Hasta La Gadget!

I’d like to thank everyone for this Webby award for Best Technology Deals Column Aimed at Frugal Geeks. It was an awesome night. Great partying with you, Trent.

1. Giant flat screens aren’t just for the TV room. You’ll find you’re more productive when you’ve got this Samsung 2243SWX 21.5-inch screen on your desktop. It delivers a 1920x1080pixel resolution, a 15,000:1 dynamic contrast ratio, and a 5ms response time. It even has a handsome design, with a piano black bezel and a soft, rounded design. Buy.com will deliver it to you for $169.99, with free shipping. Now that’s a big screen bargain.

2. There are huge deals to be found on music players that don’t have the word “iPod” on the box. For example, Amazon is selling the SanDisk Sansa m250 for $32.95. It’s an attractively compact 2GB player for people who prefer something on the smaller side.

3. Label your world with the Brother PT-9500PC. It connects to your Windows or Macintosh computer so that you can print labels right from your screen. OnSale.com has it for $186.99, which includes a $50 instant rebate.

Sorry this is late today. The Cheap Geek team is busy creating a summer reality show for NBC called “So You Think You Can Save Money.”

1. The deal bins are full of excellent GPS navigators. Why? Because you’re not buying them at full price. Bad for the industry, but good for you. Today you can grab the Garmin Nuvi 850 from Amazon for $245.96, and that includes free shipping. This Nuvi has a 4.3-inch screen and voice recognition so you don’t even have to take a hand off the wheel to set a destination. Cool, right? Even the Jetson’s flying car didn’t have that.

2. The price of the JBL L890 floorstanding loudspeaker is so low that Amazon can’t show it to you. But I peeked and I’ll tell you that it’s $400.22. This attractive unit offers great high-frequency sound, as well as outstanding bass. They’re sold individually, so order two to get a pair.

3. If those deals were a little too spendy for you, but you’d still like something cool, how about this: Amazon is selling the Swingline Optima PowerEase stapler for $12.46. You’ll get free shipping if your order is over $25. Why is this stapler so cool? Because it can do 25 sheets at once, it’s easy to load, and it takes 70 percent less force to use that regular staplers. We may live in a paperless society, but somehow there’s still a lot of stapling to do.

Bonus Deal: Today is National Donut Day! Dunkin’ Donuts will give you a free donut with any beverage sale. The more generous Krispy Kreme will simply give you a free donut.

Did you know it’s national Buy a Geek Dinner night? I’m available at 7 PM. Please pick a restaurant that features Funyuns as an appetizer.

1. This is a Cheap Geek first: A deal was suggested by a reader. Thanks to “mstick,” who doesn’t know how to spell “cheap,” but still recommended the Archos 5 120GB Internet Media Tablet. It’s like having the convenience of a media player and the power of a notebook all in one. Use it to play songs and videos, surf the Web over a WiFi network, and keep in touch with friends. The huge 120GB storage size lets you save a lot of movies, so it’s great for train commuters and frequent fliers. NewEgg.com has it for $199, and that’s with free shipping.

2. It’s a lovely word, terabyte. It means you can save a whole library of video without an external hard drive. It means not worrying about free storage space for a long, long time. Can you believe that ZipZoomfly.com is selling a Hitachi 1TB 7200rpm internal hard drive for $74.99, with free shipping? Give your computer the storage boost it desperately needs.

3. Navigon is no longer selling GPS navigators in the U.S., and that’s sad, but it also means sweet deals for you. Grab the Navigon 5100 from Amazon for only $119.99. It has a 3.5-inch screen, it speaks street names, and it offers free lifetime traffic. You’ll also get lane assistance features and Zagat ratings. This is a great buy on a terrific navigator.

I should tell you that there’s talk of turning the Cheap Geek column into a network sitcom. So far it’s just me talking to myself, but I think that qualifies.

1. You don’t need a new computer to view Blu-ray discs. Just update your machine with this internal drive from LG. A high-def powerhouse, it views and burns Blu-ray DVDs, and even shows HD-DVDs. If you bought some HD-DVDs before that format lost the war, you’ll still have a way to view them with this drive. NewEgg.com has it for $179.99 with free shipping.

2. You won’t believe what $40 will get you from Staples.com today. It’s selling refurbished Brother MFC-665CW printers for $39.99 after rebate, with free shipping. Yes, this multifunction has looks that only an office manager could love, but it provides printing, faxing, scanning, a built-in answering machine, and WiFi (802.11b/g) connectivity. It’s everything your office needs for a super-low price.

3. Sometimes the deals in this column cost a bit of money (like the HDTVs), but here’s one everyone can afford. Meritline.com is selling an iPhone screen protector and cleaning cloth for $0.69. To get that price, you’ll need to enter coupon code MLC262010. It even gets free shipping. Now that’s a deal.

Apple is not usually one for special discounts, but the company announced Wednesday that it will offer a free iPod to students or teachers who purchase a Mac. The promotion, which runs from May 27 to September 8, will provide a rebate of up to $229 for academics who buy an iPod at the same time they purchase a MacBook, a MacBook Pro, a MacBook Air, or an iMac–which range in price from $949 to $1900.

Eligible music players include the iPod touch, the iPod classic 120GB, the iPod nano 16GB, the iPod nano 8GB, and the iPod shuffle 4GB, which range from $229 to $79.

Once you purchase both devices, you’ll have to fill out a rebate form online and Apple will provide you with the credit. If you buy in Rhode Island or Connecticut, you will get an instant rebate. You have to buy the iPod and Mac at the same time. Unfortunately, if you just bought an iPod, you are not eligible for the rebate if you go in today and purchase a Mac.