Why You Can Trust CNET 4-deal Friday: Every deal is under $10!
From the Cheapskate: Speakers! Earbuds! E-book bundles! All-you-can-read comics! Everything here will cost you a tenspot or less.
CNET's Cheapskate scours the Web for great deals on PCs, phones, gadgets and much more. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Find the answers on our FAQ page. And find more great buys on the CNET Deals page.
In case you missed it yesterday, be sure to check out my evaluation of Amazon's new Music Unlimited service. It sounds like a good deal, but is it really? (Spoiler alert: Meh.)
A lot of you really loved the $9 Bluetooth speaker deal from yesterday, and a lot of you were bummed about it selling out. So today I've rounded up a bunch more under-$10 deals -- each, hopefully, with enough inventory to satisfy ma cheeps!
Look! Up in the sky! Free comics!
For anyone who loves comics, Marvel Unlimited is a pretty sweet deal at $9.99 per month. As you can probably guess, it affords you unlimited access to Marvel's library -- over 17,000 comics -- on the reading devices of your choice.
Usually there's no free trial, but for a limited time, you can get one month of Marvel Unlimited free when you apply promo code NY16 at checkout. Just be sure to add a reminder to your calendar 29 days from now, as next month (and every subsequent month) you'll be billed the usual 10 bucks -- unless you cancel.
Five books for five bucks
Do you like thrillers? StoryBundle currently has two e-book collections that should be right up your alley: Pulse Pounders and Political Thrillers.
Here's how it works: For as little as $5, you can buy either bundle. All books are DRM-free and compatible with pretty much every kind of e-reader, Kindles included.
If you're feeling flush and can scrape together $15, you get the bonus tier: five or six additional books, depending on the bundle.
Portable desktop speakers for eight bucks
You know the only thing worse than TV speakers? Laptop speakers. The ones in my Asus are a joke. And yet I spend a good deal of my time at the same desk. Why don't I plug in a set of real speakers?
These are $8, is all I'm saying.
I dunno, but that's about to change: Best Buy has the Insignia USB-powered portable speakers for $7.99, plus sales tax and around $5.50 for shipping. (You can avoid the latter charge by picking them up in-store.)
I'm not expecting miracles from these flatties, but over 90 percent of nearly 500 buyers would recommend them, so...you know. They're powered entirely by USB (though you still need a headphone or audio-out jack), meaning one less power brick, and one less cord running behind your desk. On the other hand, be prepared to give up a USB port.
Seriously, though -- eight bucks for a set of desktop speakers. Yes, please!
Return of the $10 Bluetooth earphones
In case you missed these last time, or the time before that, Vafee LLC is once again offering the J&L Real waterproof Bluetooth sport earphones for $9.99, shipped free for Amazon Prime subscribers. That's after applying discount code WUXRCUNC at checkout.
Waterproof? Really? Supposedly so, but I wouldn't necessarily count on these for pool use. Instead, take them to the gym without worrying about ill effects from your sweaty noggin. Also, ignore the "noise cancelling" description; these are noise-isolating earphones, the kind that make a seal inside your ear canal to block out ambient noise. (My favorite kind of earphone, incidentally.)
Reviews: 4.1 stars from nearly 800 buyers. Review-rating site Fakespot scored it a "C," which is better than average for most products like this. Some folks got free or discounted products in exchange for their review, but it seems enough people bought them outright -- and liked them. And, here, you're getting a discounted product not in exchange for a review.
Your thoughts?