blu-ray player for $94, plus $5.99 for shipping. (Use coupon code welcome10 to get that price.) That's not the best Blu-ray deal I've seen, as this model doesn't do BD-Live or Netflix, but it's definitely rare to see an LG for under $100. CNET hasn't reviewed it, but user reviews on Amazon are very high.

Anything strike your fancy? If not, be sure to check out Five Black Friday deals you shouldn't miss (if you haven't already). And if you spot anything awesome that I've missed, by all means post it in the comments or shoot me an e-mail. Happy shopping!

The lust-worthy Sprint MiFi 2200 will be free on Black Friday.

(Credit: Sprint)

Here we go: one week until Black Friday. Am I excited? Pumped? Polishing the ol' credit card for a day of deal-crazed madness?

Eh.

Don't get me wrong: I enjoy BF as much as the next cheapskate. But I'm weary of the month-long hype machine, what with all the "leaked" ads, pre-Black Friday sales, and so on.

What's more, I have never, and will never, set foot in a retail store on Black Friday. I don't enjoy crowds, especially the deal-crazed variety. Oh, and 5 a.m.? That's sleep time, not stand-in-line-in-the-freezing-cold time.

My other issue: Like last year, the deals I've seen so far just aren't that great. Know why? Because everything's already dirt-cheap all year. Regular Cheapskate readers have seen the $50 GPS, the $80 Blu-ray player, the sub-$300 32-inch HDTV. Sadly for retailers, there's just not much room to go any lower.

All that being said, what kind of cheapskate would I be if I didn't give this hallowed shopping holiday a little love? So here you go: five deals/offers/promotions I'm liking this year. Want more? Dealnews has some of the best Black Friday coverage around--including these tips on using price-matching in retail stores.

Ever wander into one of those Verizon or AT&T stores, attempt to have a conversation with one of the smartly dressed salespeople, and whisper to yourself, "What kind of emotionally awkward humans end up working in a place like this?"

Well, I have good news for you.

Ricky Gervais, who made David Brent perhaps the most painfully sympathetic character in modern television in the original BBC version of "The Office," has been asking himself the very same question. "Phone Shop" a new British sitcom, enjoys Gervais as its script editor (he reportedly took one look at the idea and volunteered his involvement). The pilot airs Friday evening on Channel 4.

"Phone Shop" will explore the life of salespeople in a soul-sucking mall cell phone shop.

(Credit: Channel 4)

Unlike "The Office," which gained existential pleasure from the old-world business of paper manufacture, "Phone Shop" is set in a mall cell phone store.

The pilot episode follows the troubles experienced by trainee salesman Christopher, who has to sell a cell phone by 6 p.m. as part of his one-day trial.

Clearly this series will reside in the emotional halfway house that has just two difficult residents--comedy and tragedy. And one wonders just what impression will be left by the arduous task of pushing yet more portable technology on a populace that bristles with sensory overload.

I am deeply concerned that the cell phone business will not come out so beautifully in "Phone Shop."

You see, The Independent quoted Angela Jain, head of the E4 Channel, which has bought the series. And beneath her words I sense a little cackling: "Everyone's got a mobile phone and has had some encounter in a phone shop. It's also about those difficult dead-end jobs that everyone has at least once in their lives."

So the Droid and the iPhone are being pushed by people in dead-end jobs? What has become of our brave new, smartphoned world?

Should you buy that extended warranty? Tom Merritt says no. Rafe Needleman says sometimes. We'll give you some guidance on how to decide if it's worth the money.

Listen now: Download today's podcast

When the Nintendo DSi was first announced, flaunting, among other things, an ability to download games directly from Nintendo to system memory or an SD card, our minds leaped to visions of a portable Virtual Console on the Nintendo handheld.

It would be a museum of Game Boy and Game Boy Color games, to be chosen from the hundreds of thousands of titles dating back to 1989. Much like the Wii's Virtual Console, it would be a mix of greatest hits and the obscure. Best of all, it could be affordable.

Unfortunately and quizzically, Nintendo still hasn't launched a Game Boy Virtual Console. We have no idea why, honestly: Nintendo handhelds have been locked out of playing classic Game Boy titles for years, and some of them are truly worth revisiting.

Game Boy games we want to see on the DSi Virtual Console--photos

Also, let's not forget the size of these games. Since Game Boy and Game Boy Color game cartridges could only hold a small amount of information (by today's standards), downloading these games to your DSi's SD card or internal storage would be ideal.

We went back in time and plucked a short list that should serve Nintendo well. Check out our picks for the portable Virtual Console To Be (hopefully).

Note: we didn't even dare to dream about Nintendo offering up Lynx, Game Gear, and Turbografx titles for the DS--that's another fantasy altogether.

(Credit: NetSecure Technologies)

One of the most dangerous things about shopping online is the fact that you have to enter your credit card information. This is when malicious software like Keylogger can steal your private data without you even knowing it.

Even if your computer is safe, entering all that info can be tedious. Luckily, there's now a way to eliminate the hassle of payment entry and ensure the safety of your computer, too.

The catch is, it costs $99.95.

The solution is SmartSwipe from NetSecure Technologies. SmartSwipe is a USB credit card reader that you connect to your computer via USB port. It allows you to actually swipe your credit card when an online retailer requires payment information, just the way you would at a store.

Apart from speeding up information entry, NetSecure claims SmartSwipe adds another layer of security to your online shopping. It does so by scrambling and encrypting the credit card data before transferring it to the computer. Traditional online security programs protect your sensitive information when it's on the way to the Internet, but not beforehand while it's sitting on your computer.

If the company's claims are true, it means that if you have SmartSwipe installed, your credit card data will be safe even if your computer is infected. This doesn't mean, however, that you can be negligent when online.

According to NetSecure, SmartSwipe features simple plug-and-play installation and is designed to work with nearly every major credit card and credit-debit card combination, including Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. The device works with Windows XP and Windows Vista, and Internet Explorer 6 or higher.

In case it doesn't work out for you, SmartSwipe comes with a 90-day, no-hassle, return policy. Now, hurry up and go make your last tedious online purchase that's potentially insecure. You won't ever have to again.

Like N.Y.-area icon Crazy Eddie in the '80s, seven contemporary online merchants were caught in fraud.

(Credit: sybsa.org)

Seven online merchants operating more than 40 Web sites have agreed to pay a $765,000 settlement following an investigation by the New York State Attorney General's office, the AG's office said.

"These companies engaged in the worst kinds of consumer fraud, from classic bait-and-switch schemes to blatant lies and bullying sales tactics," New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said in a news release that went out Thursday. "Let this be a message to online merchants everywhere: such abuse of consumers and violation of the law will not be tolerated."

All of the companies were based in Brooklyn, and while their names invoke digital photography, many also sell gear ranging from projectors to HDTVs and computers.

Five of the companies--Best Price Camera, Foto Connection, 1 Way Photo, 86th Street Photo, and Broadway Photo--agreed to change their business practices, according to the release, while the other two--Camera Wiz and Sonic Photo--will close. A full list (PDF) of the companies and Web sites involved in the settlement is available at HDGuru.com.