Great Plenti Gift Cards deals at Rite Aid 6/19 to 6/25/16

If you are part of the Plenti Rewards program [see our TL;DR if you are not familiar with it], there are some hot gift card deals running there between Sunday 6/19/16 AM and Saturday 6/25/16 PM. The two best offers are:

  • Earn 500 Plenti Points on $25 Google Play Gift Card (limit 2)
  • Earn 800 Plenti Points on a $50 eBay Gift Card (limit 1)

That’s a 20% discount on Google Play and a 16% off discount on eBay. Both are pretty good discounts, especially considering these too are rarely discounted. Unlike iTunes that has discounts all the time. Plenti is a pretty good program, and if all else fails, you can redeem your points at Exxon-Mobile gas stations since almost everyone needs to refuel their cars.

June 17, 2016 Filed Under: shopping Tagged With: , , ,

10-disc QUEEN 40TH Anniversary Collector’s BOX SET for $26 w/free S&H

One of the timeless rock bands for the ages is QUEEN, and their 40th Anniversary Collector’s Boxed Set that consists of 10 discs, five full albums and five bonus EPs, is on sale for $26 with free shipping by Target’s eBay store. A total of 83 tracks are included, 27 of which are from the five bonus EPs. Limit six sets per customer during this particular sale. No digital copy is available, so you’d have to convert them to mp3/flac on your own.

June 11, 2016 Filed Under: music Tagged With: ,

Huawei Honor 5X for $160 (Unlocked 4G LTE, No Contract)

Mid-range is the new flagship in the world of smartphones these days as technology has advanced to the point where you can have a nice phone without breaking the bank on a flagship (unless you want to or it has must have features or performance).

If you are in the former category, the official NewEgg eBay store is offering the new condition, unlocked with USA warranty, Huawei Honor 5X Metal smartphone (formal name KIW-L24) for $160 with free shipping. You have three colors to pick from (gray, silver or gold) and up to five devices per eBay buyer (NewEgg enforces the limits). Already nearly 900 units got sold as of posting time.

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May 17, 2016 Filed Under: android Tagged With: , , ,

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).

November 21, 2015 Filed Under: android Tagged With: , , , , , ,

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.

November 10, 2015 Filed Under: android Tagged With: , , , , , , ,

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.

November 8, 2015 Filed Under: android Tagged With: , , , , , ,

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.

November 6, 2015 Filed Under: android Tagged With: , , , ,

LG Nexus 5 for $175

The launch of Marshmallow (Android 6.0) changed the depth chart of the Nexus phone line-up. No longer can the trusty Nexus 4 get official OTA Google OS updates with the rest of the pack. So the lines have moved, now the Nexus 5 is the oldest phone that is going to be Marhsmallowed (yes, it’s a verb!). Of course there is (and will be) more work at XDA and other places to get 6.0 on the Nexus 4, but if you prefer the official OTA, it has to be Nexus 5 or newer.

Speaking of which, eBay seller “mobilepros1” (97.9%) is offering new-condition factory-unlocked 16GB LG Nexus 5 (model D820) for $175 with free shipping, with a limit of five per buyer. Only the black color scheme is available. This is a GSM model. No contract!

The warranty is curiously described as “Remaining US Warranty”. Remaining as in? 🙂

A quick refresher, this has 2GB RAM, 16GB on-board, no microSD, 5-inch 1080p display, Snapdragon 800 with Adreno 330, and things like that. Some are reporting battery life improvements with Android 6.0, which is a good thing since battery life was one of the knocks on this one when it came out.

Now strategically the question is, do you get this one or a Nexus 6? Other things equal, the Nexus 6 may get an additional official OS update over the Nexus 5. On the other hand, there’s breaking rumor-news now that Google will merge Android and ChromeOS, so I don’t know if that will throw a monkey-wrench in their OS upgraditis situation.

October 29, 2015 Filed Under: android, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , ,

Seller-refurbished Samsung Galaxy S4 (Verizon) for $90

If you are not a perfectionist, and you are comfortable with the higher risk of seller-refurbished products, the Verizon version of the 16GB Samsung Galaxy S4, model i545, is offered in seller refurbished condition for $90 with free shipping, in three of the four colors (blue is sold-out), by eBay seller “GuaranteeCellular” (98.4%). Limit five per customer. No contract!

The description there stresses that it has “noticeable scratches or scuff mark”, but promises that it will be fully functional and have a clean ESN. As of posting time, over 1900 units got sold from this particular listing, despite the higher risk and the lower percentage of the seller. If you are risk-averse or a perfectionist, you may want to sit this one out.

October 29, 2015 Filed Under: android Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Refurbished Motorola Droid 3 XT862 for $30 [Verizon]

If you are fond of older Droid-branded headphones, but still 4G LTE, and you feel comfortable with seller-refurbished smartphones, eBay seller “Grab Wireless” (99.3%) is offering the seller-refurbished Motorola Droid 3 XT862 (Verizon obviously, 16GB on-board, 4G LTE) for $30 with free shipping with a limit of 50 per customer. Over 300 units got sold so far from this listing. No contract obviously 🙂

The seller is offering a 30-day money-back guarantee but obviously no warranty.

October 2, 2015 Filed Under: android Tagged With: , , , ,

Unlocked 32GB Motorola Nexus 6 (XT1103) for $300

If the new Nexus 5X and 6P devices are not to your liking, there’s further discounting on last year’s Nexus 6 by Motorola. You can get it in new condition, carrier unlocked, in the 32GB denomination for $300 with free shipping, with a choice of blue or white, with a limit of five per customer, from eBay seller “QualityCellz” (99.2%). This is model XT1103.

This does not have a microSD, but it is one of only a few phones at the moment that can work with Google’s Project FI, whose defining feature is giving you an account credit for unused data in your account.

September 30, 2015 Filed Under: android Tagged With: , , , , , ,

LG G Stylo LTE (Boost Mobile) for $150

If you like stylus phones but don’t want to pay big S-Pen dollars, and want them in new condition, you can get the Boost Mobile edition of the LG G Stylo LTE, with its 5.7-inch screen, for $150 with free shipping, sold by eBay seller “ShopCellDeals” (99.7%). No contract! You can always use it as a Wifi-only model if you don’t want to sign up for a Boost Mobile plan.

September 26, 2015 Filed Under: android Tagged With: , , ,

Refurbished LG G2 D801 (T-Mobile locked, No Contract) for $130

If you are fond of former flagship phones, you can find many and more of those at the eBay Deals. Case in point, you can get the manufacturer refurbished LG G2 (D801, T-Mobile, 4G LTE) for just $130 with free shipping from eBay seller “Pangea Deals” (98.9%). One of the reason the price is low is because this is locked to T-Mobile, so you have to use it there for cellular. As always, you can use it as a Wifi-only device. No contract!

This phone has been out for a while, so there are plenty of reviews and tips and hacks available on the interwebs for you. As a refresher, this is a 4G LTE device, running on the Snapdragon 800, with 2GB RAM, a 5.2-inch 1920 x 1080 Gorilla Glass 3 display, 32GB on-board storage, microUSB, OTG, etc. As you can see, this is not a bad spec sheet.

Good Candidate for the T-Mobile 10GB/month Family Plans
Particularly of interest if you are planning to sign up for T-Mobile’s 10GB/line family plan that requires a minimum of two lines, and it is a data-hungry user’s dream. Each line gets 10GB of its own per month, with a 12-month Data Stash (their name for rollover).

Two lines are $100 total, so you get 20GB per month, with rollover. Optionally, for +$10/month, you can add an extra 10GB per line, so $130 gets you 30GB/month, $140 gets you 40GB/month. Nom nom indeed. Plus music streaming and Speedtest does NOT count against this limit. On top of that, you can use up to 10GB per line for hotspot/tethering (this of course comes out of your total 10GB line bucket).

September 16, 2015 Filed Under: android Tagged With: , , , , ,

Samsung Galaxy S6 (G920i) for $430 [no contract; unlocked!]

If you are comfortable with a Galaxy S flagship smartphone without a microSD slot and without a removable battery, you can get the international edition, factory unlocked, version of the Samsung Galaxy S6 (G920i) for $430 with free shipping, in new condition, with a limit of five per customer.

Only the black sapphire color scheme is available. The other two have sold out already. The seller of record is none other than Monoprice (their eBay store)! This is a GSM phone, unlocked, no contract!

September 15, 2015 Filed Under: android Tagged With: , , , , ,

Refurbished Motorola Moto E (Net10-Verizon) for $20 w/free s&h

If you want a general purpose basic but functional Android phone and you have exactly $20 to spare, you found the right post! For $20 with free shipping you can get the manufacturer refurbished Motorola Moto E (XT830C) from eBay seller “WW_Manufacturing” (99.7%). This is a “Verizon Towers” edition and comes with a one year warranty from Net10. No contract. You can use it as a Wifi-only device or signup for a Net10 (Verizon Towers) plan. You can buy as many as you like.

With more and more things becoming connected, this could make (among many other things) a handy in-home remote control 🙂

September 8, 2015 Filed Under: android Tagged With: , , , , , ,