Gizmodo: cheap

Haier's $100, 8GB Touchscreen PMP May Be the Cheapest Around

Brian Barrett — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 16:25:41 EST

Behold the Haier Theatre, a full touchscreen media player that might be pretty unremarkable were it not for its surprisingly low price tag: a 4GB version for $90 and 8GB for a measly $100.

The Theatre comes with a 3-inch capacitive touch screen, a built-in FM tuner and accelerometer, plays all your standard digital files and has a 12-hour audio battery life. Haier's also apparently throwing in 35 free music downloads and a free audio book if you sign up for a 14-day trial with eMusic, but even without that that hassle you're looking at a pretty great deal. [CrunchGear and MobileTechReview]

New Palm Prices: Pixi at $25 and Pre at $80

Brian Lam — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:48:10 EST

Palm's new Pixi just got $5 cheaper, less than 2 weeks after its launch, selling for $25 at Wal-mart and now Amazon. The Palm Pre is also $80.

I call this a deal on a phone with a terrific UI on a terrific network, but I'd pay double these rates if the Palm had a more sizable app library. But if your'e set on palm, remember what we said: For $80, even if 3x as much, the Pre is a much nicer piece of hardware. All Things D's John Paczkowski says it best: "If Things Get Really Bad, Palm's Pixi Will Make a Great Happy Meal Prize" [Amazon via All Things D]

Tough Economic Times Hit the Set of Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles

Jack Loftus — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EDT

Even sci-fi television dramas are not immune to the ill effects of the current economic climate. Take Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles, for example. Eye spy an Xbox 360 wireless headset painted black. [Thanks, Alex]

Dealzmodo: 2 Sharp 46" AQUOS HDTVs for $1999

Dan Nosowitz — Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:00:00 EDT

Costco, in a fit of either economic optimism or pessimism, is selling not one but two Sharp AQUOS 46" HDTVs for just $1999 with $99 shipping. That's a solid $200 below anything PriceGrabber could find for me, and more than $350 below Amazon. Sure, two giant LCDs might be seen as a little excessive, but even the super wealthy are allowed to be a little thrifty. The 1080p set features a 4ms response time and is only 3 3/4" thick, and reviews have been positive. It's a pretty stunning deal if for some reason you're in the market for multiple HDTVs. [TechDealDigger]

Dealzmodo: Sharp AQUOS 32" 1080p LCD for $699 Shipped

Dan Nosowitz — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:00:00 EDT

6th Avenue Electronics has the Sharp AQUOS 32" 1080p HDTV for $699, including shipping, with a coupon. It's the lowest price we've seen for this LCD by about $100, and it's a pretty well-reviewed line. This one features a 6ms response time and dual HDMI inputs. [DealNews]

Woot is Wooting Off Again Today

Kit Eaton — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 05:27:00 EDT

You might not get as amazing a deal as the Olevia TVs from the other day, but since Woot is having another Woot off today you'll see other bargain gadgets: a glow in the dark jumbo universal remote for $5 is tempting me currently. [Woot]

$200 Discount on Sony HD Camcorders, Free Shipping

Jesus Diaz — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 08:15:00 EDT

Sony has slashed their HDR-UX20 and HDR-UX10 high definition digital video cameras by $200. The HDR-UX20 has a 2.3 megapixel CMOS senson (1,920 x 1,080) for video using their BIONZ image processor, 4 megapixel still camera capture, and 8GB of internal memory. The HDR-UX10 has mostly the same except for the internal memory. Full specs ahead.

Sony HDR-UX20
Format(s) Supported : HD: MPEG4 AVC/H.264 SD: MPEG2

2 3/8 x 3 3/4 x 5 3/8 inch (58 x 93 x 134mm)
1 lb 3 oz (560g) with Battery

Memory Stick slot : Memory Stick PRO Duo™ Media
Microphone : Yes (Built-in Zoom)
S/S & Zoom button on LCD : Yes
Viewfinder : Color Wide 16:9 (123K Pixels)

Imaging Device : 1/5" ClearVid™ CMOS sensor (with Exmor™ technology)
Pixel Gross : 2300K
Processor : BIONZ™ image processor
Recording Media : 3" (8cm) DVD (DVD-R/DVD-RW/DVD+RW/DVD+R DL), internal Flash memory (8GB), Memory Stick Duo™ Media, Memory Stick PRO Duo™ Media
Still Actual : 1990K Pixels (4:3), 1490K Pixels (16:9)
Still Picture Resolution : 4 megapixel
Video Actual : 1120K Pixels (4:3), 1490K Pixels (16:9)
Video Resolution : 1920 x 1080

Sony HDR-UX20
Format(s) Supported : HD: MPEG4 AVC/H.264 SD: MPEG2

Weights and Measurements
Dimensions (Approx.) : 2 3/8 x 3 3/4 x 5 3/8 inch (58 x 93 x 134mm)
Weight (Approx.) : 1 lb 3 oz (560g) with Battery
Assignable Dial : N/A

Flash : Yes
Manual / Auto Lens Cover : Auto
Memory Stick slot : Memory Stick PRO Duo™ Media
Microphone : Yes (Built-in Zoom)
S/S & Zoom button on LCD : Yes

Viewfinder : Color Wide 16:9 (123K Pixels)
Imaging Device : 1/5" ClearVid™ CMOS sensor (with Exmor™ technology)
Pixel Gross : 2300K
Processor : BIONZ™ image processor

[Sony — Thanks Hawkskater0]

Student Develops Cheap Power Turbine For Developing Nations

Matt Hickey — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 00:20:05 EDT

It's one thing to tinker in your garage to restore that old gas-guzzling muscle car that you think will get you some action. It's something entirely different to invent an electricity-generating wind turbine out of scrap parts that could revolutionize personal power in developing nations, especially if you're in college. Max Robinson has done just that, designing a turbine out of spare parts that costs less than $40 to build out of readily available parts and can power a home's lighting for up to two and a half days or a radio for over a day. No word on how long an OLPC would last. [Daily Mail]

Woot is Wooting-Off today!

Kit Eaton — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 05:17:00 EDT

It's a Woot-off at Woot again, cheapo-gadget fans. "Woot!" you might say, when you hear you could get a Netgear RangeMax 802.11g 240Mbps USB2.0 Adapter for a paltry $19.99. Who knows what other gizmos will arrive next? Well, Woot.com, presumably... [Woot]

15.4-Inch Toshiba Satellite Notebook On Sale For $398

Elaine Chow — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Let's say that you did have some disposable income at some point in time, but it happened to turn into a spankin' new iPhone 3G right before you realized Junior desperately needed a new computer for the school year. Don't worry, Gizmodo's here to help make up for your bad parenting without throwing you deeper into debt: Starting Sunday at 8am, Wal-Mart will be selling a 15.4-inch Toshiba Satellite notebook with an Intel Celeron processor for $398. The Toshiba will be decked out with 2GB RAM, a 120GB hard drive, CD-RW and Windows Vista Premium. [Check Out Blog]

Dealzmodo: TiVo HD For $179 With Free Shipping

Christopher Mascari — Wed, 09 Jul 2008 18:30:00 EDT

TiVo's got a great web special on "factory-renewed" TiVo HDs for $179 with free shipping. Sure, these refurbished units usually end breaking after a few days, but no need to worry it still has TiVo's regular warranty. [TiVo via TiVo Blog]

Dealzmodo: T-Mobile Cellphones Going for Free at Wal-Mart

Kit Eaton — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 06:21:00 EDT

Fancy a BlackBerry Curve that earns you $50? At the moment, Wal-Mart is running an online deal that means the normally $149.99 phone will cost you just $49.99, and after rebates you'll actually be $50 in profit. The T-Mobile Wing and BlackBerry Pearl (normally $299.99 and $99) are also going for free, and will get you the same $50 rebate. There's a long list of other phones on similar deals from the MOTORIZR to the Samsung Blast: check out the Wal-Mart link. [Wal-Mart—Thanks Shiron]

Microsoft's $1 Billion Xbox 360 Recall Problems Caused By Chip Cheapness

Jason Chen — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:30:00 EDT

Microsoft's red ring Xbox 360 problems have cost the company about a billion dollars in warranty repairs, but the research vice president and chief analyst at Gartner said that the hardware problems were caused because Microsoft wanted to be cheap. Instead of using an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) vender to make a graphics chip for the 360, Microsoft decided to design it themselves and have Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing create it. This saved "tens of millions of dollars" in design costs. Yes, only tens of millions.

The good news is that when Microsoft said that their red ring problems are fixed on newer units, they were probably right. They went to "an unnamed ASIC vendor based in the United States and redesigned the chip." Probably ATI, is what EETimes thinks. Moral of the story is to not skimp on chip design so you can save tens of millions, because that may come back and bite you in the ass down the road. [EETimes]

College Student Makes Multi-touch Table Out Of Cardboard Box

Elaine Chow — Sat, 31 May 2008 16:00:00 EDT

Microsoft's Surface multi-touch table sure is cool, but who has $10,000 to spend on a gadget like that? I personally have maybe fifty bucks to my name right now, so I guess I'll have to fulfill my multi-touch itch with a cardboard box and a webcam like this guy.

Seth Sandler, an undergraduate student at UC San Diego, built a portable multi-touch pad out of a cardboard box, a piece of glass, paper, and his Philips SPC900NC webcam. The camera picks up on the shadows created by your fingers when they're placed on the pad's surface. A tracking software then transfers the motions onto a computer screen. Multi-touch goodness at an incredibly low cost—looks like I can afford to eat this month after all! [New Scientist]

$20 Disposable Cell Phones Coming to Europe

Elaine Chow — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 15:00:00 EDT

Phone maker Hop-on Inc. apparently found success at CTIA in Las Vegas with its disposable cell-phone concept, a $20 (13 euros) phone with no LCD screen that can be thrown away or recycled after use. The company said on Thursday that a European distributor has purchased 10,000 of the phones for an initial test run. The phone uses a Texas Instruments chip set and works on the 900/1800 MHz frequency.

Hop-On markets the phone as an ideal choice for kids, teens, seniors, and world travelers. If you ask me, it also sounds like a good option for anyone who... well... may not want the government tracking their activities, if you know what I mean. [Telecoms.com]

Use a Wiimote to Make Whiteboards Out of Anything

Jason Chen — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 13:53:34 EST

Johnny Lee's description of "Low-Cost Multi-point Interactive Whiteboards Using the Wiimote" may sound boring, but it's actually a very cool and very innovative use of the Wiimote. Since you can hook the controller up to your computer and accept inputs using the Wiimote library interface, you can use its infrared sensors to detect and track infrared light on any kind of surface. With Johnny's app, you can in turn use a cheap DIY IR pen as an input device and make your own whiteboard/input tablet. You should watch the video to see more, but this thing looks really exciting. [CMU - Thanks Adam!]

Torpedo Projector: You Probably Get What You Pay Only $179 For

Matt Buchanan — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 01:30:59 EDT

Crafted by the makers of TV Poker, the Sweet Thang Plush and the "Original Scoozie Pet," the Torpedo Entertainment Projector probably isn't a good choice to form the cornerstone of your home theater. But, for a measly $179 at Target or Wal-Mart, the 920 x 240-resolution projector's not a bad way to mildly frighten your children with a nearly 6-foot high image of Ursula slapped across your wall when it's time for the Little Mermaid at bedtime. Since it comes with a headphone jack in addition to the built-in amp, the only noise would be their screaming, and you probably hear that enough it doesn't phase you anymore. The real question is how well it'd perform for grown-up purposes with the middling res and questionable pedigree—art projects, maybe? [CrunchGear]

Not only is Woot offering brown Zunes for...

AddyDugdale — Mon, 22 Oct 2007 06:12:54 EDT

Not only is Woot offering brown Zunes for $79, but that if you already bought one in that color, you're eligible for an extra $20 off any item worth more than $20.

How to Get Free Air Conditioning From Your Water System

Jason Chen — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 15:00:28 EDT

Some cheap guy came up with a way to get "free" air conditioning by cycling up his 50-degree well water through a home-made pipe/radiator system and dispersing the coolness into his house. It's really, really ugly, but it does save some money on your cooling bill. Useful if you live in really hot areas and have a well. That's all of us, right? [Instructables via ]

How to Find Cheap Gas with your Cellphone

Jason Chen — Fri, 18 May 2007 20:40:28 EDT

Remember GetMobio? That's the mobile phone app that gives you a bunch of stuff like movie listings, maps, RSS readers, and various ways to help you have fun at night. Well, they've just added a Gas app that helps you get the cheapest gas in your surrounding area.

Sure, you could just visit gasbuddy.com on a mobile phone that has a web browser, but if you've already GotMobio then why not add this one as well? That is, if you don't live on a farm, otherwise the whole suite is pretty worthless. And gas is pretty cheap there anyway (it's almost $4 here in the Bay Area). – Jason Chen

Product Page [GetMobio]