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Get a Vizio 2.1-channel Bluetooth TV sound stand for $69.99

It's refurbished, but backed by a 90-day warranty. At this price, this TV-friendly speaker won't last long!

Rick Broida Senior Editor
Rick Broida is the author of numerous books and thousands of reviews, features and blog posts. He writes CNET's popular Cheapskate blog and co-hosts Protocol 1: A Travelers Podcast (about the TV show Travelers). He lives in Michigan, where he previously owned two escape rooms (chronicled in the ebook "I Was a Middle-Aged Zombie").
Rick Broida
3 min read

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Cheeps, a quick follow-up on yesterday's smart-scale deal. My Yunmai Color arrived late yesterday, so I've only done one weigh-in with it. But so far, so good. For starters, I was surprised that the app automatically connected with the scale, no manual pairing required. Nice! And my actual weight readings were within 0.1 pounds of my regular scale.

As for the rest of the stats, like body fat, muscle, water, protein and so on, there's no way to know for sure how accurate they are unless you can compare them to readings taken by a medical professional. As with a Fitbit, you probably have to take the data with a grain of salt. That said, I like the design and performance of the scale (what I've seen so far, anyway), and already prefer it to my old "dumb" one.

Stand up for sound

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Photos really don't do this thing justice. It's not much to look at it, but it sits unobtrusively under your TV anyway.

Vizio

Today's deal is a repeat, but with the ever-popular lower-price-than-last-time feature. Although last time the product was new; this one is refurbished. You'll have to decide whether it's worth the savings.

I love television the way I love the air I breathe and the food I eat, but two things drive me crazy: the dreaded soap-opera effect (easily remedied, thank goodness) and built-in TV speakers.

The latter sound terrible. Not just sometimes, in some TVs, but in all TVs, everywhere, always. They're just too small, and usually pointed in the wrong direction (like down or backward, exactly where you're not sitting).

The fix: a sound bar, or in today's case a sound stand that sits underneath the TV. For a limited time, and while supplies last, Woot has the refurbished Vizio SS2521-C6 25-inch 2.1-channel Bluetooth sound stand for $69.99, plus $5 for shipping. Price for a new one: from $150-250!

Here's why this is better than most sound bars: The Vizio sits beneath your TV (anything up to 55 inches), not out in front of it where it can't help looking ugly and awkward.

Plus, because it's much larger than a sound bar, it's able to accommodate not just separated stereo speakers, but also a subwoofer (the ".1" in "2.1"). As everyone with a pair of ears knows, a subwoofer makes a huge difference in overall sound quality.

The Vizio sports all the important inputs -- RCA, coax, optical and so on -- but also has a Bluetooth option, meaning you can pair your phone or tablet for those times when you want to listen to music. That's another huge benefit to this model over sound bars that are TV-only.

And how does it sound? I haven't located any pro reviews of the SS2521-C6, but well over 250 Amazon buyers rated it 4.2 stars out of 5, which I consider pretty compelling evidence this is a good product. (Google it and you'll find a 4.5-star average from Google reviewers.)

My only concern is availability: These probably won't last long. Get one while you can!

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