Daily deal – Samsonite Sammies kids luggage up to 69% off

by Scott Carmichael on

In my daily deal for this chilly Saturday, you’ll find an assortment of Samsonite kid friendly luggage on clearance. The Sammies lineup includes rolling bags, backpacks, messenger bags and a duffel bag.

Each bag is designed to look like a different animal, so your little ones will probably love dragging it through the airport. The largest bag weighs just 4lbs (the rolling suitcase), so even children as young as 4 years old won’t have a problem pulling it, as long as they don’t pack it too full of junk!

The bags usually retail for between $70 and $150, but LuggageOnline has them on sale for about 60% off, plus an additional 10% discount. Shipping is around $8. The extra 10% discount ends tonight, Saturday the 17th at 11:59EST.

The bags don’t just look cool, they are actually quite well designed, and should hold everything a kid needs to stay entertained on their next trip. Be sure to check out the reviews from previous customers on the site, as all pieces seem to come quite highly rated. Since the bags are Samsonite, you’ll get their 3 year warranty.

Daily deal – flexible mini camera tripod shipped for $7

by Scott Carmichael on

Today’s daily deal is for a flexible mini tripod for your camera. These little tripods have become pretty popular, because of their flexibility (pardon the pun).

You can use them as a normal tripod and stand them on a table or other structure, or you can bend and wrap the feet around anything a tripod normally would not stick to (like a tree).

Combined with the self timer in your camera, little gadgets like this may help you make the next photo of the day here on Gadling!

These little tripods normally retail for about $20, but Meritline.com currently has one on sale for just $6.95, with free shipping.

I’m not too sure about the quality, but Meritline usually ships fairly decent products. Also, at $6.95, I’m not sure I’d trust it to hold a $1000 camera to a tree, so if you make your photos like a pro, invest a little more and get yourself a Gorillapod.

The deal can be found here, and the low price is valid until the 20th.

Daily deal – Nikon D40 Digital SLR camera + 18-55mm lens + 4GB memory card for $392

by Scott Carmichael on

My daily deal for today is a great way to get one step closer to professional style photography.

This Nikon D40 Digital SLR camera is one of the cheapest dSLR kits on the market at the moment, and at $392 for the camera, basic lens and a free 4GB memory card, it is a true steal. It is on sale at Abe’s of Maine, one of the most reliable online camera vendors in the country.

Sure, the camera is “only” 6.1 megapixels, and the lens will be in need of an upgrade once you get a hang of being a pro, but it will certainly produce better results than most point and click cameras.

As with most SLR’s, the camera will usually end up being the cheapest part of your investment. Once you start dropping money on extra batteries, a bag, more lenses and a ton of memory cards you’ll be feeling like a (poor) pro before you know it!

I’ll also admit that I suck at making photos. As a geek, I purchased a dSLR quite early on, and the lack of an “idiot button” forced me back to my trusty point and shoot camera after just a few days. Thankfully our own Karen Walrond has posted a nice collection of educational articles and some handy tips on how to make great photos.

The Nikon D40 kit comes with the camera itself, a basic 18-55mm lens, a battery with charger and video/USB cables. The deal includes a free 4GB memory card. To get the price down to $392, you’ll need to add a couple of promotional codes; when you start the checkout process make sure to add “NKDS50” and “LOYALTY10”, and you’ll magically see the price go down to $391.95. Shipping is free, and sales tax is only collected in NJ.

Daily deal – Solo Netbook instant messenger TSA friendly bag

by Scott Carmichael on

My daily deal for today is for the Solo Netbook Instant Messenger. This pint sized laptop bag is designed for small laptop computers, with up 10″ screens.

The bag has enough space for your Netbook and some other items, but don’t expect to turn it into your next overnight bag.

Not only does the bag hold your Netbook, it is also designed to be checkpoint friendly – which means you can keep your computer inside the bag without the need to remove it at the TSA checkpoint.

The MSRP of the bag is $49.99, but Amazon.com currently has it on sale for $34.99. If you’d rather learn more about the bag before you purchase it, be sure to check out our recent review of the product.

Daily deal – Dell Inspiron Mini 9 for $99 with 2 year AT&T data plan

by Scott Carmichael on

Well, that was fast. Remember when I posted my predictions in tech for 2009? One of my entries was “subsidized notebooks with combined data plans”.

We are just 11 days into the new year, and Dell has already made me look good by making one of my predictions come true. As of today, you can order a Dell Inspiron Mini 9 for just $99 if you purchase it along with a 2 year AT&T mobile broadband subscription.

Your $99 will get you a very small computer, just over 2lbs, with built in wireless Internet access on the AT&T3G network (where available).

The Inspiron Mini 9 is a 1.6GHz Intel Atom powered Netbook with 512MB of memory and an 8GB SSD drive. The base version offered in this deal does not come with a webcam, and once you configure the machine with more memory, a larger SSD drive and Bluetooth, the final price comes to about $185. Still, a hot deal, as it includes an integrated AT&T 3G modem card tucked away inside the machine.

The easiest way to describe the deal is that you can order the Mini 9 from the Dell website, and as long as you activate the AT&T 3G modem, you are eligible for a $350 mail in rebate.

The AT&T 3G service costs $59.99 a month, and you have to activate it within 4 weeks of receiving the laptop. The mail in rebate period expires on February 12th.

If you’d prefer a similar deal, but with a slighly different computer, check out the Acer Aspire One at your local Radio Shack. The Aspire One has 1GB of memory and a 160GB hard drive. The base price of this machine is $449, but just like with this Dell deal, you can purchase it in store for $99 when you commit to a 2 year AT&T data plan.