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CNET's Cheapskate scours the web for great deals on PCs, phones, gadgets and much more. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Find the answers on our FAQ page. Find more great buys on the CNET Deals page and follow the Cheapskate on Facebook and Twitter!
Yeah, it's... a monitor. I'm so ashamed.
AsusToday is a dry, dry, dry day for deals, my friends. Sure, I could cough up another drone, another mobile charger, another $8 set of Bluetooth sport earbuds (with promo code OAGPJFJK). Meh.
But every day needs a deal -- it says so in my contract -- which is why I've literally spent hours trying to find something, anything, that's new, exciting or at least crazy-cheap.
No luck. Instead, I bring you something boring, utilitarian and only generically cheap: For a limited time, and while supplies last, Newegg has the Asus VZ239H frameless 23-inch LED desktop monitor for $89.99 shipped. That's after redeeming a $20 mail-in rebate (PDF). Which I know made you groan just now.
I mean, yeah, this is a pretty good monitor. It's a full-HD (1,920x1,080) IPS display with VGA and HDMI inputs, stereo speakers and an ultra-slim design. ("Frameless" is something of a misnomer, though, because although there's very little bezel around the top and sides, it definitely has a frame along the bottom.)
It also offers five levels of blue-light filtering, which is awesome if you routinely work during the evening, when blue light can (reportedly) wreak serious havoc on your peepers and your sleep.
Perhaps best of all, Asus backs the VZ239H with a three-year rapid-replacement warranty. Not bad for $90!
Still: Bo-ring! But I guess some days are just like that, yeah? They can't all be free games and funky photo-printers and insanely cheap sound bars.
Hey, let's move on to the bonus deals! Maybe there's some good stuff in there?
Bonus deal: Well, just as I promised, I'm coughing up another drone: Nova Tech (via Amazon) has the Drocon U31W kid-friendly quadcopter for $47.90 when you apply promo code WNPBOUTV at checkout.
This model features a built-in wide-angle 720p camera that can stream live video to your phone or tablet and record it to a microSD card (not included). It's a fish-eye lens, so photos and videos won't be great -- but still fun for kids to monkey with.
Speaking of kids (and other novice fliers), the U31W comes with a dual-joystick controller and several novice-friendly features: one-touch takeoff/landing, a return-to-home button and auto-hover and headless modes. (Don't buy a drone that lacks the latter two.) It also has blade guards.
This is still a fairly small drone, so it won't do well outdoors on breezy days. And flight is the usual 6-8 minutes. (Want a spare battery? Here's one for about $12.)
Bonus deal No. 2: Yesterday's GoPro deal was kind of a train wreck. (Totally my bad -- and my apologies!)
Thankfully, the company isn't done slashing prices. For a limited time, and while supplies last, GoPro (via eBay) has the refurbished Hero5 Session camera for $169.99 shipped.
It was $300 when it debuted about a year ago, and it's currently $200 new. But why buy new when GoPro's refurbs are literally good as new? (Factory-sealed, one-year warranty, etc.)
Anyway, read CNET's review of the GoPro Hero5 Session, then decide if maybe you made the right call by skipping (or missing, because of dum-dum over here) yesterday's option.