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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. And find more great buys on the CNET Deals page.
A dead battery can ruin your whole day. I’m referring, of course, to your car battery, without which you’re not going anywhere. And, baby, it’s cold outside.
Enlarge ImageCome to your own rescue with the Gooloo GF01 portable jump-starter.
Gooloo
Instead of relying on the kindness of strangers (or costliness of a tow truck) for a jump, come to your own rescue. For a limited time, and while supplies last, you can get the Gooloo GF01 portable car jump-starter for $39.99 shipped. That’s after applying coupon code B8EJOK2R at checkout. Regular price: $59.99.
The GF01 is barely larger than a typical mobile charger, and in fact it functions as one, too, offering two USB ports (1- and 2-amp) for your phone, tablet and so on. Its 7,500mAh battery should be able to fully recharge just about any device.
As for your car, this charger doesn’t require a trip under the hood (sparing you from the snow, rain and freezing cold). Instead, you just plug it into your cigarette lighter and wait 8-10 minutes. It also has a three-mode LED flashlight so you’re not sitting around in the dark.
Gooloo backs the product with an 18-month warranty, and probably doesn’t mean to be offensive in noting that the charger is “very suitable for women.” (I would adjust that to say, “very suitable for humans.”)
Several dozen user reviews peg this a 4.5-star product, though as is increasingly common these days, at least a couple of those reviews were written in exchange for a free or discounted product. I definitely advise perusing all the reviews, same as with any item you’re considering.
Also, if you’ve had any experience jump-starting a car with this or a similar charger, share your experience in the comments!
Bonus deal: Do you own a late-model TiVo? Wouldn’t it be cool to stream live and recorded shows to a second TV? That’s the idea behind the TiVo Mini, a small set-top box that’s essentially a TiVo extender. It normally, painfully, runs $149.99, but today only, and while supplies last, Woot has the refurbished TiVo Mini for $69.99, plus $5 for shipping. Just take note that your TiVo must have a wired connection to your home network.
Zoho
Bonus deal No. 2: Sure, you’ve got a password manager for yourself, but what about for your business? Zoho Vault caters to teams — for a price. Or not, if you’re a Cheapskate reader: You can get a one-year, five-user Zoho Vault subscription for free when you sign up for an account, then complete this online form (which requires you to capture and send a screenshot of this page).
This license will apply to any version you want: Standard, Professional or Enterprise (which would normally cost you $60, $240 or $420 respectively). For the record, you can also get Zoho Vault free for personal use, for life, no form required. And it’s one of the few freebie password managers that will sync with mobile apps.
