deal

Three tech items you should never buy refurbished

Here's a deal of the day that normally would make me sit up and take notice:

RedTag has the Proscan PLEDV2488A 24-inch LED HDTV with built-in DVD player for $169, plus $1.95 for shipping.

Just one problem: it's refurbished.

Surprised? Normally I'm a champion of refurbished gear. You'll often hear me touting deals on refurbished laptops, tablets, Blu-ray players, and the like. In fact, I think if you're shopping for any Apple product, you should go the refurb route every time.

But there are exceptions, starting with the aforementioned deal. Here's a rundown … Read more

Grab deals with RetailMeNot for Android

RetailMeNot is a deal site that enables you to find coupons and discounts at tens of thousands of nationwide stores. Whether you're looking for deals on clothes, accessories, furniture or food, its slogan is "Save when you want, where you want," and its mobile app delivers it all.

You can search by specific store, popular items, or just by category, and then the results will be sorted by online and in-store. In-store coupons can be used by showing your screen to the cashier so he or she can scan the bar code. Coupons can be … Read more

CNET Exclusive: GOgroove FlexSmart X2 for 38 percent off with free shipping

Liza Maloy isn't a CNET editor, but she has a pretty fun job: she's the CNET Marketplace associate partnership manager, which means she hunts high and low for tech bargains to bring to the CNET audience. Each week, she blogs about deep discounts she brokers. Whenever she can, she gets discounts on products CNET editors love.

This week we have teamed up again with our friends at Accessory Genie to bring the CNET Exclusives members an awesome deal on some sweet car tech. The GOgroove FlexSmart X2 allows for hands-free calling, wireless music playing, and device charging. This … Read more

The 404 1,111: Where we don't make a deal (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- This is the burger that ended Ariel's six-year vegetarian streak

- Groupon turns a profit, but sales fall short

- Groupon salespeople disgruntled, ready to jump ship, report says

- Groupon shares down 22 percent, despite increased sales, profit

- Facedeals lets you check in for coupons with your face

- Chinese Iron Man spends eight years building himself bionic hands after DIY accident

Bathroom break video: The Red Bull F1 running showcar plays the Star-Spangled Banner.

… Read more

Verizon and cable make concessions to close $3.9B deal

Verizon and a consortium of cable companies have struck a deal with regulators to scale back their joint marketing arrangement to gain approval for their $3.9 billion wireless-spectrum deal, according to sources in a Wall Street Journal report.

Verizon and the cable consortium -- which includes Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Bright House Communications -- have supposedly agreed to terms put forth by the Department of Justice that will limit the joint marketing agreement to five years and will prevent Verizon and cable operators from reselling each other's services in markets where their broadband, television, and phone services … Read more

Target, Best Buy latest iPhone price cutters

Apple's iPhone is now cheaper at a host of stores.

Over the weekend, Best Buy cut the price of Apple's iPhone 4 to $50 with a two-year contract, down from its original $100 price tag. Target has taken it one step further and cut the price of the iPhone 4S to $149.99 with a two-year contract, according to its mobile store. However, Target's weekly flyer, sent out yesterday, still lists the iPhone 4S at $179.99.

CNET will contact the Target sales department when it opens to determine its current price on the iPhone 4S.

Regardless, … Read more

CNET Exclusive: 50 percent off a pocket-size speaker with big sound

Liza Maloy isn't a CNET editor, but she has a pretty fun job: She's the CNET Marketplace associate partnership manager, which means she hunts high and low for tech bargains to bring to the CNET audience. Each week, she blogs about deep discounts she brokers. Whenever she can, she gets discounts on products CNET Editors love.

Always on the hunt for exciting new Exclusive deals, a few weeks back I spent some time at the CEA line shows in New York. There I made friends with the Matrix Audio team and fell for their ONE speaker line. These … Read more

Amazon offering $47 Kindles to Amazon.com Visa Card holders

You can read what you want into this special sale, but discounting certain e-ink Kindles to as low as $47 would seem to indicate that Amazon is starting to clear stock to make room for new models.

Alas, the 40 percent discount on "select Kindle devices and Kindle accessories" is only available to folks who are Amazon.com Rewards Visa Card holders, with the additional restriction of one promo code per customer (and yes, the usual disclaimer that limited quantities are available applies here).

Which Kindles are eligible for the sale? Just the entry-level non touch-screen models. The … Read more

Fix your music library with TuneUp, your music companion

If you've ever had to transfer your iTunes library to a new computer, you know it can be quite a painful process. These days, Apple has made it easier than ever before to transfer your music library from one computer to another, but some years ago, it was not easy. I tried to move my entire iTunes library to my new computer via the external hard drive and failed miserably. After some consolidating of files, clicking through the hidden folders, importing/exporting the xml file, a good portion of my music library turned into gibberish. See below and you … Read more