The most popular deal request I am asked for help with continues to be the Apple iPod Touch. Even with this year clearly being the year of the tablet, it seems like everyone still wants to get an iPod Touch as a gift for a friend, colleague or family member. Last week I learned that HTC offers a similar device called the “Flyer” which is like an iPod Touch except that it is based on Android instead of iOS – I wonder why this hasn’t seemed to catch on as of yet (at least it’s not a popular item on the deal boards.

Here are this week’s top deals for the iPod Touch – frankly the Amazon deal is the best one because, for most, there is no sales tax. The key is that you should absolutely not purchase the iPod Touch at the Apple Store – save the cash and use it for apps or music!

Best Buy – Here the deal is on the 8GB model – for $189 plus a free $30 Best Buy gift card. (deal details)

Amazon – It seems Amazon has matched the deal from Best Buy (they seem to be matching a lot of electronics prices as of late) – purchase the 8GB model at Amazon for $189 and get $30 to use towards MP3 songs from the Amazon Music Store. Smart move here by Amazon because it gets you to buy songs from Amazon versus from iTunes. (deal details)

Target – If you want a larger iPod Touch, Target will be your best option. Purchase the 32GB iPod Touch for $295 and get a $40 Target gift card. (this is an in-store deal)

I have a 8GB iPod Touch and I really like it for walking – the Galaxy Tab has replaced most of my at-home general game playing.

Note: Amazon link is an aff link.

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This might be the best deal of Black Friday on an Apple laptop – especially if you have been wanting a Macbook Air. 9to5Mac has a scan of the Apple Store Black Friday ad showing the Apple Macbook Air starting at $898 which is $100 less than the price as of today. I assume that this $898 price is for the base 11.6″ display model. As usual, the better deals are outside the Apple Store.

Best Buy is running a deal for the same 11.6″ display base model for $849 but they charge tax for all.

Good news! For those in a non-taxed state, Amazon is the way to go on this deal. Enough people asked Amazon for a price match and Amazon has dropped the price to $849 with no tax for most (aff link). If this deal is anything like last year, you better be quick because Amazon removed the deal a few hours after posting.

Just to give you an idea, if you purchase the laptop from Amazon with no tax, you will save approximately $120! That’s 120 apps or songs at 99 cents and you don’t have to deal with the mall crowds.

This is definitely the entry level model with the following specs: 1.6GHz dual-core Intel Core i5 processor, 2GB memory, 64GB flash storage and Intel HD Graphics 3000. Take note that I believe the memory is not upgradeable. The other 3 Macbook Air models all come with 4GB memory.

If you have been wanting a Macbook Air and don’t want to shell out for the upgraded spec models, this is the way to go.

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Last year the best Apple iPod Touch deals were around $229 – $40 gift cards. This year the deals are even better because Apple dropped their price on the iPod Touch to $199. Here are three of the best deals I’ve found so far on the device. The deals below are for the 8GB model and most have the white and black models.

UPDATE: Amazon has now listed the black iPod Touch 8GB as a “Lightning Deal” for 9PM PT this evening. No price is noted and the lightning deals usually go within seconds so you if you want one, you better have your mouse finger ready on the page at exactly 9PM PT. You can find the deal listed here – just keep scrolling until you get to 9PM (aff link).

Best Buy has the best deal so far – $194.99 and they throw in a $50 Best Buy gift card. The device is currently showing a sold out status but it is worth checking in today periodically as they have been known to replenish the supply throughout the day. (hey Best Buy webmaster, how about a short link or a URL to share that isn’t 2,000 characters?!?)

Target is offering the 8GB model for $195 with a $40 Target gift card.

Amazon has matched the price from another retailer on the 8GB model to $189.98. For most there is no sales tax and Amazon is throwing in a free $2 MP3 certificate (aff link).

All 3 retailers are offering free shipping so if your city charges an 8% tax rate, here’s how the deal works out:

• Best Buy – $210.59 – $50 = $160.59
• Target – $210.59 – $40  = $170.59
• Amazon – $189.98 – $2 = $187.98

If you want a guaranteed device, I’d go with the Target deal immediately. You can always return the item if Best Buy does open up more inventory.

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There is a rumor going around the deal boards that Target will offer a $75 gift card if you purchase an iPad 2 on either Black Friday or Saturday. The deal is in-store and should be applicable to any Apple iPad 2 model with 3G either on Verizon or on AT&T.

The pricing is the standard Apple pricing which means:

• 16GB – $629
• 32GB – $729
• 64GB – $829

If you purchase the 16GB model, it’s basically a 12% discount which is pretty good considering you can’t buy the device from Amazon. It’s important to note that Target does charge sales tax on the iPad 2.

If you have a Target red credit card, they will take another 5% off the iPad 2 that you select. This is probably going to be one of the best deals this weekend for the Apple device – especially if you don’t want to fight the crowds for the stores that offer one iPad 2 for some crazy low price to get you in the door.

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I know that many of you have pre-ordered the Steve Jobs biography written by Walter Isaacson on Amazon. The book is currently set to be released on October 24, 2011. Amazon has the hardcover version priced at $17.88 and the Kindle version priced at $16.99.

Buy.com is running a special today on the hardcover version of the Steve Jobs biography for $10.  The Buy.com price includes free shipping for all purchases, Amazon includes free super saver shipping if you spend over $25 or free shipping if you are an Amazon Prime member.

Update: Looks like the deal is finished – the price has shot up to $35.

I am guessing if you want to buy the book locally at a Barnes & Noble, they may discount the $35.00 sticker price but I imagine the best they will do is $25 or thereabouts.

Here’s the overview of the biography of the former Apple CEO:

Based on more than forty interviews with Jobs conducted over two years—as well as interviews with more than a hundred family members, friends, adversaries, competitors, and colleagues—Walter Isaacson has written a riveting story of the roller-coaster life and searingly intense personality of a creative entrepreneur whose passion for perfection and ferocious drive revolutionized six industries: personal computers, animated movies, music, phones, tablet computing, and digital publishing.

Deal hunters have submitted price change requests to Amazon although it is unlikely they will match the Buy.com price.

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By now you know that Apple co-founder Steve Jobs died yesterday. His touch on the world was amazingly huge. His touch will live on within Apple and his ability to captivate an audience is something we will talk about for years and decades to come.

George Beahm has put together a book of quotes from the entire career and life of Steve Jobs. The paperback includes over 200 Steve Jobs quotes and looks like the kind of book that you read, think about, and then pass on to a friend or colleague. I received an early PDF of the book and I learned a lot about Jobs’ thinking process. The book will be released in early November and even though it is currently in pre-order only, it’s already a top 100 book. The book is called “I, Steve Jobs” and costs $5.99 on Amazon. Update: As of 4pm, the book is now up to #29.

Here are a few of quotes from Steve Jobs that are included in the book which you may not have heard before:

“Let’s go invent tomorrow rather than worrying about what happened yesterday.”
—D5 Conference: All Things Digital, May 30, 2007

“Quality is more important than quantity. One home run is much better than two doubles.”
—Bloomberg Businessweek, February 6, 2006

“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”
—The Innovation Secrets of Steve Jobs, 2011

“The problem is, in hardware you can’t build a computer that’s twice as good as anyone else’s anymore. Too many people know how to do it. You’re lucky if you do one that’s one-and-a-third times better or one-and-a-half times better. And
then it’s only six months before everybody else catches up.”
—Rolling Stone, June 16, 1994

“What a computer is to me is the most remarkable tool that we have ever come up with. It’s the equivalent of a bicycle for our minds.”
—Memory & Imagination, 1990

‘Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me.… Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful—that’s what matters to me.’
—CNNMoney/Fortune, May 25, 1993

One of the reasons I think Microsoft took ten years to copy the Mac is ‘cause they didn’t really get it at its core.
—Rolling Stone, June 16, 1994

“Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma—which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown our your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.”
—Commencement address, Stanford University, June 12, 2005

“The only problem with Microsoft is they just have no taste. I don’t mean that in a small way. I mean that in a big way, in the sense that they don’t think of original ideas and they don’t bring much culture into their products. I have no problem with their success—they’ve earned their success for the most part. I have a problem with the fact that they just make really third-rate products.”
—Triumph of the Nerds, PBS, June 1996

“I get 50 cents a year for showing up…and the other 50 cents is based on my performance.
—AppleInsider.com, May 10, 2007

Reprinted with permission from the forthcoming book “I, Steve: Steve Jobs In His Own Words,” edited by George Beahm, Agate B2, November 2011.

Note: Link to Amazon carries aff link

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MicroCenter has announced a $50 price cut on the Apple (AAPL) iPad 2 tablet device. The deal is only good in-store at all Microcenter locations – which appear to be spread out across the U.S. Basically the deal should cover the tax since Microcenter charges sales tax.

Since the iPad 2 isn’t sold at Amazon, this deal seems to be the best out there over the past few months. For the WiFi-only iPad 2 – the pricing for the 16GB, 32Gb and 64GB are $449.99, $549.99 and $649.99 respectively. For the 3G model (you pick either Verizon or AT&T) the prices (same GBs) are $579.99, $679.99 and $779.99.

One secret deal hunter tip – Apple stores will pricematch – typically they only price match for stores that are “close” – but if you want an iPad, print out the full email and head to your local Apple store and give it a try!

There is good discussion about the deal on Fatwallet and SlickDeals.

Find more stories about: Apple, Apple iPad, iPad, tablet

Back in December, Walmart offered the Apple iPhone 4 for $147 which included a $50 gift card.  Today Walmart has announced they are bringing back the Apple iPhone 4 special for $147 with no gift card required. The sale model is a 16GB version available for both AT&T and Verizon as your carrier choice. And you can select from the black version or the new OMG OMG OMG white version. The deal is available in Walmart stores that have a mobile department.

This is a $50 savings over the Apple store price — you still need to sign a two-year contract. There are still refurb deals on the iPhone 3GS direct from AT&T for $49 and $99 however now I would steer you towards spending the extra $100 for the latest Apple iPhone model. Of course there is talk of a new iPhone arriving later this summer.

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I am starting to wonder if Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) is trying to clear out all of their inventory of the current Mac lineup. Last week MacMall offered the MacBook Air base model for $849. Today MicroCenter is offering the base model 13″ 2011 model of the MacBook Pro for $200 below the Apple Store price.

MicroCenter is offering the MC700LL/A model for $999 although you must pickup the laptop at a local MicroCenter store. You will need to pay sales tax since you will be purchasing the laptop in a local store.

Currently Amazon is offering the MC700LL/A model for $1,164 but there is no tax for most so if you don’t live near a MicroCenter, Amazon might be the way to go. I have seen the Amazon price drop to $1,113 a few times over the past week so you might want to track the price for a few days before pulling the trigger.

There is talk that you might be able to get your local Apple Store and/or Frys to match the MicroCenter price.

Note: link to Amazon is an affiliate link.

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If you have been wanting an Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) MacBook Air, today might be the best day to pull the trigger. MacMall through eBay is offering the base model 11″ MacBook Air for $849 with free shipping. This is the best price I’ve seen on the MacBook Air since Amazon dropped their price to $899 last November (their price is back up to $990). Also, it seems if you aren’t located in New York State, there is no tax on this unit.

Purchasing this unit at Apple.com, the total price will be about $1,080. If you are not in NYS, this deal will save you a huge $231.

In speaking with a few Apple fanboys, the only real downside to this unit is the low 2GB ram which cannot be upgraded since the ram chips are fused to the motherboard using a 50,000 ton press. You should also note this machine only has a 64GB flash hard drive which Engadget noted yesterday on a review of a different laptop was somewhat small. Lastly, I will note that it seems you need a lot of dongles to make this unit effective.

Specs on this MacBook Air from the auction, “1.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2GB DDR3 SDRAM, 64GB Flash Storage, NVIDIA GeForce 320M, 11.6″ LED-backlit glossy widescreen display, AirPort Extreme Wi-Fi 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1, FaceTime camera, Built-in battery, Precision aluminum unibody”

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I know, I know…Apple does nothing wrong, the iPhone is perfect, yay Apple. With the required Apple is awesome statement out of the way, I’d like to share a very important bit of poor usability in the Apple App Store. The good news is that the issue can be corrected very easily.

This past week on the tech blogs there were two major stories: the launch of the $41-million, VC-baked photo sharing app Color; and the beginning of fun posts about whether we are in a bubble or not. Rackspace employee Robert Scoble wrote a rant where he described how Color will basically never be able to recover from their initial App Store launch. I haven’t installed Color but one of the things Robert noted is that Color has a large number of “scathing reviews” and two-star ratings.

I read a few of the blog posts around the Color launch and wanted to check out the reviews and ratings Robert mentions in his post so I loaded iTunes and landed on the App Store page for the Color app. Below is a screenshot of what I see when the Color page loads. If you look at the red arrow, it points to the Rating for the Color app. It says 4+ which clearly means that Color has a rating of higher than 4 but less than 5 probably meaning the average is 4.xx. This was very confusing to me because Robert said that Color had a much lower overall rating of near 2.

Oh! While it doesn’t look like a link, the “Rated 4+” actually means that the application itself has an age rating of 4+ which means it’s basically approved for all audiences.

When you scroll down on the Color app page, you see what I’ve posted below – the customer ratings for the app. This is horrible usability – it makes nearly all apps with “Customer Ratings” of below 4 appear as if they have much higher overall ratings.

Apple could easily fix this by changing “Rated 4+” to “Age Rating” and placing “Average Customer Rating” right below it with a link that takes the customer down to the customer ratings section seen below. Assuming others agree with me, it would certainly be interesting to look at download counts for low customer rating apps after the change is made to see if in fact this major usability issue led to higher download counts.

Find more stories about: App Store, Apple, Color, iphone, iPhone 4

I remember when the new Air Jordan sneakers came out — everyone wanted the new style, no one wanted last year’s model. You could get huge discounts on the “old” version of the sneakers — sometimes more than 50% off the original price.

Earlier this month we saw Apple reduce the price of their refurbished iPad devices by about $150. And just a week ago Josh Lowensohn at CNET reported that AT&T reduced the price of the AT&T 3G version of the original iPad by $100. AT&T is still offering their iPad deal — a 16GB AT&T 3G original iPad is selling for $429.

Today I am reading on multiple deal boards with several confirmations that Verizon is selling the 16GB WiFi original iPad for $299. This model does not come with the 3G service only WiFi and the deal appears to be available only in Verizon stores. Confirmations have come in from across the country.

If you read some of the Apple fanboy blogs, it seems like if you have an iPad 1, you might not want to upgrade to the iPad 2. The fanboys suggest if you are purchasing the iPad for the first time, the iPad 2 is the way to go. Apple describes the iPad 2 as, “faster, lighter, thinner” — I think the big difference is the camera and the “cool” cover (that’s the real gem of the iPad 2 and why the fanboys ran out to buy one so they can make sure everyone knows they got an iPad 2 like the Jordans).

This deal is a $200 savings over the new iPad 2. That’s a lot of apps you can buy. I think this deal will get a lot of people thinking of an iPad before they consider an Android tablet.

Find more stories about: Apple, Apple iPad, iPad, Verizon

When I was a youngster, I busted my butt at the supermarket every week. And about once a quarter, I bought the new Nike Air Jordan sneakers. These sneakers were crazy expensive and my mother would yell at me (mainly because people were robbed for their Jordans in NYC) that I shouldn’t spend so much on sneakers. But I remember that even though they were expensive, there was something magical about wearing them. I can’t dunk a ball (though I was good at the three) but walking around Brooklyn in the sneakers just made me feel a bit cooler than if I bought just the basic sneakers.

When people ask me why the iPhone has been so popular, I reply by saying, “it’s the white headphones.” I only owned an iPhone for three weeks when it first launched because there was no AT&T signal in my apartment building in Manhattan. When I returned the iPhone, I went with a Samsung ACE which has Windows 6 Mobile. The phone has been great, it handles email great, phone calls with Sprint have always been rock solid and I like the keyboard. It’s a great utility phone, but it doesn’t have the white headphones.

I’ve taken two flights with Virgin Atlantic in their Upper Class service (I used points back in the day when the points from Delta transferred – it was sweet!). The experience from the second I arrived at JFK and LHR was absolutely amazing. Virgin Mobile has tried to copy the “look” of Virgin Atlantic but I am not sure the experience offered is the same.

I am not an Apple fanboy, but there is no doubt that when you buy an Apple product or visit one of their stores, it’s like slipping your feet into a pair of Air Jordans. I think Apple has realized that making a phone is easy, it’s making an experience that is much harder. These mobile devices are attached at our hips, in a purse, a fanny pack, or a belt clip night and day. And so the experience is so important today with technology. I bought an Apple iPod Touch during the holidays on Amazon and just opening the packaging made me think the device was made for the experience.

When I talk about experience, it combines the hardware, the software, and the support. With that said, I’d like to share some thoughts on my first 24 hours using an Android device. I plan to write another review after 30 days of usage assuming the data service eventually is re-activated. Assuming that I like Android over the next 30 days, I will probably move to a higher-end device from HTC, Samsung or Motorola (I am hoping I can get some test devices and provide some reviews).

I bought the LG Optimus V at Target this week while the phone is on sale for $109. The purchase went fine – I picked up a $25 top-up card for the first month of service (apparently there is also a 80-cent charge for 911).

I came back to the office, opened the box, started the charging process. I turned the phone on and went to the Virgin Mobile website to get activated. The process seemed to work ok – you signup online and then click the activate button on the phone. But the activate button kept giving me an error. I figured maybe it takes some time to get the service to register the phone – I waited two hours and then called customer service which is offshore. The person I spoke with basically told me there must be something wrong and he asked me for the ESN number and then told me he would create a ticket for a manager to call me back and that it would be 72 hours before I heard from the manager. I waited another two hours, called back again and was told basically the same thing. I kept trying to make the phone work – I want to play with this damn thing now!

One of my friends told me to talk to Virgin Mobile support on Twitter. So I sent a message to the VMUCare account. I quickly realized that the person monitoring the account was replying to comments that were sent 12 hours ago! This will be of no help to me I thought (I was right, she sent me a message over 12 hours after I asked for help).  I called back at 10pm and another service person actually got the phone working – turns out the ESN number was entered incorrectly. She fixed the number and in a minute the phone was active and I was online.

The LG Optimus V device is nice – it’s lightweight, fits in my pants pocket and has a nice screen. If I decide to stay with Android as my main device, I may go for a device with a bit larger screen but overall the build quality on this Optimus is good. And for a $100, no-contract phone, it’s the best on the market.

So I started to play – clicking buttons, trying to learn how the phone works, where the apps are located, etc.  I downloaded the Twitter app from the Android Market which was easy (I had to sign-in to my Google account which seemed to load up my Gmail automatically which I found a bit odd).

The only issue I couldn’t seem to figure out was where the apps went after you installed them. On my iPod Touch, the apps just appear right on the screen – they don’t behave the same on Android. I had to install shortcuts (reminded me of Windows) to get the apps to appear. This morning my friend Corsin taught me that there is an apps button on the main home screen which houses all of the apps you download and everything that Virgin Mobile loaded on the phone to begin with.

The big issue currently is that Virgin Mobile’s 3G service has been down nationwide for over 24 hours.

I can’t get online at all. You can see in the screenshot at the top of this post – I had to use my camera to take a picture of the phone. There is no notice on the Virgin Mobile Twitter account, the person who runs the VMUCare Twitter account keeps replying that the service is down. There is no notice of the outage on the Virgin Mobile website. Why haven’t they sent a SMS to every customer with a status update?

After only 24-hours of usage, Android feels like a utility device – everything works great but it’s not as smooth as using the iPod Touch (I assume the same smoothness is available on the iPhone). For example, I wanted to take a simple screenshot showing the networking error. Apparently there is no way to make a screenshot without either loading some software or rooting your phone. On the iPod Touch you click a button and bing you have a screenshot. What normal person wants to root a phone or install software to make a screenshot?

There’s nothing wrong with a utility device, I’ve been using one for over three years now and am very happy. Perhaps the happy balance is Android for work where utility is ok, and iPod Touch for home where experience is more important than utility.

I am hopeful that Virgin Mobile will get this 3G service working soon so I can continue to test and play with this device. I also certainly hope they will be crediting me and all of the other Android customers for this outage.

Assuming Virgin’s 3G service comes back before SXSW begins, I plan to try out the device during the conference and will leave my WinMo phone at the office. This should be a great test to see how I like using an Android device as my main mobile device.

Find more stories about: Android, Apple, Google, iphone, iPhone 4, mobile, Reviews, Virgin Mobile

So the big news today from Apple is the new iPad 2. It is thinner yadda yadda, lighter yadda yadda, has more ram, has some cool new software, Scoble loves it, it can get you dates, it can help you balance your checkbook, it can help you fix a flat tire, there’s nothing it can’t do. Brad McCarty at Next Web has a recap of all of today’s iPad 2 announcements including the seriously cool case that can be folded up into a stand.

Last September, I posted about a variety of refurbished iPad deals at the Apple Store. At the time, the refurb iPad 16GB WiFi model was available for $449.  Today they have lowered the price to $349 or $150 less than the new iPad 2. The Apple Store has all of the details. The prices range from:

• $349 for the 16GB WiFi model
• $479 for the 16GB WiFi + 3G model
• $529 for the 64GB WiFi model

Apple notes regarding their refurbished Apple iPad devices:

• same 1 year warranty as a brand new iPad
• all manuals and accessories
• a new battery and outer shell (to me this makes the device look brand new)
• a new white box (ha!)

So if you don’t care about the cameras, the thinnerness (new word!) or the lighter weight of the iPad 2 and still want to get in on the action, you might want to check out a refurb iPad original. You can call it the Classic iPad like Classic Coke.

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It sure looks like the newest generation of the Apple iPod Touch is the electronics item that has seen the most deals — both online and offline. More than ever I’ve noticed Amazon going head-to-head with Target. When Target has an electronics item on sale, Amazon appears to match the price nearly immediately.

I think these iPod Touch deals might be the last great buys of the year — certainly the last buys if you are planning to get the device for a Christmas gift.

Amazon is offering the 8gb iPod Touch for $205 with a free $25 Amazon gift card. This brings the net price down to $180 – this is $50 less than the Apple Store and if you include tax savings from buying on Amazon, the total savings is somewhere around $70. If you have a Prime shipping membership with Amazon, I think you should still be able to get the device home before Friday and certainly if you add in the extra $4 for overnight shipping.

This second deal isn’t for the deal newbie. If you do the legwork, you can get the 8gb iPod Touch for $162.50 + tax at Target. The deal requires some Target coupons and includes a gift card but if you are willing to do the legwork, this is the best deal overall. I still prefer the Amazon deal above because it’s easier and doesn’t require dealing with lines at the store and/or potential coupon issues. The deal instructions can be found on Your Best Source on the Net.

If you prefer BestBuy, they have the iPod Touch for $229 with a $50 Best Buy gift card. If you are one of their Reward Zone members, I believe you can also grab some free headphones. Remember with Best Buy you will pay sales tax on your purchase.

Side deal – if you need iTunes credits, BestBuy has $50 cards for $40 this week with free shipping. With all the iTunes gift card deals out there, please don’t pay full price buying direct on iTunes without a gift card.

Find more stories about: Amazon, Apple, iPod, iTunes, mp3, Target