Why You Can Trust CNET Get the Equil Smartpen 2 for $109.99
That's the lowest price you'll find anywhere and a Cheapskate exclusive!
A few quick housekeeping notes before today's deal...
First, we had some internal issues yesterday that prevented newsletters from going out. If you ever find yourself wondering, "Hey, where's my daily Cheapskate?", you can always head right here -- cnet.com/cheapskate -- or find me on Twitter.
Second, now that many of us are spoiled by Amazon Prime and regular two-day shipping, it can be infuriating when a product you order doesn't arrive immediately. Such appears to be the case with the Garmin Head-Up Display sold through Groupon a couple weeks back. A few readers are hoppin' mad they haven't received theirs yet. Remember: some daily-deal sites take 1-2 weeks just to process orders, and if there's a national holiday in the mix (like, say, New Year's Day), that can delay things even further. Patience, my friends, patience.
I mention this because today's deal includes just such a caveat: "Please allow up to 2-3 weeks for shipping."
And speaking of today's deal: the pen is mightier than the keyboard, at least when it comes to jotting notes on the go, drawing maps, sketching ideas and so on.
Of course, it seems downright archaic to merely deposit ink on paper. Modern pens should also record your strokes electronically, the better to archive and enhance and share them.
Asked and answered: for a limited time, StackSocial is offering the Equil Smartpen 2 for $109.99 shipped when you apply coupon code spskate at checkout. That's $20 off their regular price, $60 off list, and a Cheapskate exclusive!
When it comes to smartpens, you've probably heard of Livescribe, which pretty much pioneered the category. However, that product requires you to write on special graph-like paper, a hassle to say the least.
The Equil Smartpen can record your scribbles whether you write on a legal pad, a cocktail napkin or a sheet of construction paper. That's because it relies on a sensor that clips to the top of your pad or paper. Yes, it's a hassle of another sort, but to my thinking a much smaller one. The pen and sensor both tuck neatly away inside a sleek, triangular dock that also recharges both units.
The Smartpen not only stores your writing in its internal memory, but also syncs pages to your phone or tablet -- where Equil's app lets you organize and share them. You can annotate your notes, add tags and photos, upload to various cloud services, and so on.
This elegant product would be ideal for students, realtors, administrative assistants and anyone else who's constantly taking notes with a pen and paper. At $169.99, it's a tough sell. At $109.99, I think it's easier to swallow. (I pushed really hard for $99, but this was as far as StackSocial could go without incurring a loss.)
Your thoughts?
Bonus deal: Listen up! Today only, and while supplies last, Amazon has the Creative D80 portable Bluetooth speaker for $19.99 -- shipped free for Amazon Prime subscribers, or around $7 for non-subscribers. (You can also pad your cart to at least $35 to score free shipping.) It's a pretty standard speaker, but with an awesome extra: a Bluetooth toggle button for quickly switching between two connected devices. Yes, please!