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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.
Enlarge ImageSamsung
Tired of your sluggish PC? You could reformat the hard drive and reinstall Windows, but that’s a pretty big hassle — and you’ll still end up chugging along with hot, noisy, comparatively slow mechnical platters.
It’s fairly common knowledge that solid-state drives are vastly superior — cool-running, totally silent and much faster — but the caveat has always been price. To get more than a couple hundred gigabytes, you’d have to spend several hundred dollars.
Not today. For a limited time, and while supplies last, Adorama (via Ebay) has the Samsung 850 Evo 500GB solid-state drive for $149.99, shipped. (That price will appear once you add it to your cart.) The drive lists for $250 and sells elsewhere for at least $175.
This is a 2.5-inch SATA III internal drive, one that’s suitable for desktops and laptops alike. (If you’re upgrading a laptop, just make sure you’re replacing a drive that’s the same size. And if it’s a desktop, you’ll likely need to spring for mounting hardware — and possibly SATA cables — to affix the drive to your case.)
The good news is it comes with migration software to simply your move from your old drive. The bad news is, I suspect you’ll need a USB-to-SATA cable so you can actually perform that migration.
Samsung backs the drive with a five-year warranty, which is impressive. Even more impressive: The 850 Evo earned an amazing 4.7-star average from over 4,500 (!) Amazon buyers.
I don’t know how long these will last; I’ve been checking the number-sold counter and it’s been rising pretty steadily. I do know this is one of the best deals I’ve seen for a half-terabyte SSD, which explains its popularity. If you’re looking to squeeze a few more years out of your current PC, this is a fantastic upgrade option.
Bonus deal: Your typical cigarette-lighter adapter supplies a USB port or two, but what if you need power for, say, your laptop? That requires one of those pricey inverter things, right? Wrong: While supplies last, Techbuy (via Amazon) has the Energizer 100-watt power inverter for $14.99. That’s after applying coupon code DN2Q4LPR at checkout. Shipping is free for Amazon Prime subscribers. This cigarette-lighter adapter provides not only a 120V AC outlet, but also a pair of 2.1-amp USB ports. It earned a whopping 4.8-star rating from 130 buyers. Yes, please!
Bonus deal no. 2: Calling all iPhone users! Now that Android Wear works with iOS, it’s time to seriously reconsider your smartwatch options. For example, Best Buy (via Ebay) has the Moto 360 for $149.99, shipped (plus sales tax where applicable). It’s available in a variety of colors (and sizes: 23mm or 18mm), most of them with the highly desirable metal wristband. Although the Moto 360 isn’t “officially” supported, there’s a lot of anecdotal evidence to indicate it will pair with an iPhone (with caveats — do your homework).
