Daily Deals: $1,299 MacBook Pro Laptops, Star Trek Communicator, USB Gloves

12:45 pm, December 7th, 2009, Ed Sutherland

We start the week with a grab-bag of gadgets, including more refurbished MacBook Pros from Apple. The computers, starting at $1,299, a 2.53 GHz processors and 13-inch screens. Next up is a Star Trek Internet Communicator that works with your iChat, Skype, MSN or AIM account. Finally, if you get chilly while using your MacBook and the mothership hasn’t beamed you up to somewhere warmer, slip on a pair of stylish gloves heated by the USB connection. Along the way, we also check out new iPhone software, earphones and iPod accessories.

For details on these and many other gadgets, check out CoM’s “Daily Deals” page after the jump.

The Apple Store has stock of 22 factory-refurbished MacBook Pro notebooks in its Special Deals section. That’s one of the largest selections we’ve seen in several months. (With free shipping, many are at lowest-we’ve-seen prices.) All come with a 1-year Apple warranty, the same as new Macs. Sales tax is added where applicable. Items are removed from Apple’s site when they sell out. Some best bets, each with free shipping:
unibody MacBook Pro MB991LL/A Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz 13.3″ Laptop for $1,299
unibody MacBook Pro MB985LL/A Core 2 Duo 2.66GHz 15.4″ Laptop for $1,699
unibody MacBook Pro MB604LL/A Core 2 Duo 2.8GHz 15.4″ Laptop for $1,949
unibody MacBook Pro MB604LL/A Core 2 Duo 2.66GHz 17″ Laptop for $1,999
see all refurbished MacBook Pro notebooks

Hammacher Schlemmer offers the Star Trek Internet Communicator USB VoIP Phone for $24.95. (With $7.95 for shipping, it’s the lowest total price we could find by $13.) This USB phone works with Skype, MSN, AIM, and iChat and features 21 authentic sound effects from Star Trek.

Meritline.com offers these USB Heated Gloves in Lavender for $3.99 with free shipping. (That’s the lowest total price we could find for any USB gloves by $3.) These cotton gloves plug into a USB port and generate heat to warm your hands.

Adorama offers the Altec Lansing BackBeat Pro Noise-Isolating Earphones, model no. UHP606, for $24.95 plus free shipping. (That’s $14 under our September mention and the lowest total price we’ve seen.) These earphones include an 8-piece fit kit with ultra-comfort neoprene ear tips.

Shop4Tech.com offers this USB / SD Card Portable Media Player for $44.95. Coupon code “CM18″ cuts it to $36.86. (With free shipping, that’s tied with with our mention from two weeks ago and the lowest total price we’ve seen for such a device.) It plays movies stored on Secure Digital cards on a TV or monitor. It features a remote control, USB connectivity, and component and RCA outputs.

RadioShack again offers the Boynq WakeUp iPod Speaker & Alarm Clock in White, model no. AAV-WAKEUPWH, for $29.99 plus $6.05 for shipping. [That's tied with RadioShack's Black Friday offer and the lowest total price we could find by $34, although we mentioned it in black for $6 less back in August (since expired).] Sales tax is added where applicable. Features include two 3″ 10-watt stereo speakers, 20Hz to 20kHz frequency response, bass & treble equalizer, FM radio, adjustable alarm volume, remote, and more.

Abe’s of Maine offers the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XSi 12.2-Megapixel Digital SLR Camera Body in Black, model no. 2756B001, for $499. Apply coupon code “DNEWS15″ to drop it to $484. (With free shipping, that’s the lowest total price we could find by $11.) The most-compact model in the Rebel line, the XSi features an SDHC card slot (rather than CompactFlash), 3″ LCD, 3.5 frames per second burst mode, USB 2.0 connectivity, and EOS Integrated Cleaning system, which includes a self-cleaning sensor unit.

The iTunes App Store offers downloads of Stackus for iPhone / iPod touch for free. (That’s a $1 drop and the lowest total price we’ve seen for this physics-based puzzle game.)

Today only, Dell Home offers the Vizio ECO 37″ 1080p Widescreen LCD HD Television (pictured), model no. VO370M, for $459. (With free shipping, that’s $30 under our mention from six days ago and the lowest total price we’ve seen.) Sales tax is added where applicable. This HDTV claims to use less energy than traditional HDTVs and features a 1920×1080 (1080p) native resolution, 15,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, 500 cd/m² brightness, 5ms response time, three HDMI inputs, and VGA, component, and other video inputs. Other discounted Vizio HDTVs at Dell Home, each with free shipping and the lowest total price we could find by at least $10:

Vizio VA220E 22″ 720p Widescreen LCD HDTV for $209
Vizio VA26L 26″ 720p Widescreen LCD HDTV for $269
Vizio VL320M 32″ 1080p Widescreen LCD HDTV for $379

Buy.com offers the ViewSonic VMP70 1080p Digital Media Player for $89.99 plus free shipping. (Although that’s up $5 from last week’s mention, since expired, it’s still the lowest total price we could find by $6.) The VMP70 allows you to connect up to two USB hard drives to this media player and stream them to your television via its 1080p HDMI output.

Posted by Ed Sutherland in Daily Deals | Comment on this article

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About the author

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.

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