bargain posts

Filed under: Education, Deals, App Review

Bigwords.com app provides a cheaper way to buy textbooks

by David Winograd (RSS feed) on Aug 15th, 2009

As a parent of two adult children, with one just having left school and the other finishing a Master's degree, I know that buying textbooks at their staggeringly high prices adds insult to the injury of tuition, housing and living expenses.

Over the last few years, the market has made historic my remembrances of going to the bookstore and paying whatever was marked on the shelf while often vainly trying to find used titles of popular books.

Things have changed: Bigwords.com and its little friend the Bigwords.com app [iTunes Link] are welcome additions to the quest of buying books and still having enough left over for food.

The Bigwords.com app tries to find the cheapest way to buy textbooks. Whether it's one book, or a long reading list, you will save money using this app. You can also make money by using it to sell unwanted books, but being a teacher, I have a problem with that, having never re-sold or thrown away a textbook. Of course,that's just me.

A good way to explain Bigwords is to take you through the process. The Bigwords.com app lets you set a bunch of preferences, each one reducing your options a bit. You can choose books that are new only, new or used, high quality new or used, set shipping preferences, consider eBooks or rentals (along with rental terms) and whether you require a guaranteed buyback from the vendor.

You further customize it by telling it if you are a member of B&N.com, Booksamillion, ECampus.com, whether you have used Half.com, and whether you are an Amazon Prime member. Amazon Prime is a service where for a yearly fee, most everything you buy comes with free 2nd-day shipping. The answers to all of these questions help determine your final price.

Continue reading “Bigwords.com app provides a cheaper way to buy textbooks”

Tags: app review, AppReview, b2s, back to school, back-to-school, BackToSchool, bargain, deals, textbook

Filed under: iPhone

What will you do with your old iPhone?

by Erica Sadun (RSS feed) on Jun 20th, 2008

So like a gadzillion people have asked me: "What do I do with my old iPhone now that I'm upgrading to a spiffy new 3G unit?" I thought about doing a top ten list. I thought about clever and amusing ways to use an old iPhone. But seriously, it just comes down to this. So read my lips.

Jailbreak it. Unlock it. Give it away or sell it. The end.

Get yourself a copy of iLiberty+ or ZiPhone or whatever tool you like. Once unlocked, you can sell it for a badzillion dollars on eBay, because contrary to what I originally thought, AT&T isn't going to let you walk away with a new 3G iPhone without signing over your first born, your personal bank account and possibly your soul. So the demand for 1st gens is going to go through the roof (as will the demand for posthumous mobile air conditioning units once AT&T is through with you). Over at Google, those $250 refurb iPhones from a few weeks back are going for $500 and up. Ebay has relative bargains at $350 and up.

If you have a child, a spouse, a dog or any other loved one, you can now give them the phone with a T-Mobile or AT&T SIM and they're good to go. If any of these loved ones are foreigners ("votre chien", for example, in the case of those north of the border but within the Quebecois borders), they should be able to use a non-US SIM in the unlocked unit (i.e. "Le Rogers Fido").

As we've posted before, AT&T says it will reset your contract to 2 years once you get the new iPhone, so your old one will be completely free, clear, and contract-free. No one (except, perhaps, your dog) will sanction you for unlocking it.

Tags: ATT, bargain, deathstar, ebay, iphone, unlocking

Filed under: Rumors, Software, Deals

MacHeist 2 hype begins with email and forum leaks

by Mike Schramm (RSS feed) on Jul 6th, 2007

Like Mac software? Like stunts designed to promote and sell it? Then guess what, buddy-- you're in luck. It seems MacHeist 2 is just around the corner. Last year's ARG / bargain / Mac software love fest is coming around again, it seems, and while details are slim at the moment, odds are there'll be more very soon.

The main site still says nothing, but over on the forums, things are starting to get interesting. First, head honcho Phill Ryu hints at something that might be a "Web 2.0" "Game thingy where you win stuff," and then shared a bunch of little pictoral hints about something called "groupthinkheist."

Then, a tipster, who we'll keep anonymous, sent us word that an email had been sent announcing MacHeist 2 and sending everyone to... um... something. I couldn't get it to do anything now (you probably had to type in a code), but previously there was action going on there. That action was accompanied by more forums board talk, but apparently that talk was silenced. And all we're really left with is hype for something we knew was coming anyway.

So are you all excited for MacHeist to come around again this year? I only watched from the sidelines last year, and it's really just a way to sell software (and not a very profitable way for devs, either). But it is a creative way, and I have to admit it sounds fun. What do you think?

Update: Phill himself tells us this "event" is completely unrelated to MacHeist (so it definitely hasn't started yet), but that MacHeist 2 is coming later this year.

Update2: If you're interested, lots more information about what's happening is showing up on this wiki.

Tags: arg, bargain, deal, game, hype, macheist, phill ryu, PhillRyu, skunkworks, software, web20

Filed under: iPod Family, Deals

Refurb iPod shuffle for $59

by Scott McNulty (RSS feed) on Feb 15th, 2007

Our friends at the Bargainist let us know that Apple is selling refurb silver current gen iPod shuffles for $59. Your $60 gets you the shuffle (no fancy colors though), a shuffle Dock, earphones, and free shipping. Not a shabby deal at all.

If you were waiting around to see if you could get a shuffle for cheap, your ship might have just come in (people still use that phrase, right?).

Tags: bargain, ipod shuffle, IpodShuffle, refurb

Filed under: Odds and ends

MacZOT fever spreading with MysteryZOTs

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Mar 23rd, 2006

Remember MacZOT, the bargain-a-day shareware site? It seems like it's catching on as wildfire, as they now have a "MysteryZOT" offering that seems to be all the rage. A MysteryZOT is a bundle of a few shareware apps for a ridiculously low price. The catch is that you have to place an order before you get to find out what you're ordering.

Sounds crazy? As of around 5 PM yesterday afternoon, over four hundred people would like to disagree with you, as this post at the MacZOT blog says they've sold 402 of the alloted 500 packages of yesterday's MysteryZOT. This morning I noticed they sold their entire lot and have revealed its contents, which includes iClip, the NotePad widget (with full search and print functionality) and the FTP Drop widget which offers a handy DnD (drag-n-drop) operation for sending files up to a directory on a server you specify.

At only $14.95 for these apps and three others (instead of $53.70), I'm starting to wonder if I missed out on a good deal. Did any of you TUAW readers jump on yesterday's MysteryZOT? Are you glad you did, or are you missing your $14.95?

Tags: bargain, deal, discount, MacZOT, MysteryZOT, software

Filed under: Retail, iMac

Apple clearing out iMac G5s?

by David Chartier (RSS feed) on Feb 1st, 2006

We don't usually mention bargains here on TUAW, as there are plenty of other sites already doing a fine job of that. However, TUAW reader Adam noticed that the 20" iMac G5 has dropped quite a bit in price to $1499 in the online Apple Store, bringing the edu price down even lower to $1399. These are not refurbs or special deals of any kind as far as I can tell, which leads me to wonder if this might be the first sign of the iMac G5's inevitable disappearance. Speculation aside however, it's a smokin' deal on a big iMac that's still pretty speedy. Get 'em while they're hot.

Tags: Apple Store, AppleStore, bargain, deal, G5, iMac, price

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