X

Get a $220 software bundle for $19, help charity

AppSumo's Windows Holiday Bundle includes some seriously sweet goodies (PlayOn, Plants Vs. Zombies), and 40 percent of the proceeds go to Charity:Water.

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
These are just a few of the great items in the Windows Holiday Bundle for Charity.
These are just a few of the great items in the Windows Holiday Bundle for Charity. AppSumo

I've got something special today. A few months back, I approached AppSumo (known for putting together great software and service bundles) about creating a package that would benefit charity.

They agreed, so I got to work rounding up some of my favorite programs, games, Web services, and so on. And I'm happy to share the result: The Windows Holiday Bundle for Charity. It has a combined value of $220, but a sale price of just $19.

For every bundle sold, AppSumo will give a full 40 percent of the proceeds to Charity:Water, which provides clean drinking water to people in need around the world.

So, what does your $19 buy you (apart from the knowledge that you've helped a very worthy cause)? Here's a rundown:

PlayOn (6-month subscription) This seriously awesome service streams Hulu, CBS, TBS, Comedy Central, Nick, and loads of other sources to your game console, iPhone, iPad, Google TV box, and other devices. When your freebie subscription ends, you can extend it for another year for just $19.99 (not the usual $39.99 for new subscribers).

PopCap Games

Plants Vs. Zombies Perhaps the most popular "casual" game of all time, PvZ challenges you to stop the zombie onslaught through...horticulture? It may sound weird, but trust me: the game delivers fiendishly addictive fun. This full version normally sells for $19.99--a buck more than the price of the entire bundle.

Dial2Do This incredibly handy (and potentially life-saving) service lets you send text messages, update your Facebook or Twitter status, add appointments to your calendar, and more--all just by speaking into your phone. In other words, you can get things done while driving, while still keeping your hands at 10 and 2 o'clock.

BatteryBar Pro The battery gauge Windows should have had, BatteryBar offers a ton of useful information about and control over your laptop's power settings. Trust me: you'll love this little utility.

WinX DVD Ripper Platinum This is my go-to tool when I want to turn a DVD into something I can watch on my iPhone, media center, or just about any other device.

"The Complete Android Guide" (E-book) Authored by Lifehacker's Kevin Purdy, this 282-page "missing manual" teaches you everything you need to know your Android-powered smartphone. It's a great resource for anyone who snatched up, say, that no-contract Samsung Intercept.

Other bundle goodies include the awesome tower-defense game Defense Grid: The Awakening, the inbox-organizing Outlook plug-in Boomerang, the award-winning Panda Cloud Antivirus Pro, and the Fort Knox-caliber firewall Emsisoft Online Armor.

Needless to say, there's nothing but great stuff here, all for a price that's just impossible to beat. The bundle will be available through the end of the month, but after that, it's gone! And it might actually sell out, as we have a limited number of licenses available.

It was really fun putting this together with my Cheapskate peeps in mind, and I really hope you'll consider supporting the very worthy charity we chose to go with it.

Bonus deal: Speaking of charity-helping goodies, check this out: You can download SoftMaker Office 2008 absolutely free between now and Dec. 31, and the developer will make a small donation to "charitable projects." Love it!