Daily gear deals – $35 computer backpack, 8GB media player and a portable speaker

Here are the hottest gadget deals for today, Monday June 1st 2009. Remember, these deals are often one-day deals, so act fast before they are gone!

Looking for a stylish way to carry your computer? Check out this SwissGear computer backpack – on sale for $34.96. Ships for free.

The Sandisk Sansa View 8GB media player has a built in FM radio and support for music, photos and video files. Best of all, it is on sale for just $42.99 at Woot.com. Shipping is $5.

Do you like music on the go? This Altec Lansing Orbit MP3 portable speaker is battery powered, and supplies an amazing amount of clear, crisp sound. Read our review from last year.

And finally – don’t forget to check out the other hot bargains lined up in the coupon aisle of our shopping portal.

Daily deal – Altec Lansing iM-237 Orbit MP3 speaker for $25

In today’s daily deal you’ll find another of those great products that made the Gadling Top 25 travel products of 2008.

The Altec Lansing iM-237 Orbit MP3 is a portable speaker with enough punch to fill an entire hotel room with clean crisp audio.

The speaker is powered by 3 AAA batteries which can keep the speaker going for almost an entire day.

Included with the speaker is a hard carrying case with clip and a 2.5mm music phone adapter, which allows you to connect the Orbit to phones with a smaller headphone jack, like on some Blackberry devices.

The Orbit MP3 launched last year for $39, but recently dropped in price at some retailers to under $25. You’ll find it at this price at Amazon.com. In the right column on Amazon, you’ll also find a retailer selling it for just $17.49, with $6.98 shipping.

Product review – Altec Lansing iM237 Orbit MP3 speaker

Back in July I posted a review of the Altec Lansing iM207 “Orbit MP3” speaker. This product has long been one of my favorite gadgets on the road, albeit with a couple of minor issues that annoyed me (the lack of a power light for example).

Altec Lansing clearly listened to their customers, because they just released their newest Orbit MP3 speaker (the iM237).

This portable speaker has the same basic features of the previous model, but adds a “real” power switch and a power indicator light. The power light also shows the battery life by turning red when you are running low.

The tiny speaker produces a mindblowing amount of sound, and it sounds very clear and crisp, with no distortion at all. Of course, it is still a single speaker, so you won’t get that full stereo effect. Audio even has a decent amount of bass.
Altec Lansing also made some design improvements when it comes to carrying the speaker; they added an opening for attaching a wrist strap (included in the box), as well as a nice carrying case with a carabiner for hooking the entire thing to your belt loop or bag.

The speaker runs off 3 AAA batteries which provide enough juice for about a full day of non stop music. When you are not using the Orbit, you can store the audio cord around the bottom of the device and clip the audio jack in place. Like the previous model, the audio jack is still compatible with the previous generation iPhone.

Compared to the previous Orbit MP3 the basic concept has stayed the same, and it produces the same stunningly good sound quality, but the minor changes in design and accessories really make it a big improvement, and well worth the purchase price.

The Orbit MP3 is currently available directly from Altec Lansing ($39.99), or from Amazon.com ($35.11).

Daily deal – Altec-Lansing Orbit MP3 portable speaker for $15

Back when I was just a Gadling rookie, my first product review was for one of my personal favorites; the Altec-Lansing Orbit MP3 speaker. The Orbit MP3 is a portable speaker for your iPod, mobile phone or other music player.

In the review, I mentioned the MSRP of $29.95 and the Amazon price of just $24.95. Since then, it has dropped another $10 and you can now pick one up for just under $15.

The speaker runs off 3 AAA batteries and has just one control; on or off. The device has a short audio cord that wraps around the unit, and a tiny flat spot for standing the speaker upright.

Despite its small size, it produces a surprisingly loud and clear amount of audio. Of course, since it is just a single speaker, you don’t get full stereo sound, but with the excellent volume and quality it produces, most people won’t even notice.

You’ll find the deal at Amazon.com
and members with an Amazon Prime account will get free shipping, others will have to add another $10.01 to their order for the free super saver shipping.