General

The iPhone 5: thing of beauty, right? It's slim and pocket-friendly and just a marvel of engineering, yes?

Gravity: 24-7, right? Strikes without warning, yes? That's why you'll never catch me carrying a phone without a case, even if it means hiding some of its beauty and lessening its pocket-friendliness.

The question is, which case? You've got a million options, with prices ranging from around five bucks all the way up to 50 -- sometimes even higher.

If you want robust, colorful, popular protection for your phone, there's a deal to be had: For a … Read more

Funny thing about Symantec's security programs: Lots of people still hate them. Like, really hate them. I guess the bloated, sluggish, more-harm-than-good versions of yesteryear were enough to turn some users off Symantec forever, even though the products have improved dramatically in the past several years.

Indeed, several of the company's Norton tools are perennial award-winners, and have been since the early days of Windows 7. And yet I know that at least some readers will see this deal and write, "Norton AntiVirus? No way, never again."

More on that in a bit. For now, Newegg … Read more

How much do I love Cheapskate readers? So much that even when I'm a little under the weather (cough), I can't help serving up five sweet deals (sneeze) to carry you into the weekend (moan). That's love, people.

1. Storage to go Oh, flash drives, you so crazy. Crazy-cheap, that is. Today only, and while supplies last (not long, I'm guessing), Best Buy has the Kingston DataTraveler Special Edition 16GB USB 2.0 flash drive for $7.99 shipped, plus sales tax. This tiny drive includes Kingston's urDrive software, which helps manage, organize, and back … Read more

You've got just over a month to file your annual tax return, meaning the time has come to start shopping for a deal on tax software.

I have something of a love/hate relationship with TurboTax, but it's been my go-to product for the last several years. Warts aside, it gets the job done.

And today it'll get it done a little cheaper. For a limited time, you can save up to $20 on TurboTax Online. That means $34.99 for for TurboTax Online Premier and $54.99 for TurboTax Online Home and Business. Both versions include … Read more

When it comes to free stuff for your tablet or e-reader, Amazon rules the roost.

The Amazon Appstore is home to a kajillion freebies for Kindle Fires, while the Kindle Store offers literally thousands of free Kindle e-books.

Barnes & Noble, on the other hand, offers a comparatively limited selection of free apps in its curated store, and I couldn't even find a "free books" section in the Nook Book Store.

At least there's Free Fridays, which gives you a free e-book every week. Today, for example, you can get the Nook edition of David Rhodes' "Driftless," … Read more

It's an awesome time to own an iDevice. You can get unlimited movie and TV streaming from Netflix, unlimited music from the likes of Rdio and Spotify, and even unlimited magazines from Next Issue (for iPads, anyway).

Great news for comic-book fans: Now you can get unlimited comics as well. Marvel Unlimited, previously a Web-only service, just debuted for iOS. (It's coming soon for Android.) Less-great news: The app needs work.

True to its name, Marvel Unlimited provides full access to the publisher's extensive library of comics, which currently numbers over 13,000 titles. You'll find … Read more

Call me old-school, but I still like magazines. Reading them, writing for them -- heck, I even started one many moons ago.

If you feel the same way, but prefer digital editions to their paper counterparts, check out Next Issue. A kind of "Netflix for magazines," the service offers unlimited access to over 80 titles, all for a flat monthly rate.

The rate: $14.99 for Next Issue Premium, or $9.99 for Basic (more on all that in a minute). For a limited time, however, CNET is offering a three-month Next Issue Premium trial absolutely free. (You'… Read more

Quick update regarding yesterday's post, the one about three free months of Next Issue. There was a technical glitch, one that couldn't be quickly resolved, so CNET decided to pull the deal (and my post) to avoid further confusion/consternation. The good news is that everything appears to be hunky-dory now, and the deal is live as of now. (After you click through, be sure to scroll down a bit to read "the fine print" section for a couple important details.) Sorry for the inconvenience!

CNET gave it five stars and named it one of the … Read more

There are two kinds of TVs in the world: smart and dumb. The smart ones have Netflix, Hulu, and other streaming-service apps built right in. The dumb ones, well, they need a little help.

Arguably the best help you can get comes in the form of a Roku box, which brings pretty much every streaming service known to man (except, annoyingly, YouTube) to your TV.

Today only, and while supplies last, 1SaleADay has the refurbished Roku 2 XS for $64.99 shipped. The same model sells new for $99.99.

This is the premium Roku model, the one with every … Read more