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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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I don’t know how long these will last, so I’m going to skip my usual amusing anecdote, personal history, razor-sharp insight or other throat-clearing and just get right to the deal:
Today only, and while supplies last, Woot has the refurbished Toshiba Chromebook 2 for $189.99, plus $5 for shipping. This model debuted just a year ago at $319.99 and currently sells elsewhere for $299.
Hey, wait, haven’t there been other Chromebooks priced $40-50 less? Yep, but the Chromebook 2 packs considerably more power, starting with its 13.3-inch IPS screen, which has a native resolution of 1,920×1,080. I could argue that that’s overkill for a display of this size, but once you get a look at it, you’ll be hard-pressed to go back to 1,366×768.
The Toshiba also sports a dual-core Intel 2.16GHz processor, 4GB of RAM and a somewhat paltry 16GB solid-state drive. But it’s easy enough to add more storage: just pop in an SD card.
I’ll turn you over to CNET’s review for more details about the machine, the key takeaways being the “fantastic” screen, “great-sounding” speakers and “fast” 802.11ac wireless. Build quality, on the other hand, was noted to be “a bit flimsy.”
Here’s what I love about all Chromebooks: They boot and shut down in seconds, don’t require anti-virus protection and don’t bog down over time (like certain other operating systems I know). Here’s what I don’t love: setting up Google Cloud Print. Depending on the kind of printer you have, this may be a piece of cake, or it may be a huge pain. In my experience, it’s usually the latter.
I hope Woot has a decent supply of these, because I want all my cheeps to have a shot at getting one!
Bonus deal: Calling all runners! Although many smartwatches have fitness-tracking features, few of them deliver the kind of stats, monitoring and training help you get with a bona fide runner’s watch. Of course, runner’s watches tend to be pricey. Today only, and while supplies last, Meh has the TomTom Runner Cardio watch for $135, plus $5 for shipping. Best price elsewhere is in the $200 range. Features include an integrated heart-rate monitor, built-in GPS, a graphical training partner and three training modes.
Bonus deal 2: Calling all business owners! SumoMe provides one-click analytic and traffic-building tools for your website. This week only, you can get a six-month SumoMe starter plan for free. Regular price: $60. There’s some great stuff here, especially for folks who run their own sites but don’t have a lot of coding know-how. It’s very novice-friendly.
