Get a one

I love kickboxing, but the gym in my area is expensive — like, around $100-per-month expensive. And that’s if I lock into a one-year contract, which I won’t do because I’m unlikely to take classes during the summer months. Meanwhile, what if I want to switch to yoga sometimes, or see what spin is all about?

Enter ClassPass, a thing I just discovered and am excited to try. For as little as $29 per month, you get credits you can redeem for classes at any and all participating studios — kickboxing, yoga, barre, cycling and so on. Use that link (or this button) to get a one-month free trial, a $49 value.

See it at ClassPass

My aforementioned kickboxing gym charges $25 per drop-in class. The $29 ClassPass tier would enable me to take three classes there per month, so in that scenario alone it’s a huge savings. If I bump up to $49 a month, I could take six classes.

Different studios “charge” different numbers of credits per class, so depending on where you go and what you take, you might get more bang for your credit buck. The $49 tier (which is what you’re getting as part of this trial) should net you six to nine classes.

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The other cool thing: You can use this anywhere in the US. So it’s great if you travel a lot and want to drop into, say, a yoga class while out of town.  

This is a pretty generous trial, nice for really testing the waters — and making sure there are enough nearby studios and desirable classes to make it worth your while. Just remember to cancel in a month if you don’t want to start getting auto-billed.


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Get a one

The beauty of owning an unlocked phone is that you can take it to whatever carrier offers the best deal. And a few carriers make the deal even sweeter if you’re willing to prepay for an entire year.

Mint Mobile is probably the best-known company to offer that option, but there’s another: Red Pocket. And the latter has a slight edge in two important areas: compatibility and price.

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Let’s talk price first: Today only, a limited number of new customers can get a Red Pocket Mobile Prepaid 12-month unlimited plan with 8GB LTE data for $240. That’s $125 off the regular price, and it works out to just $20 per month.

See it at eBay

To put that in perspective, Mint’s comparable plan (12 months, 5GB of high-speed data) runs $240, or $20 per month. Feel like you might need more data? Red Pocket’s 20GB annual plan can be yours for $360 (equivalent to $30 monthly), versus $300 at Mint.

With either plan, you get unlimited 2G data if you burn through your high-speed allotment. You can also purchase extra LTE data a-la-carte if you wish.

Red Pocket leverages all four of the big carriers (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon), meaning you can bring just about any unlocked phone. However, the two plans on sale today will relegate you to either AT&T (if it’s a GSM-only phone) or Sprint (if it’s a CDMA phone).

Mint, for its part, supports only GSM phones, and relies solely on T-Mobile. If you compare the AT&T and T-Mobile coverage maps, you’ll see that the former blankets much more of the country, especially in rural areas.

There are a couple small caveats for iPhone users: If you opt for AT&T instead of Sprint, you won’t be able to use mobile hotspot (an Apple limitation, according to a Red Pocket representative) or visual voicemail. Android users can enjoy both features on either network.

I love the idea of making one lump payment for phone service, then not seeing another bill for 12 months — especially when the amortized rate works out to be this low.


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CNET’s Cheapskate scours the web for great deals on PCs, phones, gadgets and much more. Note that CNET may get a share of revenue from the sale of the products featured on this page. 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 Facebook and Twitter!


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Apple Watch SE Is Back Down to Just $219 at Amazon

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Instaread

May the Fourth be with you, fellow nerds! Don’t forget to enter the Avegant Glyph giveaway if you haven’t already. Because everyone needs a portable personal theater!

You know all those awesome-sounding nonfiction books you want to read, but never actually have time to read? There’s an app for that.

It’s called Instaread, and it gives you the key insights and takeaways from over 500 books — with more added every month.

Normally it runs $4.99 per month, or $49.99 annually, but for a limited time you can get a one-year Instaread subscription for $24.99. Think this is the service you’ve been waiting for all your life? Then consider the lifetime subscription for $49.99.

Before I go any further, I should point out that the app is currently available for iOS only. The Instaread home page has a sign-up to get notified when an Android version is available, but there’s no indication when that will be. Bummer.

Similar in spirit to Cliff’s Notes, Instaread distills books down to their core elements, the idea being to give you a summary of the good stuff. Take something like John Gray’s seminal “Men are From Mars, Women are From Venus,” or Marie Kondo’s “The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up.” Do you really want to read those in their entirety just to learn the important points? Instaread gives you an easily digestible summary, something you can polish off in minutes.

Cooler still, these summaries are available in both text and audio form, so if you’d rather listen during your daily commute, now you have that option.

Although the focus is on nonfiction, Instaread does offer some fiction titles as well — handy, perhaps, if you didn’t have time to read this month’s book-club book but still want to go to the meeting. Here’s a list of the 500-plus titles currently available.

There’s also value here in deciding whether a particular book is worth buying and reading in its entirety. You might have some interest in, say, Tim Ferris’ “The 4-Hour Workweek,” but aren’t sure about the investment of time and money. After consuming the summary, you should have a much better idea.

I particularly like this for consuming business and health books, so you can quickly walk away with the essential info and spare yourself the fluff that tends to accompany most of them.

Cool, right? Nearly 50 users think so: The app has a 4.5-star average rating on iTunes.

Your thoughts?

Bonus deal: It’s not only May the Fourth, but also World Password Day — which is apparently a thing. (I wonder what the Earth uses for its password. Th1rdR0ckFr0mTh35un?) If you still haven’t adopted a password manager, well, seriously, why the heck not? Do you like login hassles and identity theft? If it’s a money thing, check this out: You can get one year of Sticky Password Premium for free when you download and activate the software before May 7. The license includes priority support.

Of course, after that first year is up, you’ll be on the hook for $29.99 for each additional year. Prefer to just pay once and be done? I agree wholeheartedly, which is why I recommend this option: a lifetime subscription to Sticky Password Premium for $29.99. That’s an insanely good deal on this top-rated solution.

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A year’s worth of free Office-alike software, but be sure to download and install it today.


Kingsoft

As you know, I have a love/hate relationship with Microsoft Office. I actually like the suite a lot, and rely heavily on Outlook to manage my various email accounts. But I’ve long railed against the price, especially given that most of the suite’s features are overkill for most users.

That’s why I typically steer people to WPS Office (formerly Kingsoft Office), which in my mind has the best interface of any of the Microsoft alternatives. Alas, the free version now adds a watermark to printed and PDF pages, a serious limitation. Needless to say, Kingsoft wants you to upgrade to WPS Office Business, which costs $44.99 annually.

Not today! Giveaway of the Day has WPS Office 10 Business (Windows) for free. Specifically, you get a one-year license good for one PC and unlimited mobile devices. Once that year is up, you can decide whether you want to pay for another year, buy a lifetime license (currently $79.99) or switch to something else.

Of course, plenty of users are perfectly content with free-all-the-time options like Google Docs, Microsoft Office Online, LibreOffice, OpenOffice and so on. WPS Office offers the same three core programs: word processing, spreadsheets and presentation. But it also includes cloud-sync capabilities and a handful of minor amenities not found in some of the freebie suites, like a built-in spell checker, a save-as-PDF option and loads of document templates.

What’s more, as I mentioned, I think WPS Office has the most polished interface this side of Microsoft Office. Not everyone cares about that, but I do.

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Don’t worry, they’re supposed to look like that.


Ace Teah

Truth be told, I no longer recommend WPS Office (the free version) as an Office alternative, primarily because of the aforementioned watermark. But I also understand Kingsoft is in business to make money. If you’re looking for a top-flight office suite that’s effectively free for a year, here’s your shot.

Take note, however, that as with most Giveaway of the Day giveaways, you must download and install the program today.

Bonus deal: One of my favorite so-silly-it’s-clever products is back on sale today. Ace Teah (via Amazon) has a six-pack of its three-in-one pens for $5.99. That’s after applying coupon code 5PQPPAIW at checkout. ($2 off! Woo!) Offered in an assortment of colors, each pen is a ballpoint, a stylus and, thanks to its uniquely bent barrel, a smartphone stand!

If you grabbed this last time around, please hit the comments and share your feedback. Because I have mad love for anything that doubles as a smartphone stand. (I’m weird that way.)

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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.


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Don’t judge me.
Screenshot by Rick Broida/CNET

Cheeps, I’m super-excited today. For as long as I can remember, I’ve stressed the importance of using a password manager, and I’ve shared lots of great deals on some solid products.

However, I’ve never been able to land my favorite password manager, the one I use daily and find utterly indispensable. It has been my brass ring, my holy grail. I even reached out to the company a while back, said, “Let me bring you my flock!” And was met with a polite, “No, thank you.”

But the gang at AppSumo, a really cool and unique deal site, accomplished what I could not: They corralled a one-year Dashlane Premium subscription for free. Regular price: $39.99.

Needless to say (but I’ll say it anyway), this is for new users only. Paid-up subscribers like me can’t just tack on another year at no charge. But if you’re already using Dashlane Free, this is your chance to “go pro” for a full 12 months.

Once you get through the checkout process, you’ll see (and also receive via email) a redemption code. Head to Dashlane.com, sign up for a free account and finish all the related setup. Eventually you’ll use that redemption code to convert your Dashlane Free into Dashlane Premium. (There are detailed instructions in the confirmation email. Follow them!)

I’ve tried just about every password manager on the planet, from eWallet and KeePass to LastPass and RoboForm. They’re functional, yes, but not on par with Dashlane. Space doesn’t permit me to list every feature, but I’ll name a few of my favorites:

  • The interface: Dashlane’s desktop utility is polished and easy to navigate. Others I’ve tried…not so much.
  • Security score: After importing your existing passwords, Dashlane will give you a “security score” and point out weak (and/or repeated) passwords that need changing.
  • Automatic password changing: Don’t have time to change all your weak passwords? Dashlane can do it for you. This is exactly as awesome as it sounds.
  • Emergency contacts: What happens if you get hit by a bus? Dashlane allows you to specify emergency contacts (partner, colleague and so on) who can access your passwords.

Sorry if this sounds like unabashed gushing, but Dashlane has truly been a life-changing product for me. It has taken the hassle out of password management and vastly improved my online security. Is it expensive, especially compared with the likes of LastPass and RoboForm? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes.

Should you try it free for an entire year? Absolutely.

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Water not included.
Kmashi

Bonus deal: Do you love the outdoors? Do you spend a lot of time biking, hiking, boating and/or floating? Then you’ll almost certainly want to grab one of these. For a limited time, and while supplies last, eCase (via Amazon) has the Kmashi waterproof Bluetooth speaker/flashlight/power bank for $21.99, shipped free if you’re a Prime subscriber. That’s after applying coupon code IFUJLMOX at checkout.

Splash-proof (though not submersible), shock-proof and dust-proof, this triangular speaker features Bluetooth 4.0, a 4,800mAh battery (good for 35 hours (!) of playtime unless you use it to charge your phone, which it can also do) and an LED flashlight with three modes: bright, standard and SOS. It’s bike mount-friendly, too.

I had the chance to test-drive the Kmashi, and it’s a cool little gadget. Very solid, with good (though hard to read) controls and that very handy flashlight. As for sound quality, it’s just okay. But for outdoor activities, it doesn’t have to be great — just loud, and in that respect it’s a winner. I wouldn’t pay $36.99 for this, but $22? Nice accessory.

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