Why You Can Trust CNET Wild Wednesday: 5 deals not to be missed
A little something for everyone today, including a $90 Brother all-in-one for $50. And even a bonus deal, too!
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.
Good morning! Today I bring you a little "deal potpourri," as diverse an assemblage of items as they come. Let's get right to it.
Brother, can you spare a ridiculously good MFP deal?
Repeat after me: "While supplies last." Because I fear they won't last long: Office Depot-Max has the Brother MFC-J480W all-in-one printer for $49.99 shipped. Regular price: $89.99.
This amazingly compact MFP not only prints, but also scans, copies and faxes. It has a 20-sheet auto-document feeder and can do automatic double-sided printing (that is, duplexing) -- remarkable given its size. It even has an Ethernet option alongside USB and Wi-Fi.
Because it's a Brother, third-party ink is cheap and plentiful. Crazy, crazy, crazy-good deal.
Big 4G LTE tablet, small price
Once upon a time, this model cost hundreds and hundreds. Now it's $54.99. Woot!
I kind of miss the days when Amazon was competing with Apple for the high-end tablet market. At least yesterday's high-end Fire tablets are today's steals: Woot has the refurbished Amazon Kindle Fire HD 8.9 4G LTE for $54.99, plus $5 for shipping. That's for the 32GB model; you can get it with 64GB for $15 more.
Two key things to know about this: First, its screen is spacious by tablet standards and runs at 1,920x1,080 pixels, so it's crazy-sharp. Second, the 4G LTE option means you can get online even when there's no Wi-Fi available, though it's up to you to purchase a data plan.
According to at least one Woot commenter, the Fire HD 8.9 is unlocked, meaning you could pop in a T-Mobile SIM and enjoy 200MB of free data every month. Don't quote me; I'm merely repeating what I heard.)
Classical classics for a penny apiece
I like anything that has "feel good" in the name, because these days it can be a little challenging to feel good about anything.
Over at Amazon, you can nab "="" for="" cents"="">"Feel Good Classics: 100 Songs to Make You Feel Happy" for 99 cents. This MP3 album is actually free if you're a Prime subscriber, but if you'd rather own the songs or listen to them somewhere besides Amazon, a buck is all it takes.
The collection includes all manner of peppy, happy, uplifting classical classics, many of which you'll recognize: "The Four Seasons," "Carmen," "The Nutcracker" and so on. You might say this deal offers incredible Bach for the buck. Eh? Eh?
Stock up on stock photos
Depositphotos offers several bazillion images, and you can get 100 of them for just $39.
Stock photos -- the kind you're allowed to use for business or commercial purposes -- can be really expensive. For example, an outfit called Depositphotos charges a hefty $299 for 100 royalty-free images.
For a limited time, and while "supplies" last (this deal can sell out), AppSumo is offering 100 photo/vector downloads from Depositphotos for $39. That's pretty sweet. Not long ago I shelled out $50 to get a measly four stock images from another source.
Like nearly all AppSumo deals, this one includes a 60-day money-back guarantee, which I consider really impressive. If you end up not liking this for some reason -- any reason -- you can get a refund. Me, I routinely need stock images for my business, so this is a no-brainer buy.
Game time!
If the words "massive military sandbox" make you sit straight up in your chair, you need to check out the Arma series. These first-person shooters are widely revered by gamers, offering some of the best large-scale ground combat you'll find anywhere.
The latest in the series, Arma 3, sells for $39.99, but right now you can get Arma 3 (Windows) for just $15. Oh, right, and that price includes all the Arma games and a bunch of add-ons to boot. Yep, it's a bundle! One that provides a kickback to the American Red Cross. (Hmm. Irony?) As usual, the games are delivered in the form of digital keys you redeem on Steam.
If you've never tried the Arma series but think you might enjoy it, this is an awful lot of bang-bang for the buck. Man, I'm on fire today!
This USB keyboard has large-label keys and lights up in three different colors!
Bonus deal: What? A bonus deal on top of all that? I know, I'm the gift that keeps on giving. When you get old like me, your eyesight starts to give -- and you start coveting things like keyboards with large letters. Like this one: Walmart has the Azio KB505U Large-Print Tri-Color Illuminated USB Keyboard for $19.99. In addition to its huge-print keys, it has backlighting in your choice of three colors! I don't know why I'm so tickled by this, I just am.