Techdeals.net - Your Guide to Technology Bargains

Update: This deal is still going on, with 25% off purchases when you search for “xbox” on Live.com.

Microsoft Live Search has partnered with eBay to give you a cash back discount on certain eBay purchases. This is hot because the cashback discount is currently up to 35%25% cash back on “Buy It Now” purchases.

All you need to do is use Live.com to search and the discount will appear when you search for certain keywords (list updated below). Right now, search with “xbox” and you’ll see a text ad above or on the right saying “You may get 25% off with PayPal if eligible” with this logo: .

• Click on that ad and you’ll be taken to eBay
• Find any “Buy It Now” item and click “Buy It Now”
• On your “review purchase” page, you should see the amount of your 25% discount
• You must pay with PayPal to be eligible for the discount. Discount will be credited back to your account following purchase.
• Check your My Ebay inbox after you complete your purchase for the cashback. You will need a free Live.com account to receive your cashback.
• Maximum of $250 cash back per item and up to 3 redemptions per eBay account

Does not work on automobiles or other vehicles or real estate. Additional terms and restrictions can be found here.

American Express is offering 10,000 bonus points when you signup for their popular American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card. Plus, annual fees are waived for the first year ($30 per year thereafter).

Earn 1 mile for every dollar you spend and you can transfer your points to 26 airline frequent flyer programs and get an additional 5,000 bonus miles for every 20,000 Starpoints you earn. Plus, free hotel stays and room upgrades with your Starpoints at Starwood hotels.
Plus:

• Buyers Assurance Extended Warranty (warranties doubled - up to 1 year)
• Online Fraud Protection
• Purchase Protection
• Return Protection (allows you to get refunded on purchases - up to $300)
• Best Value Guarantee
• Travel Accident Insurance (including rental car protection)

Newegg has the Philips SPD2513BD Super-Allwrite Retail DVD Burner for a solid price of $29.99 with free shipping. Click here for the techdeal.

Burns both DVD+R and DVD-R Discs at 20x, with DVD+RW handling at 8x and DVD-RW at 6x.

American Express is now offering the True Earnings Card from Costco American Express card. No annual fee with a paid Costco membership, plus:

• Cash back - 3% for gas and restaurants, 2% for travel, and 1% everywhere else (including Costco)
• Buyer Assurance Plan - extends manufacturer’s warranty for up to 1 additional year
• Purchase Protection - protects items for up to 90 days after purchase if they’re damaged or stolen
• Travel accident insurance

They’re also offering the American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card and you’ll get 10,000 bonus points when you signup. Plus, annual fees are waived for the first year.

Earn 1 mile for every dollar you spend and you can transfer your points to 26 airline frequent flyer programs and get an additional 5,000 bonus points for every 20,000 Starpoints you earn. Plus, free hotel stays and room upgrades with your Starpoints at Starwood hotels.

Intuit is offering the TurboTax Online Free Edition tax preparation service, which is intended for simple (ie 1040EZ) federal returns and includes free E-Filing. State tax returns are extra. Click here for the techdeal.

Southwest is having a fare sale, with fares starting at just $52 one-way. Book by March 10, 2008 to save. Too many destinations to list, click here for the techdeal.

ING Direct has their Orange Online Savings Account, with 3.40% APY. There’s no minimum deposit, no tiered interest rates and no fees. Direct deposit is available. Click
here for the techdeal.

About.com review.

Zazzle, which helps you create custom T-shirts, calendars, mugs, and other gifts, is offering the following Valentine’s Day coupons:

• 30% off all cards with coupon code “LOVECARD2008″. (exp 2/14/08)
• 30% off all calendars with coupon code “YEAR2008CALS”. (exp 2/14/08)
• Free shipping on T-shirt orders over $50 with coupon code “YEAR2008CALS”. (exp 2/14/08)

Today only, eBay is offering 20 cent auction listing fees. This reduced price applies to all items listed in auction format regardless of value. Some restrictions apply. Click here for the techdeal.

Intuit is offering the Turbotax Online Free Edition tax preparation service, which is intended for simple (ie 1040EZ) federal returns and includes free E-Filing. State tax returns are extra. Click here for the techdeal.

Need to attack that New Year’s Resolution? The Discovery Channel is offering a free 8-week membership to Bally Total Fitness just for signing up. Click here for the techdeal.

Netflix has plans starting at just $4.99 a month for 1 DVD-at-a-time. One of their most popular plans is $13.99 a month for 2 DVDs-at-a-time (unlimited rentals per month). Plus, you get a free 2-week trial when you sign up. Click here for the techdeal.

And they now offer instant movie downloads included on ALL accounts. You get an hour of video downloads per $1 you spend per month (14 hours for the $13.99 plan, etc). [Gizmodo review]

American Express is offering a free domestic round-trip airplane ticket when you sign up for the American Express Business Gold Rewards Credit Card.

You’ll get 25,000 points about 10 weeks after signing up, redeemable for a round-trip domestic plane ticket or $250 rewards gift certificate. The annual fee is waived for the first year (you can cancel before the first year and keep the points/ticket). Click here for the techdeal.

Buy.com is offering an Xbox 360 Live 12-Month Subscription Card for just $38.88 with free shipping. Click here for the techdeal.

First time Google Checkout customers can take $10 off their purchase by choosing GCO upon checkout.

Comcast is offering the Comcast Triple Play Bundle for just $99 a month for 12 months and get a free cable modem, wireless router and $335 cash back when you sign up. This includes Comcast High Speed Internet, Digital Cable and Digital Voice Unlimited Local & Long Distance. Click here for the techdeal.

Staples has these deals for the week (8/11) w/ free shipping on $50 orders:

• Canon FAXPHONE L170 Laser Plain-Paper Fax - $134.98 AR
• Battery Operated SlimLine Pencil Sharpener - FREE AR
• Sony 50/Pack 700MB CD-R, Spindle - $7.98
• HP 1020 LaserJet Printer - $99.98
• Nextar X3-02 GPS Navigation System - $199.99

• Canon PIXMA MP530 Color Flatbed All-in-One - $159.98

Netflix has lowered their monthly rate to $16.99 per month for 3 DVDs at-a-time. Plus, you get a free 2-week trial when you sign up. Click here for the techdeal.

American Express is offering a free domestic round-trip airplane ticket when you sign up for the American Express Business Gold Rewards Credit Card.

You’ll get 25,000 points, redeemable for a round-trip domestic plane ticket or $250 rewards gift certificate. The annual fee is waived for the first year (you can cancel before the first year and keep the points/ticket). Click here for the techdeal.

Ends this weekend. Restaurant.com is giving 50% off all dining gift certificates with coupon code “FUTURE”. Pretty much all of their $25 certificates are already listed for $10, so you can get most for just $5 after coupon. Expires 7/7/07.

Once you purchase, you can print them from your computer. I’ve used them 2 or 3 times before and haven’t had any problems. Just remember that every certificate has its own restrictions so make sure you read before buying and dining (you can call ahead if you want to be certain).

Tell me if you’ve heard this one. T-Mobile is giving away a complete Hotspot@Home setup (includes cell phone, wireless router and one-year of service) to the first 100 people lined up wearing (and this is new)..a bathrobe in front of T-Mobile stores in 11 cities.

Their new Hotspot@Home service basically gives you a wireless router that allows your Wi-Fi enabled cell phone (included) to make calls over your home network and includes T-Mobile cell service. Interesting.

American Express is offering a free domestic round-trip airplane ticket when you sign up for the American Express Business Gold Rewards Credit Card.

You’ll get 25,000 points, redeemable for a round-trip domestic plane ticket or $250 rewards gift certificate. The annual fee is waived for the first year (you can cancel before the first year and keep the points/ticket). Click here for the techdeal.

American Express is offering 10,000 bonus points when you signup for their popular American Express Starwood Preferred Guest Credit Card. Plus, annual fees are waived for the first year ($30 per year thereafter).

Earn 1 mile for every dollar you spend and you can transfer your points to 26 airline frequent flyer programs and get an additional 5,000 bonus points for every 20,000 Starpoints you earn. Plus, free hotel stays and room upgrades with your Starpoints at Starwood hotels.
Plus:

• Buyers Assurance Extended Warranty (warranties doubled - up to 1 year)
• Online Fraud Protection
• Purchase Protection
• Return Protection (allows you to get refunded on purchases - up to $300)
• Best Value Guarantee
• Travel Accident Insurance (including rental car protection)

Darren sent over this handy forum link with tons of great information on this card.

Mets fan? A’s fan living in NYC? You can score free tickets to their June 22nd game at Shea Stadium from Fox just for calling in and reserving your tickets. Limited number of tickets available, your mileage may vary.

What: A party to thank you for being a fan of FOX News — with free tickets to see the New York Mets play the Oakland A’s, a generous spread of your favorite picnic foods, free FOX goodies, and a chance to see some of your favorite FOX personalities! One of the hosts of FOX & Friends will be throwing out the first pitch … so don’t miss it!

When: Friday, June 22nd — picnic party starts at 6 p.m. Game time is 7:10 p.m.

Where: Shea Stadium in New York City — home of the New York Mets

How: Get all the details and make your reservations by calling (212) 601-7010.

Today only, eBay is offering 20 cent auction listing fees. This reduced price applies to all items listed in auction format, regardless of value. Click here for the techdeal.

If you’ve got an American Express card, Blockbuster offers their TotalAccess DVD rental program for only $9.99 for the first three months, $17.99/mo after that. Just use coupon code “statement” when you order with your Amex card.

TotalAccess gives you unlimited DVD rentals by mail (3 at a time), free in-store rentals and you can return your mailed DVDs to any store and exchange them for new movies.

Six Flags is offering one-day tickets for 50% off the regular price at all their nationwide theme park locations. Tickets are valid throughout the 2007 season. Click here for the techdeal.

Proflowers.com has got a few Mother’s Day Specials running:

• 24 Roses, Cherry Blossom Vase + Chocolates - $39.99
• Mother’s Day Flowers - starting at $19.99
• Mom’s Delight Bouquet with free vase - $29.99
• One Dozen Assorted Mother’s Day Roses plus 6 free & free vase - $29.99
• 20 Assorted Tulips with free vase - $29.99

Gary C. let us know about NoPhoneTrees.com, a nifty little free service that connects you to many common customer service phone systems so that you can skip the excruciating hold times.

1. Find the company you’d like to call by category (credit cards, mortgages, loans, health care)
2. Enter your phone # (we will never disclose your phone number to anyone, not even your mother!).
3. Wait a few seconds while we navigate the phone tree.
4. When we call you back, pick up your phone and you’re done. No more phone trees.

They’ve got a decent list of companies organized by category including Dell, American Express, Citibank, American Airlines, Southwest, Hertz Car Rental just to name a few. Definitely one for the bookmarks.

In an effort to help consumers fight identity theft, Shred-It, a document security company, is offering free document shredding services at 100 Office Depot locations tomorrow, April 28, 2007 from 10a.m. to 2p.m.

More info available at the Shred-It site.

American Express is offering their Blue Cash credit card with no annual fee. With the card you get:

• Up to 5% Cash Back on purchases
• 0.00% Intro APR
• Pay-over-time grace period flexibility
• Online Fraud Protection
• Buyer’s Warranty Extension (warranties doubled, up to 5 years)
• Return Protection (allows you to get refunded on purchases - up to $300)
• Travel Insurance (incl. rental car protection)

Click here for the techdeal.

Today only, eBay offers insertion fees for auctions at just $0.20. Discounted price is available regardless of starting price or reserve price of your auction item. Click here for the techdeal.