Buy an iPod Touch, get a $50 gift card
Best...gadget...ever, and you can use that gift card to splurge on better earphones.
Apple's price on the second-generation iPod Touch (8GB): $229. Best Buy's price on the same model: $229.99, plus sales tax in most states.
However, the latter is currently offering a $50 gift card with the purchase of the 8GB Touch. That's a pretty solid deal if you're planning to do more shopping at Best Buy anyway.
Because I continue to encounter folks who, shockingly, don't know what the iPod Touch is, here's the scoop: it's an iPhone without the phone. It plays music, movies, games, photo slideshows, audiobooks, podcasts, etc. It surfs the Web and fetches e-mail like a champ. And it runs all kinds of kick-ass programs.
Indeed, there's only one thing on this planet I love more than the iPod Touch: the iPhone I replaced it with. CNET loves the iPod Touch too, as evidenced by an Editor's Choice award.
Side deal: Not interested in the iPod? Buy.com has a 1TB external hard drive for that magical price of $99.99 shipped (after a $20 mail-in rebate).