99 Cent Hulu Deal Still In Play

One of the more favorable deals of the season has been Hulu’s 99 cent offer. Yeah, it’s not the ad-free tier, but $12 for an entire year of their fairly extensive catalog is quite amazing. We generally use it for the shows we didn’t know we should be DVR-ing — plus it’s the only streaming … Read more

Early Deals We’re Tracking

Black Friday “the day” appears to have morphed into Black Friday “the month” and, as such, some deals are already flowing. Remember to get your ebates account going and let’s start shopping! $100 Smart Displays The 8″ Lenovo Google Smart Display, 7″ Google Home Hub, and 8″ Amazon Echo Show will all be $100 from … Read more

Prepping For Black Friday

With Black Friday rapidly approaching, it’s time to begin preparations. And, while BF is often associated with holiday shopping, it’s also an ideal time to stock up on just about everything your household may need, from power tools to hiking boots. Heck, I even ordered a high chair about 50% off a few years back… before my daughter was born. As such, you need to create a wishlist – to scan deals efficiently and to avoid impulse purchases. Which ties into monitoring tools. I rely on the Slick Deals app for smartphone alerts (based on products in the aforementioned laundry list) and Wirecutter’s Twitter deals feed. Lastly, you need an ebates account for decent cash back from retailers (other than Amazon).

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Replace Your Echo Dots. All Of Them.

The new Amazon Echo Dot is out. And Alexa’s reviews have been exceedingly positive. From The Verge: I’m going to cut right to the chase: the new Echo Dot smart speaker is so much better than its predecessor that it would not be totally out of line to replace a whole houseful of old Echo … Read more

TiVo Resurrects Lifetime Service Transfer Deal

TiVo’s got a great offer for those of you still rocking legacy DVRs with Lifetime service. Active* Series 2, Series 3, TiVo HD, and Premiere units can have their Lifetime service transferred to a new TiVo Bolt Vox under the equivalent All-In plan for just $99. As to the fine print, this promotion is only … Read more

Springtime Stocking Stuffers

Don’t know what sort of stockings you’re sporting this time of year, but here are a few decent deals on some low ticket items that might interest you.

Aukey USB Charger – $6
I replaced an older, bulkier two-port Anker model with this little guy back in February and have been pleased. It’s unobtrusive in the kitchen, travels well, and simply does what it’s supposed to do. Use code FORMOM32 to knock $2 off and it’s shipped free via Prime. If you need more power (for iPads) or faster charging, this somewhat larger Anker is also on sale for $9.

Anker SoundBuds Slim – $20
I’ve been rocking these since December and use them more frequently than my Apple AirPods (for music) given the customizable fit (see the multiple options above) and comparatively superior blockage of ambient noise. Decent sound, decent battery life, and fairly quick recharging. I also appreciate the

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The 4K TiVo Mini Vox Giveaway

TiVo VP Ted Malone kindly provided a TiVo Mini Vox ($180) for evaluation, which I’m now happy to pass along a member of the community.

As you likely know, the TiVo Mini line of small form factor set-tops extend your core TiVo DVR experience to additional rooms and televisions within the home. The newly released Mini Vox features a similar footprint as its predecessors and, beyond more agreeable styling, also brings superior processing power and 4K along for the ride to stream that ultra HD Netflix and Amazon. It’s snappy! The Mini Vox also sports TiVo’s new Hydra interface, for better or worse, which in turn enables TiVo’s highly capable native voice capabilities – triggered via the bundled voice remote.

The giveaway is a fairly simple and standard affair, although not entirely free… as the cost of entry is your social media soul. For reference, a YouTube subscription carries double the weight of a Twitter follow and 4x the value of a Facebook look-see. But, hey, feel free to stack the odds in your favor by taking all available actions. One winner will be selected at random next week and, should the response be favorable, I’ve got some other goodies (eero) waiting in the wings.

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Best Black Friday Deals

Some of the best deals I’ve come across on products I own or otherwise endorse, but certainly not all-encompassing – so share your good finds in the comments! Cord Cutting & Streaming 4K Roku Streaming Stick @ $48 Amazon Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote @ $25 Refurb Tablo 2-Tuner OTA DRV @ $99 … Read more