Lazy Man and Money

Three Deal Friday

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I wasn’t going to write an article today, but I simply can’t resist. I don’t like to feed consumerism, but if you were in the market for any of these things you can save some good money today.

I believe the deals are just for today, so don’t wait too long.

  1. Get Echo Dot for $30It seems like Amazon is trying to get these in every house to prevent Google Home from gaining a foothold. They’ve been aggressively cutting the prices of Alexa hardware. I have to wonder if they can get lower.

    You’ll have to follow the instructions from CNET, which gives you a couple of hoops to jump through, but they are easy. I reviewed the first generation Echo Dot and found it interesting at $80. At $30, it’s a no-brainer.

  2. A $50 Microsoft Full Windows Tablet or A $60 oneThese are 8″ Full HD (1920×1080) screens with an expansion slot. I splurged on the $60 one for the slightly better chip and slightly faster SSD. They run full Windows 10 and also have a Micro HDMI out, which means that you could use this to stream Netflix to a big television or monitor… which is what I plan to do.

    Don’t expect to run a lot of apps or to set any kind of speed records. The reason it’s so cheap is that the licensing agreement for Windows is free on such terrible hardware. Normally they’ll set you back $130 or $150, so saving $80 or $90 is significant.

  3. Bissell Big Green Deep Cleaning Professional Grade Carpet Cleaner Machine for $285With nearly 3000 reviews of averaging 4.7 stars, people love this machine. Typically it runs $400 and it rarely goes on any kind of significant sale according to to Camel Camel Camel.

    We have a steam cleaner already, but I don’t think it’s as good this one. We use it a lot with our dog sitting business. I’m really trying to restrain myself from upgrading.

What do you think? Any of these deals look good to you?

Save Nearly 50% on the Most Revolutionary Product in Years

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I usually try to stay away from clickbait titles. They always seem disappointing. However, I don’t know how you can be disappointed with this.

Yesterday, Amazon announced that it is releasing the 2nd Generation Echo Dot. The big news is that the price went from $90 to a penny shy of $50. And if you buy 5, you’ll get one free. (Hat tip to sister site Alexa/Echo.

That explains the 50% off part… but what about the “revolutionary” part.

Let me start by explaining what the Amazon Echo is… and then I’ll explain why the Echo Dot is better.

Amazon has a digital personal assistant like Apple’s Siri or Microsoft’s Cortana. Amazon calls her Alexa. That’s not very unique, but digital personal assistants are arguably revolutionary. Amazon Echo is a microphone/speaker that is sitting and waiting for you to activate it by simply saying, “Alexa.” The difference is that you don’t have to find a phone, navigate an app, press a button, or anything. I can continue typing this sentence while I ask Alexa to play music Jack Johnson. It works from across the room (unless there’s a television on, or other significant outside noise).

The Echo is probably best at playing music, but it is also very good at home automation stuff. I can control my Nest thermostat upstairs while I’m downstairs, without a computer, tablet, or phone. You can order a pizza from Domino’s with it. You can have Uber send you a car. You can play Choose Your Own Adventure games. I even use Amazon Echo to teach my kids spelling and math.

The Echo is so popular that it’s become Amazon’s next billion dollar business. And as I hinted at above, I even started contact me.)

I feel that’s enough about Amazon Echo, but you want to know more you can read my original Amazon Echo review and my revisited Amazon Echo review.

Now, to tie all this together, I have to explain what an Echo Dot is and why that’s even better than an Amazon Echo. An Echo Dot is a very small Amazon Echo… about the size of a hockey puck, but thicker. It has a very small speaker that isn’t great, but it has Bluetooth and an audio out port. This makes it ideal for hooking up to a set of speakers or your stereo. This way you aren’t tied to the Echo’s speaker (though I think it’s great, some audiophiles may disagree).

Perhaps the best part is the price. An Amazon Echo will set you back $180, and it very rarely goes on sale. The Echo Dot is less than $50. So you can pair with speakers you already have. I paid the original $90 price for the Echo Dot and paired them with a deal I found on these bookshelf speakers. However, I could have paired it with my Oontz Angle Bluetooth Speaker. If you bought those two, it would be less than $80… less than half price of the regular Echo.

So why did Amazon drop the price nearly in half just five months after releasing it? My guess is that it is afraid of Google Home, which Google’s upcoming version of the Echo. Apple is rumored to be getting into the game as well. I think Amazon’s plan is to get Alexa everywhere first.

Imagine if Amazon invented $50 tablets before anyone else had released a tablet. Would people pay $400 or $500 for an Samsung Galaxy Tab or an Apple iPad? Maybe, but it might also be difficult to market it at that price.

I think it’s a great plan. I’m honestly considering getting the 6-pack, adding a couple more to the house, giving them as Christmas gifts, or using them as giveaways on the site. I’m tempted to go full-out Oprah: “You get an Echo Dot. You get an Echo Dot.”

What do you think? I realize that I’m more enthusiastic than most people about Amazon’s Alexa products (hence the other blog). Do “normal” people find this as amazing a deal as I do? Let me know in the comments.