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Ausdom
This is a repeat of a deal I shared a couple months ago — now with a lower price and the promise of enough inventory to satisfy my legions of cheeps!
(Cheep\chēp\ noun A portmanteau of “cheap” and “peep,” the latter slang for “people.” All Cheapskate readers are “my people,” and therefore “cheeps.”)
Headphones are like blue jeans: Everyone prefers their own style. I’m partial to basic earbuds when I’m out for a run, noise-isolating earbuds when I fly, and over-the-ear headphones for around the house. (Can’t say I care for the on-ear variety.)
Now for the important question: Do you really need to spend $100 or more to get a decent set of over-the-ear ‘phones? Not today. For a limited time, and while supplies last, HiGears (via Amazon) has the Ausdom M06 Bluetooth headphones for $37.99 shipped. That’s after applying coupon code HIGEARS8 at checkout.
Update 6/30/15: Although there was a glitch with the code late yesterday, as of this morning it seems to be working again. It should remain valid at least through the end of the day.
Ausdom? Nope, I never heard of the brand, either — well, except for last time I ran this deal (when it was $2 more expensive). Luckily, I was able to test-drive the M06, so I have ears-on experience to share. Let’s start with the good: These are attractive, very solid-feeling headphones, with a padded headband and earcups and a nice brushed-metal veneer on the earcups’ outer side.
Those earcups can each rotate 90 degrees, thus allowing the M06 to lie “flat” for easier storage. The rechargeable battery, which charges via a standard Micro-USB cable, is good for an impressive 20 hours of listening.
I had no trouble pairing the M06 with my iPhone — though there’s an included stereo cable if you want a wired connection to, say, an MP3 player. Either way, you can use built-in buttons — three on each earcup — to control volume and playback.
Most important of all, to my ears, the headphones sounded great. My go-to test track is Parov Stelar’s “All Night,” which delivers a veritable kitchen sink of musical styles and ranges. Loved it. Same for the Adele station I streamed through Pandora.
The M06 includes a microphone for hands-free calls. My test call sounded fine, and the person at the other end reported the same. It’s a little weird talking when both your ears are covered, but as long as you make an effort not to shout, it’s all good.
Of course, like virtually all over-the-ear headphones, these get uncomfortable after a while. The control buttons are small and stiff, and it takes some time to memorize the layout. I also found that volume levels dropped off a bit when I tried a wired connection.
Those minor gripes aside, this is a really solid pair of headphones, especially at this price. Frankly, I didn’t expect them to be this good. If you grabbed a pair last time, hit the comments and let your fellow cheeps know what you think of them. (The headphones, not the cheeps.)
Acer
Bonus deal: Which would you rather have in a sub-$200 laptop: a bigger screen that doesn’t respond to touch or a smaller screen that does? Anyone who raised their hand for the latter, take note: For a limited time, and while supplies last, Amazon has the Acer Chromebook C720P for $199.99 shipped. That’s not the lowest price I’ve seen for this 11.6-inch laptop — it was briefly $20 less in April — but it’s still an amazing deal on a popular, well-reviewed machine.
Bonus deal No. 2: How low can they go? Big TVs, I mean. Apparently, pretty darn low: P.C. Richard & Son has the Haier 50E3500 50-inch LED HDTV for $299.97 shipped (plus tax in some states). I haven’t found any reviews to speak of, save for the one on the store’s product page (5 stars, if you’re wondering), but at least one spec seems above-average for this price point: three HDMI inputs instead of just two. Incidentally, it sells elsewhere for around $450.
Bonus deal No. 3: If you’ve ever wished you could stream video from your PC to your iPhone or iPad, wish no more: Air Video HD (for iOS) is free for a limited time. Normally $2.99, the app (when paired with server software for Windows or Mac) lets you watch just about any video, regardless of format. It’s one of the top-rated solutions for computer-to-mobile streaming.
