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Recoil
So about yesterday…
The best laid schemes of mice and men, am I right? Because I’m traveling this week, I had queued up both deals (the Bluetooth speaker
and Lenovo tablet
) a few days ahead. ShopTronics had assured me there was ample speaker inventory, and the tip on the Lenovo deal had come more or less straight from the Microsoft Store.
Alas, ShopTronics burned through its inventory over the weekend, no doubt because it’s a pretty cool product. So that was just unlucky. But the Microsoft Store, oy. Unbeknownst to me, but apparently knownst elsewhere, they opened the deal 10 minutes ahead of the scheduled time — and had very few units to begin with. Unsurprisingly, they sold out in minutes.
This kind of thing is really frustrating, but I deeply appreciate the words of support from so many commenters yesterday. I sort of expected to have my head taken off, but for the most part it didn’t happen. You guys are the best. Seriously.
For what it’s worth, whenever a vendor offers a Cheapskate-exclusive deal, I always ask after inventory to make sure there’s enough. And when I suspect something will sell out rapidly, I say as much. Occasionally the universe conspires, though, and yesterday that happened twice in the same post. Ay caramba!
Today, however, we should be solid. So let me get right to it.
Be gone, cord clutter!
Cord clutter is a very real, very serious problem. If your kitchen counter is anything like mine, it’s a snake’s nest of charging cables for your various devices.
There are, of course, DIY cord-wrap solutions, but why not put a little gadget action behind the problem? For a limited time, you can get a Recoil automatic cord-winder 3-pack for $19.99, shipped. That’s after applying coupon code CNETFAN during the last step of the checkout process. Regular price: $27.99, plus at least $3 for shipping.
Available in your choice of colors, the Recoil is a spring-loaded cord holder that quickly spins up your Lightning, USB, and even headphone cables — then quickly dispenses them again as needed. In other words: easy in, easy out.
They come in three sizes, and the combo packs give you either one small, one medium, and one large, or two medium and one large. Whatever you choose, you get a little plastic stand to keep the Recoils neat and tidy on your desk, counter, or wherever. (And if you think you’ll want more than the three, the coupon code will work with other items in the store as well.)
This is a nice little item, especially as we barrel toward gift-giving season. I’d probably wince at paying $30 for a set of these, but $20 feels reasonable. Your thoughts?
MiniTool
Bonus deal: Here’s another Cheapskate exclusive, and an item that can’t possibly sell out! For a limited time, software developer MiniTool is offering Partition Wizard 8 Professional Edition for free. Just enter your email address and click Subscribe; confirm your subscription in the email that arrives, and then you’ll get the link and license code you need to get the software (which normally sells for $39). True to its name, the utility provides a wealth of drive-partitioning tools.
