Marketplace Blog

I couldn't pick just one deal today, so here are five to jump-start your weekend:

Much as I'm loving the iPhone version of Peggle, I think it's a little pricey at $4.99. Good news: Right now it's on sale for just 99 cents [iTunes link]. No-brainer. Buy it. Thanks to reader Harold for the tip!

I'm not loving Amazon MP3's current selection of $5 albums, but there's one standout: Holst's The Planets, one of my all-time classical favorites. ("Mars" gets all the attention, but "Jupiter" is really … Read more

No doubt about it, Apple's just-announced Find My iPhone app is pretty cool. If your precious goes missing, you can remotely transmit a "Help, help, I'm lost!" message in the hopes that whoever found it will return it.

If that doesn't pan out, you can send a Mission Impossible-style self-destruct command that'll wipe the iPhone's memory, thus protecting any sensitive data from falling into the wrong hands.

Unfortunately, the price of this nifty recovery/security service is a subscription to Apple's MobileMe, which costs $99 annually. That's fine if you're … Read more

So Amazon's Gold Box deal of the day is an 80GB Sony PlayStation 3 for $349.99. That's not bad, considering how rare it is to see the console selling below the $399.99 list price.

Then I got to wondering if Sony was still offering that credit-card deal, the one that nets you a $150 credit with a purchase of $299 or more. Sure enough, they just kicked off another promotion (this one ending June 20), which means you can get an 80GB PlayStation 3 for $249.99.

First, apply for the Sony Visa Card. You can … Read more

Got storage? Got lots of storage? Newegg has a Hitachi 1TB USB external hard drive for $74.99 shipped. That's one terabyte for those not up on their techno-breviations.

Two caveats. First, there's a rebate involved (PDF). You'll have to pay $99.99 up front, then wait the prerequisite 8-10 weeks for a $25 bailout--er, rebate--check.

Second, the drive is formatted for Macs. That's obviously not a caveat for Mac users, but the Windows crowd will need to reformat the drive. It's an easy process (scan the user reviews for instructions), but it might take … Read more

Want an Amazon Kindle but can't stomach the $359 price tag? (Me, neither.) This might be the next best thing: Borders has the Sony Reader PRS-505 for $199.99 shipped. (Apply coupon code SONY505READ at checkout to get that price.)

Like the Kindle, the Sony Reader is an e-book viewer. Though it can't download them wirelessly, Sony's eBook Store does carry about 100,000 titles as well as half a million public-domain works from Google. Alas, most of the commercial books are priced a few bucks higher than Amazon's.

Before jumping on this deal, you'll … Read more

Well, here's hoping you waited on that $99 refurbished iPhone 3G, because as of Monday you can get a new one for the same price. Apple just announced at WWDC 2009 that the 8GB iPhone 3G will stay on the market for $99.

So what do you think? Now that you can finally get a shiny new iPhone with a full warranty (one year) for less than a hundred bucks, will you pull the trigger?

Based on the comments in last week's aforementioned refurb post, I'm guessing no. For most of you, it's not the price … Read more

If you're an iPhone/iPod Touch user who likes to win free stuff or an iPhone developer who wants to generate some buzz about your product(s), look no further than AppGiveaway.

True to its name, AppGiveaway lets developers give away promo codes--and lets users register to win them. It's like eHarmony meets the App Store meets, um, some site that holds contests. Thankfully, there's no cost for either party.

The site offers new giveaways every day. And not just one measly app: there were seven added today alone.

To throw your name into the virtual drop-entry-form-here … Read more

As regular Cheapskate readers know, HDMI cables are insanely overpriced. Pity the uninformed consumer who walks into, say, Best Buy, and walks out $40 to $90 poorer. Happens all the time.

But it doesn't have to. Help me spread the word: Eforcity (via Amazon) has a 6-foot HDMI cable for just $3.19 shipped. (Actually, the cable's only 21 cents, shipping costs $2.98. That drives me nuts, so I stayed focused on the total price. Which is awesome.)

Update: I'm not sure why, but sometimes that link takes you to the same cable offered by a … Read more

Zowie! For less than the price of some Netbooks, you can get yourself a full-blown Dell notebook. Here's the deal: Dell is offering the Inspiron 15n for just $299. That's undeniably amazing, though there are a few caveats.

First, these are new units, not refurbs, and you don't have to deal with any rebates. Ahhh...gotcha! Those aren't caveats at all. Just wanted to see if you were paying attention.

The real consideration for most buyers is that the Inspiron 15n runs on Ubuntu Linux 8.10--a great operating system by all accounts, but no good … Read more