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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.
ChargeTech
This is an update of a deal I shared earlier this year on a product that proved to be immensely popular. Now you can get more juice for less dough!
If you’re a regular around these parts, you know that mobile chargers make regular (some would say “daily”) appearances — but 99.9 percent of them provide only USB ports, meaning they’re good solely for phones, tablets and the like.
So what of your poor laptop? It’s arguably the most important item to keep charged while you’re on the go, because it’s where you get your work done. Alas, many (if not most) modern laptops don’t provide easy access to the battery, so you can’t just pop in a fresh one. (And, let’s face it, keeping a second battery charged is a hassle unto itself — because you need the laptop to charge it.)
Enter the ChargeTech line of portable power supplies, which provide not only USB charging, but also an honest-to-goodness AC outlet for plugging in your battery-starved laptop. And here’s a deal on the newest, highest-capacity model yet: StackSocial has the ChargeTech 24,000mAh portable power outlet for $179.10 shipped when you apply coupon code cheapcharge10 at checkout. That’s for the black model; the same code applies to the white version.
Incidentally, this model lists for $229.95, and StackSocial’s regular price is $199 — making this another sweet, sweet Cheapskate exclusive!
Also, the last time I shared this deal, it was $184.50 for the 18,000mAh version. Now: more for less.
In addition to the AC outlet, the ChargeTech sports two USB ports — and lets you charge three items simultaneously. I own an earlier version of the product, and it’s fantabulous.
However, because I’ve seen firsthand (and heard from others) that StackSocial can be slow to deliver, I asked the vendor about turnaround times for this. He passed me along to a ChargeTech rep, who said, “StackSocial orders are fulfilled ever two days with Priority Mail (1-3 day delivery) for residential addresses.” Translation: You should receive your item in about a week.
If you need extra juice for your laptop and there’s never a wall outlet around when you need one, well, now there always will be.
Bonus deal: Good heavens, flash storage has gotten cheap. If you have a digital SLR and always need more space for your shots, check this out: Walmart has the Wintec Filemate 128GB SD card for $33.14, plus sales tax. It costs about $5 to ship, or just pick it up in-store. This is a Class 10 card, so it should be able to keep up with burst shots and HD video recording. User reviews: glowing. Price elsewhere: at least $50. Warranty: lifetime!
