Get a 120GB SSD for $69.99

Solid-state drives (or SSDs) are finally getting affordable.

Here's proof: today only, and while supplies last, 1SaleADay has the 120GB OCZ Agility 3 SATA III 2.5-inch SSD for $69.99, plus $4.99 for shipping. That's the lowest price I've seen on an SSD with these specs.

And it can get lower still: there's a $10 mail-in rebate (PDF), which comes in the form of an American Express prepaid card (which is more or less as good as cash).

I know many of you object to rebates, in which case I say forget about this one; the drive is still a steal at $69.99.

An SSD offers numerous advantages of a traditional hard drive, including faster performance, lower power consumption, silent operation, and almost no chance of mechanical failure (because it has no moving parts). Begone, dreaded Click of Death!

The Agility 3 features a SATA III interface (backwards compatible with SATA II), TRIM support (look it up), and a three-year OCZ warranty. Some 500-plus users on Newegg (where it currently sells for $89.99 -- and that's after a $15 mail-in rebate) rated it four stars out of five.

A drive like this can breathe new life into an aging laptop, as detailed in Dong Ngo's excellent tutorial, "Migrating to SSD: Get yourself a new computer without getting one."

I'll second that: I replaced the 5,400-rpm hard drive in my laptop with a similar SSD, and I'm not exaggerating when I say it boots and shuts down twice as fast. (Seriously, I clocked it.) Your mileage may vary, but this is a very inexpensive way to squeeze a few more years out of a mobile PC. The only wrinkle is if you have more data than will fit on a 120GB drive.

By the way, thanks to readers Eric and Jorge for telling me about this deal (and in the middle of the night, no less).

Also, I occasionally get nastygrams from readers who say they never got their order from 1SaleADay or can't get a response from customer service. I take these complaints into consideration when choosing what deals and companies to promote.

However, for what it's worth, I've ordered from the 1SaleADay several times and haven't encountered any problems. Also, they currently have an 8.66/10 rating at ResellerReviews, so I feel confident about continuing to share their deals. As always, if you have an issue and can't get satisfaction from a company, take it up with your credit-card provider.

Bonus deal: Looking for an iPod Touch with a bigger screen and expandable storage? Today only, and while supplies last, Woot has the refurbished Samsung Galaxy Player 5.0 for $149.99, plus $4.99 for shipping. It features a 5-inch screen, 8GB of storage (expandable via microSD cards), GPS, Bluetooth, dual cameras, and Android 2.3. It sells new for $219.99.

Deals found on The Cheapskate are subject to availability, expiration, and other terms determined by sellers.

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