Black Friday Digital Media Dealios Under $100

by

Now that we’ve concluded giving thanks for family and turkey, the time is upon us to give thanks for retail indulgence. We’re not entirely convinced it’s truly is better to give than to receive, but we know how to kill two birds with one stone by gifting oneself. So regardless of gadget beneficiary here are a few compelling deals of the day running under $100:

Barnes & Noble Simple Touch Reader ($79)

A mere two weeks ago, Barnes & Noble’s compelling e-reader would have run you $139. Yet, they dropped the price to $99 upon the introduction of Amazon’s competing Kindle Touch. And today, brick & mortar locations are hawking the Simple Touch for just $79. Not only is it $20 cheaper than Amazon’s touchscreen e-Ink offering, it’s also ad-free. Beyond that, the Simple Touch Reader features better ergonomics due to the sculpted rear and physical page turn buttons… with more panache than Amazon manages. Possible downsides are the cream colored trim of this special edition that may show grime and of course many prefer Amazon’s ecosystem.

Slingbox SOLO ($99.99)

Slingbox SOLO hardware has been around for sometime. And while I wouldn’t mind a more compact form featuring integrated WiFi, it’s still probably the best placeshifting experience money can buy. As a quick refresher, hook a Slingbox up to your home DVR or set-top box to stream that video around the house or around the world to a variety, including desktop web browsers and smartphones ($30). The SOLO retails for $180 and can often be had for less… but we’ve never seen it for a low of $100 as it is today and tomorrow at Best Buy and bestbuy.com.

Elgato EyeTV One ($40)

Been thinking of turning your laptop or PC into a television? Buy.com is offering the Elgato EyeTV One for $60 off today. The USB tuner will pull in high definition over-the-air broadcasts. PC owners would pair this with built-in Windows Media Center functionality (and might find better deals elsewhere), but Mac owners will get to take advantage of EyeTV 3 software – providing tuning and recording functionality, in addition to a years worth of guide data. Further, the software enables you to share recordings with other Macs in your home or automatically export them to iTunes for iPhone/iPod Touch syncing. And if you’re looking for some Slingbox functionality, without the Slingbox, the optional $5 EyeTV iPhone app can receive live or recorded video from your Mac around the home or on the go.

Roku LT ($49)

The best value in digital media streaming has got to be the new Roku LT. Use Roku to stream Netflix, Amazon, Pandora, and a ton of other stuff for just $50. Amazingly, this isn’t special Black Friday pricing. It really is that cheap every day. The Roku LT is based on the new Roku 2 hardware, but to shave a few bucks they’ve drop gaming remote capabilities  and max output is 720p – which has negligible real world implications. But, if you’re dead set on 1080p and fifty bucks is your max, Woot is offering the Roku XD (refurb) today. It’s prior generation product but provides that higher resolution streaming (where available) and Ethernet connectivity.

28 thoughts on “Black Friday Digital Media Dealios Under $100”

  1. What gadget deals did you get in on or are pondering? Keeping in mind, not only won’t I camp out for limited supply items… that ship has already sailed today.

    Although I limited this post to sub-$100 gadgets, NewEgg has the HDHomeRun Prime on sale for $170 (normally $230) and the Apple Store has the Jambox for $150 (normally $200).

  6. I’d say it’s a sidegrade rather than an upgrade… you get higher video resolution and USB, but it’s the older processor and software platform. Then again, in my experience versus the Roku 2 XS, the XD had better wireless reception.

  7. Apple TV is $89.99 at best buy online today and tomorrow. It’s not much but I never see them on sale. I picked one up as a gift and got myself the solo.

  11. Any good sub $100 Blu-Ray players? Still wish TiVo would offer a Blu-Ray player, they could even include a preview inside.

    May have to grab the Roku though I don’t care for their remote.

  13. “Joel, Looks like Amazon is now out of stock on the HDHomeRun Prime.”

    I was wondering about this device over the last couple of days. I’ve got a cord cutter next door. And in the process of setting my Prime up, I had switched off the password on my router. He did notice the device on my network. Which leads me to wonder…

    If you’re in a dense apartment building, one could share a unit (6 tuner).

    But it would be interesting to see the CableCard device sales breakdowns after Christmas. The Prime looks it could do more, should the software development continue…. Gotta wonder how the Tivo sales did today…

  18. I got a 4G Moto Xoom for $149 from Verizon Wireless yesterday. Granted, it’s not my first choice in Android tablets, but it was $50 cheaper than the get-in-line-now-because-it’s-such-a-great-deal Kindle Fire.

    Sadly, the deal appears to be over now.

    –Dwayne

  21. picked up my second apple tv at its discounted holiday price yesterday. i have one in the living room and now a second in the bed room. using my ipad 2, i use the “air video” app to send my movies from my mac to my tv via apple tv. i couldn’t be happier with this combo. now i just need another when i’m on the road and i’m all set!

  22. “I’d say it’s a sidegrade rather than an upgrade… you get higher video resolution and USB, but it’s the older processor and software platform. Then again, in my experience versus the Roku 2 XS, the XD had better wireless reception.”

    Well, the Roku 1 had 5ghz WiFi, and the Roku 2 doesn’t, no?

    I really wish Roku made a $49 – $69 model with 5ghz WiFi, (or less preferably, with an Ethernet port.) I’d like to pick a box up just for HBO Go, but I live in an area with congested 2.4ghz bandwidth, and I’m assuming I won’t get the totality of the bit-rate that HBO is trying to send with 2.4ghz.

    It chafes me to have to pick up the $99 model with all the extras I don’t want just in order to get an adequate signal from my LAN to the box, so I’ve been waiting.

  24. Chucky, depends what you call the “Roku 1”. The Roku 2 is actually the fourth Roku generation by my count and the previous two generations included multiple SKUs with the top end model featuring the dual band 802.11n.

    Dwayne, I assume your Verizon Xoom tablet comes with a monthly data fee…?

  25. “the previous two generations included multiple SKUs with the top end model featuring the dual band 802.11n.”

    Right. But this generation has no such SKU, and now is when I’m finally interested in purchasing a Roku.

    And sheerly in terms of company management, it baffles me as to why they’d ignore 5ghz WiFi. I mean, I know I wouldn’t get a good enough 2.4ghz signal for streaming video in my heavily populated environment, but I think the same applies to someone living in rural Idaho. If you’re going to make a video streamer box for the lean-back, why would you want to ignore 5ghz? Lean-back is why God invented that spec.

    (I understand why phone-sized screens stick to 2.4ghz. They don’t need the PQ to adequately serve the eye. But in the lean-back space, what gives with Roku? How much extra can the 5ghz radio receiver silicon cost? Seventy five cents? A buck and a half? Definitely less than an ethernet port…)

  27. Well, its Monday and like me you might have meant to check on that $99 Slingbox Solo model last friday for $99 and found its no longer available from Best Buy. Fret not as it is today available on Buy.com and probably because of that, also on Amazon.com for $99 which is where I picked mine up today.

  28. “People in rural Idaho have heard about 5ghz WiFi?”

    The internet is a great leveler in terms of info.

    No matter where you live, if you do your research, and want to get a decent wireless streaming signal from your LAN to your lean-back, you know you need some 5ghz in-house infrastructure.

Comments are closed.