As of 11/25/15 late PM, this offer is no longer available for a penny. They had a bundle with $10 airtime that got them all scooped up.
Archives for November 2015
32GB HTC One M7 (AT&T Unlocked) for $150
Things move fast in the world of smartphones, which means you can get previous flagships for less a couple of years later. But they also rarely run the latest version of Android, so you have a tug-of-war of trade-offs to make. Be that as it may, among the latest offers on eBay you can get the new condition unlocked 32GB HTC One M7 for $150 with free shipping, in either the black or silver color schemes. The seller of record is QualityCellz (99.2%).
This is the last HTC flagship before they re-embraced microSD cards with the M8. So if 32GB is enough for you, and you don’t care for a microSD slot, keep on reading. The listing describes it as “factory unlocked” but it says multiples times this is “AT&T unlocked”. So if you are planning to use it with other GSM carriers that do not operate in the AT&T universe, you may want to check the bands or your favorite Android phones first.
As a quick refresher, this is powered by Snapdragon 600 processor with 2GB RAM, a 1920 x 1080 Gorilla Glass 2 screen, and such. It originally came out during the reign of Android 4.1.2 (Jelly Bean).
Nov 22-26: 20% off Staples B&M regular-priced items
Before the Black Friday Madness begins, in the shortened shopping week that runs Sunday through the close of business on Wednesday (November 22-25 in 2015), you can get 20% off your regularly-priced purchase price at Staples when you use the coupon code found on their website (under Weekly Ads for this particular time period) and eventually at their coupons page (staples.com/coupons).
This says 20% off regularly priced items but it often works on clearance items as well. But it probably won’t work on any items that are on sale or have special promotions or Easy Rebates on them. Having said that, there’s only one way to find out: try it out in-store!
The coupon is good for the whole purchase (of eligible items), not just a single item.
Refurbished 16GB Nexus 5 (unlocked) for $170 [was $150]
The 16GB Nexus 5 (made by LG) Android phone that is part of the Marshmallow wave is available in “certified refurbished” condition for $170 [was $150] with free shipping by two different sellers “BuySPRY” and “Magic Mobile Partners” with the order fulfilled by Amazon, so you get free Prime shipping (if a member) and you get to deal with the Amazon customer service in case of problems. This “certified refurbished” comes with a minimum 90-day warranty and testing/inspection according to the product listing over there… UPDATE 11/19/15: the price jumped from $150 to $170 🙁
From the same seller with similar terms you can get the 32GB version for $180. This does not have a microSD slot, so it’s a trade-off to consider. On the other hand, this is a 4G LTE phone, so if you have a fast connection and access to reliable Wifi, you may not need more than 16GB – at least for media purposes.
I haven’t yet bought any items that are part of Amazon’s Certified Refurbished category, so I can’t tell you what to expect. I am tempted by this Nexus 5 price though because I don’t currently have an officially sanctioned Marshmallow phone.
There are no customer reviews of either one of these listings, so perhaps this is for the more brave shoppers who don’t mind taking a risk.
Nov 15-21: 20% back in Plenti points on $25 Google Play or $50 Best Buy Gift Cards
If you are a member of the Rite Aid Plenti Rewards program (see our introductory post on it), for the week of November 15-21 in 2015, at Rite Aid brick and mortar stores, you can get 20% back in Plenti points when you purchase a $25 Google Play Gift Card (you get 500 Plenti points; limit 2) or a $50 Best Buy Gift Card (you get 1000 Plenti points; limit 2). Only the specific amounts mentioned in their weekly circular ad are eligible for this promotion.
This is great either way, Google Play rarely gets discounted, unlike iTunes that can easily be found 20% to 25% off. And the Best Buy offer is pretty good as well.
The easiest way to redeem these Plenti points after they post to your account is towards future Rite Aid purchases or fill up your car at a participating Mobil-Exxon gas station.
Nov 15-21: Free $10 Walgreens Gift Card with Prepaid Phone purchase
For the week of November 15-21 (in 2015), at Walgreens brick and mortar stores, you can receive a FREE $10 Walgreens plastic gift card if you purchase any prepaid phone from either T-Mobile or Net10 or Tracfone. Depending on their prices and/or sales options, this may be a pretty good deal. As usual, YMMV as inventory may vary from store to store and region to region…
Last Call: The T-Mobile 2-line $10GB/line $100 no-contract plan
T-Mobile will be launching their new smartphone plans on Sunday November 15 in 2015. Their highly advertised new family plan is 6GB per line. However, if you want more data and you are ready to move quickly, good until Saturday night (at least), you can get their 10GB/line plan, with a minimum of two lines per customer, for $100 for 2 lines. These offers are available at their brick and mortar stores or at their toll-free customer service. You won’t find this on their website.
I don’t know if the 2+ lines with 10GB/line plan will continue after Sunday, given the new plans in place (and the increase of the Unlimited single-line plan). Since there are no contracts, you can jump on this plan at the last minute and make changes later, depending on how things turn out.
PS: this plan is 2 lines with 10GB per line for $100. However, if you need more data, you can go to 20GB/line for +$10/mo per line.
Back In-stock: ASUS M32CD Win10 Skylake i5 PC for $410 [updated]
If you are looking for a bang for the buck i5 Skylake Desktop PC, the ASUS M32CD is back in-stock at Amazon.com for $410 (was $430) with free shipping. It is powered by the i5-6400 quad core, with 8GB RAM, and 1TB hard disk, DVD burner, lots of USB ports (3.1, 3.0, 2.0), and Windows 10 out of the box… Price updated here 11/16/15…
If you are interested in this, we have a slow-moving on-going review of it at our brand new content blog:
Rare sale at Evernote Market (up to 25% off)
If you are a big fan of Evernote and its accessories ecosystem, they have a rare sale at their Market with up to 25% off. There’s no coupon, the discounts are marked over there. You will not find bang for the buck items there, it’s mostly for the diehard fans, some may even call them a benevolent cult of sorts 🙂 The sale ends Sunday night (11/15/15).
But this $18 green t-shirt looks so adorable! Tempted 🙂 Keep in mind however, shipping is extra 🙁
NOTE: some of the items come with Evernote Points. The ones I found at brick and mortar (eg Staples, Office Max) have expiration dates of 12/31/15, so if you want to take advantage of the points, make sure when you receive the items, you enter the points before it’s too late. You can use the points immediately (10 points = an extra month of Evernote Premium) or bank them for future use (eg 120 points = 1 year of Evernote Premium).
NOTE #2: claiming the Points is easy. You can start at the Post It claim page and follow the prompts. You basically enter the promo code found in the purchased items and enter your Evernote email address and that’s about it.
DVD set: The Last Airbender (Complete Series) for $25
If you are a fan of anime, the DVD set of “The Last Airbender” TV series is on sale for $25 at Amazon, with the usual free shipping prerequisites. This comes with 16 discs and was released in early October of this year.
However, if you are a fan of the series, there’s another option coming out on November 17 of this year that you may find more tempting, an Amazon Exclusive set that includes the DVDs plus an 80-page illustrated book, the “Avatar: The Last Airbender – The Promise Part 1”, written by the series creative duo. The story in the book picks up after the TV series ended. Check your favorite anime website or forum for more details.
Starbucks Rewards: 1 Bonus Stars with handcrafted Teavana beverage using Mobile Order
Just as the cold winds are rising, Starbucks decided to run a Teavana promotion, although, to be fair, they also have hot Teavana beverages, not just cold/iced. Anyway, let me start from the beginning. If you are a Starbucks Rewards member, a new promotion was emailed out earlier today that gets you one Bonus Star (in addition to the regular one star) when you purchase a Teavana handcrafted beverage using the Mobile Order app feature.
As such, this is perhaps best suited for cold drinks if you are ordering from afar. The cold drinks, especially in this weather, won’t un-cool quickly, but hot drinks can cool off. Plus if you are getting teabag tea, you have to pay attention to brewing time.
Regardless, you can always place the mobile order from within the store, or if you don’t feel brave enough to do that, you can place it from the parking lot 🙂 Since this is a mobile order, this has to be paid at the same time it is placed, using the balance on your Starbucks gift card.
The promotion runs November 11-24 in 2015.
Seller-refurbished Samsung Galaxy S5 (T-Mobile, Unlocked) for $210
If today’s Uncarrier X announcements got you excited about T-Mobile, but you don’t want to pay the big bucks for a new phone and you don’t want to sign up for those monthly plans, among the latest offers on eBay you can get the seller-refurbished Samsung Galaxy S5 (T-Mobile, but unlocked now) for $210 with free shipping by eBay seller “chubbiestech” (98.7%). This is available in either black or white, with a limit of 50 per customer. The gold color is sold-out.
The description over there states “phone in fair to good condition, Unit will have scuffs or scratches on body and screen. Comes packaged in after market box with compatible charger & battery”. If you are comfortable with the higher risk of seller-refurbished items, and you are not a perfectionist in terms of the cosmetic product condition, you may get a great deal out of this.
Since this is a T-Mobile unlocked phone, it should work great with T-Mobile. For other GSM carriers, check the bands to make sure it’s a good match. Of particular interest if you are a fan of microSD cards and removable batteries since Samsung yanked both of those features out of the Galaxy S6 🙁
No contract, you own the phone right away. You can always use it as a Wifi-only media device, or use it for development purposes or other experiments, or have it “eat” data from your mobile hotspot or other phones.
Seller-Refurbished HTC One M8 (model 6525) for $170 [Verizon with Unlocked GSM]
If you are comfortable with beat-up smartphones (an anti-euphemism for seller-refurbished), all it takes is $170 (was $150) to get the seller refurbished 32GB HTC One M8 (model 6525) from eBay seller BidAllies (98.7%). The description over there calls it “This is a B+ Stock item, meaning unit is in good cosmetic condition and may have minor scrapes or scratches since it’s been handled.”… Price updated in this post on 11/10/15…
Now if you only want to use it as a Wifi-only device, you don’t have to worry about the cellular part. But if you do, keep in mind, this is a Verizon Wireless model, with the GSM part unlocked. Some recent Verizon phones have GSM so you can use it while traveling abroad. So if you are planning to use it on GSM, make sure you check the bands, and check various forums, to make sure it will work to your satisfaction on your chosen GSM network.
Over 4900 units got sold from this offer so far. Only the Gray color scheme remains in-stock. The rest are sold-out. Some prefer the M8 to the newer M9 flagship, but that depends on preferences. The M8 was the first HTC modern-era flagship to bring back the microSD slot (the M7 does not have it).
No contract, you own it right away. You don’t have to use it wirelessly, you just have it as a Wifi-only device, such as a media player, or remote control, or have it feed off your hotspot or your other phone’s mobile hotspot.
The price is very tempting, but make sure you understand the risks of a “seller refurbished” item, and the potential band issues if you are planning to use it on a GSM network.
Open-box HTC One M9 (former AT&T, unlocked) for $350 (was $300)
Things are heating up in the world of smartphones, the flagships from the established phone manufacturers are getting a lot of pressure from upstarts (companies big and small that don’t have the gravitas of the Samsung, LG, HTC, etc). That means discounting across the board. Including the open-box (new-other condition) HTC One M9 (32GB, Unlocked, was AT&T) for $350 (was $300) with free shipping. The seller is QualityCellz (99.2%), and claims it is under HTC warranty but does not provide further details… Price updated in this post on 11/10/15…
The “new-other” part says it may have cosmetic imperfections. Sounds like open-box. eBay really needs to clean up their “item descriptions” as people seem to be finding loopholes to “prettify” their listings.
Since this was an AT&T phone, if you are planning to use it on some other GSM carriers, make sure you check the bands and frequencies to make sure it works to your satisfaction.
It is contested in some Android forums as to whether one should get the M9 or go for the M8, so it’s up to you to prioritize features and prices.
Starbucks Rewards: Buy 2 specific items, Get 6 Bonus Stars
Starbucks is back with another offer for their Rewards members. This is a bit more complicated than usual and it requires opt-in and also requires making a choice ahead of time!
There are three ways to earn six bonus stars. You select which item you want to use for this “challenge”. You have to click on one of those three in your Starbucks Rewards e-mail. Once you do that, that particular offer is activated on your account. The more general one is the breakfast sandwiches since it covers multiple items. The other two items are specific drinks. Unless of course those happen to be among your favorite drinks, in which case, you should have no problem buying two of them during the promotional period.
The promotion runs November 3-9 in 2015. As usual, you have to pay with your Starbucks app or plastic gift card that is linked to your Rewards account. The bonus stars will be added to your account by November 20, 2015.
It is possible that this offer is stackable with the mobile order but there’s no way to verify it ahead of time. They do run in parallel for the most part.
Limit one per customer during this promotional period. You can only select one of those three options, not all three!
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