Daily Deals: $849 MacBook, App Store Price Drops, $260 Time Capsule
As we near the end of the 2009, our minds tend to turn to time: the past and future. Here on the “Daily Deals” desk, the end of the year also means savings. Are you looking to save some time looking for a MacBook? The Apple Store has a $849 2.26GHz MacBook with 13.3-inch screen. Maybe your thought also include saving some cash. In that case, we have a new batch of price drops for the App Store. Although it won’t let you return to those glory years, Apple’s 1TB Time Capsule could save your digital life – for $260.
Along the way, we check out a 50 percent off deal on iPod touch accessories from the PC Micro Store, bargains on AppleCare for your favorite gadget, plus assorting money saving opportunities. As always, for details on any of the items mentioned (and many more), check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.
The Apple Store offers two factory-refurbished previous-generation MacBook notebooks in its Special Deals section. (Click “MacBook” on the left to find them.) [With free shipping, each is up to $300 off the original cost of a new unit and the lowest total price we could find.] Sales tax is added where applicable. All come with a 1-year Apple warranty, the same as new MacBooks. Items are removed from Apple’s site when they sell out. Notables:
Apple MC207LL/A MacBook Core 2 Duo 2.26GHz 13.3’ in White (pictured) for $849
Apple MB466LL/A Unibody MacBook Core 2 Duo 2GHz 13.3’ for $899
Several iPhone and iPod touch applications available from the iTunes App Store have recently dropped in price. (Each is the best deal we’ve seen on that title.) The deals:
2XL ATV Offroad for 99 cents ($7 off): ATV racing game
Flick Fishing for 99 cents ($2 off): Fishing game
NFL Quaterback Challenge for 99 cents ($2 off): Football skills game
The Forbidden City for $1.99 ($3 off): iPhone-based guide of The Forbidden City in China
Harry Potter: Spells for $2.99 ($2 off): Virtual Harry Potter wand and dueling game (Update: Now 99 cents)
Paper Football Signature Edition for $2.99 ($2 off): Port of classic middle-school game
Super Monkey Ball for $3.99 ($2 off): Monkey-in-a-ball party game
France2Go Talking Phrase Book for $9.99 ($10 off): Language teacher / translator
As part of its After Christmas Sale, Expercom offers the Apple Time Capsule 1TB, model no. MC343LL/A, for $260. (With shipping starting around $12, it’s $39 less than what Apple charges and the lowest total price we could find by $8.) Time Capsule is an 802.11n Wi-Fi base station with a built-in hard drive. It’s geared towards Apple’s notebook line of computers that wish to use Time Machine. Deals ends December 31.
PC Micro Store knocks 50% off select Apple iPod touch accessories via coupon code “Dealnews50%Touch”. (With free shipping, it’s one of the best discounts we’ve seen on these items from PCMS.) A best bet is the 2nd-generation Lux Screen Protector for Apple iPod touch (pictured) for $3.48 after discount. Coupon expires after 500 redemptions.
HandHeldItems.com offers its 1000mAh External Battery 2-Pack for iPod / iPhone in Black for $18.99 plus $5.95 for shipping. Add coupon code “2battery1000mah” to your cart to cut it to $13.99. (That’s $7 each and tied for the lowest total per-unit price we’ve seen for this item.) This battery features an external LED and a charge time of 2 hours. Deal ends January 31.
Abe’s of Maine offers the Nikon D3000 10.2-Megapixel Digital SLR Camera with the Nikkor DX 18-55mm VR Lens and Nikkor DX 55-200mm VR Lens for $589.95. (Add to the cart to see this price.) Coupon code “DNEWS15’ drops it to $574.95. (With free shipping, it’s $9 over our mention from November, since expired, but the lowest total price we could find by $69.) Features include a 3’ LCD, 3fps, USB 2.0 connectivity, spot metering, Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) card slot, and more.
The iTunes App Store offers Wild West Pinball for iPhone / iPod touch (pictured) for free. (That’s $1 off and tied with last week’s mention as the best deal we’ve seen for this game.)
Also available is The Deep Pinball for iPhone / iPod touch for free. That’s also a $1 drop and the best deal we’ve seen for this title.
The iTunes App Store offers downloads of La Gazzetta dello Sport.it (pictured) or Corriere della Sera.it for iPhone / iPod touch for free. (That’s a $3 drop for both and the lowest total price we’ve see for either of these Italian news apps.)
ExperCom has current price lows on several AppleCare Protection Plans during its After-Christmas Sale, as noted below. Shipping starts around $10. Each extends a system’s warranty coverage and phone support to three years. The deals, which end December 31:
AppleCare for Mac mini for $104
AppleCare for iMac for $118
AppleCare for MacBook / MacBook Air for $174
AppleCare for MacBook Pro for $244
see all AppleCare deals at Expercom
Buy.com offers the factory-refurbished Linksys WRT-160N 4-Port Wireless Router for $38.24 with free shipping. (That ties our mention from two weeks ago and is the lowest total price we could find by $15.) This 802.11n wireless router features a 4-port Ethernet switch.
Note: No warranty information is provided.
Ed Sutherland is a veteran technology journalist who first heard of Apple when they grew on trees, Yahoo was run out of a Stanford dorm and Google was an unknown upstart. Since then, Sutherland has covered the whole technology landscape, concentrating on tracking the trends and figuring out the finances of large (and small) technology companies.
