Deal of the Year nominations...

[dosman]

My vote goes to:
-Free $75 credit card from Ford because nothing beats free money.
-Close 2nd is the $50 free from INGDirect.

I think the best deals are the ones that are free, but the Dell / LCD deal was definately HOT!!!Unfortunately I didn't get to take advange of that deal.

 

[FordLorider]

The Dell 8250 for $70 was definitely the best hardware deal out there. Keeping the fingers crossed, hopefully Santa gives us confirmation on the rebates soon.

 

[zippin44]

Cold hard cash is my fav, and the Ford test drives @ $75 each were the best! Can't resist, "One of Ford's better ideas". HAA HAA!

Happy Holidays everyone!!!

 

[NetworkDad]

I love my staples vivitar 3725 digicam - $220 - $40off200 - $50 MIR = $130 for a 3.3MP digicam!

 

[Miramonti]

Gotta be the dell 4550 w/lcd for $499!

I'm not a fan of the dell $70 deal since it was only qualified for EPP.

 

[BigSmooth]

OK, the sub-$100 Dell 8250 was awesome, but I just won one of the Logitech Duos as well... FREE is a very good price, especially on something so useful!

 

[squirrel dog]

For me it was xp pro for 40+ clams.The full version.

 

[thegreatkevinski]

My vote goes for the $75.00 BFG GeForce 4 Ti4200 from Best Buy on Black Friday after $55 instant, $55 mail-in, and 20% off from magazine coupon. Extends my gaming for about another year until next Black Friday!!! (I figure they'll have one every year, so I'll buy on every year). Buy it first, PM on BF, and enjoy! Thanks, Anandtech'ers!

 

[bolido2000]

For me a deal without involving MIR gets 100+ hotness points. With that said I think the Olympus D-40 for 247 dollars ,w/o tax and free shipping, from Amazon's goldbox gets the prize.

 

[bolido2000]

Originally posted by: NetworkDad
I love my staples vivitar 3725 digicam - $220 - $40off200 - $50 MIR = $130 for a 3.3MP digicam!

Ahh thats a good one too. I ended up selling it for 250 to someone though

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: squirrel dog
For me it was xp pro for 40+ clams.The full version.

I wish Microsoft still offered that, pretty damn hot for a legit version of XP Pro ... a FULL version none the less.

 

[bazookatone]

I wish i got in on the dell + lcd deal...if i did it wouldve got my vote

but my deal of the year was with amazon:

1 Linksys Wireless Access Point Router with 4 port switch - $130
1 Linksys USb wireless adapter - $60
2 5' Cat5e cables - 2x$5
-$75 stackable coupons (35,25,15)
-$30 price adjustment 1 week later when Router goes down $39
Free shipping

came to around 98.xx after tax.

 

[plk]

The best deals I got in on this year:

1. WinXP go Pro kit for $40 + S&H. $200 MSRP, pluss the bobblehead is fun to have at the office when making fun of M$

2. Got one of Rossman's A40s in July. It was perfect for taking about 400 pictures of my new house. Sold the Free memory and got the camera for $130. Thanks Ebay!

3. Toshiba Laptop for $500 last weekend. It's great for the $$$

4. Columbia House $7.50 DVDs I got like 4 orders. It was a great ride.

All in all, the best deal is the hunt for the best deal. I have a blast reading the forum and getting in on a deal or two.

You guys rock!

 

[Miramonti]

Tech prices got destroyed this year but it seems the cd-r discs and cdrw drives got destroyed the most. Free and FAR cdr's everywhere and cdrw drives doubled in speed for half the price!

 

[hnsn82]

my DOTY :
8 WD40G 7200 rpm for $15 each after PM/rebate at BB
(5 of them SE)

 

[sterling]

The "Go Pro" special was pretty good. Microsoft windows pro for 39.98.

 

[TheDon]

Originally posted by: bolido2000
For me a deal without involving MIR gets 100+ hotness points. With that said I think the Olympus D-40 for 247 dollars ,w/o tax and free shipping, from Amazon's goldbox gets the prize.

I too got the $130 Vivitar from Staples, but the D-40 was my favorite deal of the year. I don't remember the details now, but I actually got it for under $200. Looks like I got in on many mentioned, and missed out on many. Where do you guys find the time for this???

Also, some of the hottest deals go to the people don't try to buy out the whole city when someone else posts a hot deal, so they can brag about how much they are going to make on Ebay. And to the honest people who don't knowingly try and rip-off companies with coupon/pricematch scams, so that we can look forward to more good deals next year.

 

[SpideyCU]

While I got in on a lot of the deals already mentioned, I thought everyone missed one, but, halik was at least one person who remembered: "free" D-Link Wireless Access Point at Circuit City. For those who forgot:

* CC had AP $179.95 with a $50 mail-in rebate
* 110% PM to OM which had it on sale for $59.99
* After tax for it, it was $50.87 paid
* $50 MIR came in October for me for a grand total of $0.87 on this sucker

That's the darn biggest pricematch I've ever done. That extra 10% came in handy. The befuddled look on the manager's face helped the experience a lot too.

As for others that I loved and managed to get in on:

$48'ish WinXP
Price mistake on MX700 at OD
Those freakin' 1600+'s!
All those CDRW drives I got for free, or even got paid to take (32x Cendyne: $40-$50 MIR @ Staples, better if you use a coupon, still valid now if you can find it like bleckywelcky said)
$10 AR 40 GB Maxtor drive

And probably more that I've forgotten, like everyone else! Even though I didn't manage to get that Dell with the LCD monitor deal, that's lookin' to be a contender for DotY in general.

 

[Noirish]

nothing beats free!
logitech cordless combo!!!

 

[BurninUp]

For my money saved + value + quality

HONDA ACCORD SE in August - easy 3000$ saved and an awesome car

Macys.com crazy 80/90% sale in Jan/Feb - I spent 1500$ in 2 months there - saved massive bucks and got NICE clothes

 

[Rally1]

Best for me, and using it as we speak, a N400C Compaq Laptop, ultralite from ECost. $800. Was supposed to be $1800+ .

I think about 3 people got in on it.....

Looking at my rebate list:

Vivitar Camera from Staples, I use that thing all the time.
The multiple CD-RW deals

What about the make $10 Linksys router deal from Office Depot! They honored a $100 rebate and $10, i think it cost $99 before the rebates!

It might have been last year (I'm tired, can't remember anything) but the Compaq Premier Sound System for $20 was a hell of a deal (400w peak, 140w RMS subwoofer)

those things are great, still use those too

 

[venger240]

The 3000 dollar DVDRW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Engineer]

Wow...so many deals...so little time!

Dell 4550 with LCD for $500 ish.

(Hard to beat that one unless everyone gets the Dell for $70 after all the rebates)

Netgear RT814 for $24.99 shipped from Amazon

US Robotics PCMCIA 802.11b card for $1.38 (after MIR and coupon) from Amazon

MX50 monitor for -$31.50 (Yes...that's a minus $31.50) from Staples

Logitech Elite Keyboard/Optical mouse combo - 2 sets for $0.28 from Staples

Lots of others!

 

[JohnnyPastrami]

Without a doubt, the best that never was:

VisionTek GeForce4 Ti 4600 Graphics Card at $129.99 at Best Buy, 2/7/02.



Still have not set foot in a BB since that fiasco...

 

[AMEXplat]

Originally posted by: tazmania99
[Your vote is only in my 2nd place if I am sure all the rebates are valid for the Dell 8250 2.4Ghz system from Dell EEP program. It cost only $70 + tax + shipping after rebates!/b

Dell 4550 with 15" LCD is a nice one since there is no rebate hassle. I got into this deal too.

My personal vote is a toss-up amongst:
a) Dell 4550 w/ LCD
b) Compaq P910 19"CRT from CDW for $229 shipped
c) Kodak Advantix C800 Camera Bundle- incl. decent case, batteries, color&b/w film ($39+5ship-50MIR)= -$5 from Outpost

I leaning towards the Compaq P910 - call me weird!

Excuse my ignorance on the $70-ish Dell 8250, what the heck was that? Could someone provide the link?

Happy Holidays!

PS: Also to Chief Ferengi aka RossMAN; thanks for all your tips & wisdom, you're a dealin' machine!!!