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Get 1TB of cloud storage for life for $30

An even better deal on this unique service, which gives you 500GB of Dropbox-like space and 500GB for backups. Plus: Get Shadow Warrior: Special Edition for free (normally $50) and a huge assortment of free Microsoft ebooks!

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

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. Find more great buys on the CNET Deals page and follow the Cheapskate on Twitter!


zoolz-dashboard.jpg

The Zoolz desktop client is streamlined and simple.  

Zoolz

Today's deal is a rerun, but you know how reruns roll around here: same cool product, even lower price! (Oh, and same lame introductory joke.)

"There is no Dana... only Zoolz!"

Sorry, couldn't help myself. I love making fun of silly company and product names. (Sony Clie, anyone? I'm Watch? Microsoft Kin?)

I'm not saying cloud-backup service Zoolz borrowed from the original "Ghostbusters," only that it's a pretty goofy choice of moniker.

There's nothing silly about this deal, though: Ending soon, you can get a 1TB lifetime Zoolz dual-cloud storage subscription for $29.99. That's $5 less than last time and several zillion less than you'd pay normally.

Here's the risk in choosing any cloud-storage service not called Dropbox, Google Drive or OneDrive: Can it survive the long haul? What if Zoolz' lifetime turns out to be, oh, 18 months? Certainly lots of seemingly similar services have come and gone, and this is your data we're talking about.

Turns out UK-based Zoolz has been in the biz since 2010, mostly focusing on cold-storage technology (based on Amazon Glacier) for businesses. The company claims over 3 millions users and partners including Acer, Canon and Dell.

So, yeah, it doesn't strike me as fly-by-night. Not at all. There are no guarantees in life, of course, but this might be something worth considering if you're looking to, say, add a cloud component to your current local-backup setup.

In fact, your 1TB allotment consists of 500GB of "hot" (meaning instant, Dropbox-like) storage and 500GB of "cold" storage -- the kind you use as a semi-permanent archive. (It takes 3-5 hours to retrieve files from cold storage.)

This particular Zoolz plan derives from the company's Zoolz Home offering, though there's no exact equivalent: In addition to the 500GB/500GB setup, StackSocial's deal is good for two machines (i.e. two users). The closest equivalent (with three users) would cost you $150 per year. This is $30 and you're good forever.

Hopefully. I won't say there's no risk involved, but from what I've seen of both the desktop client and the company's resume, this is a pretty stellar cloud-backup deal. I also recently heard from a reader who grabbed Zoolz last time around and said he was "very happy" with it. (If you were also a buyer last time, hit the comments and share your experiences!)

shadow-warrior-special-edition

This $50 game is free for a very limited time.

Devolver Digital

Bonus deal: Game time! For a limited time, and with what must be a finite number of licenses, the Humble Store is offering Shadow Warrior: Special Edition (Win/Mac/Linux) for free! It normally costs $50 -- the current price if you purchased it via Steam. (That's where you'll redeem your license key, by the way, so you'll need an account there.)

Released in 2013, Shadow Warrior is a "bold reimagining" of the classic 3D Realms first-person shooter. GameSpot's mostly favorable review will tell you everything you need to know -- most notably that this is juvenile, occasionally offensive game that's also fun and, depending on your sense of humor, frequently hilarious.

Did I mention it's free? I nabbed my license; here's hoping you're able to score one as well!

Bonus deal No. 2: If your work involves one or more Microsoft products -- I'm talking Azure, Windows Server and everything in between -- be sure to check out this huge assortment of free Microsoft ebooks. Most are provided as PDFs; some are also available in Epub and/or Mobi format. You don't have to jump through any kind of hoops to get these titles, nor even have a Microsoft account; just click a link to download a book.