The Surface Headphones come in a non-ridiculous case that didn't inspire countless memes. These are the black variety; the deal is for the gray ones.
David Carnoy/CNETHowdy, friends! A quick reminder that there's another way to get deals and money-saving tips from yours truly: Sign up for Cheapskate texts! Just use that link or shoot a text message directly to 415-878-5807. One text per weekday, opt out anytime. I've been having a blast interacting with subscribers; hope you'll check it out!
Yesterday, in case you missed it, Apple unveiled the ludicrously overpriced AirPods Max over-the-ear headphones. I think it goes without saying that few folks are going to spend $549 when there are perfectly good alternatives for less.
In some cases, way less: Today only, and while supplies last, Woot has the Microsoft Surface Headphones (gray) for $150 -- the lowest price on record. You could literally buy three of them for less than one AirPods Max -- and still have money left over. (Here are some other things you could buy instead.)
Originally priced at $350 when they debuted two years ago, the Surface Headphones looked to compete with the likes of Bose and Sony models in that same range. How did they fare? According to CNET's David Carnoy, sound quality and battery life weren't quite on par, but overall he found them "almost great." Read his Surface Headphones review to learn more. (Also note that they've since been replaced by the slightly better, slightly cheaper Surface Headphones 2.)
A few things to consider: These have touch controls, on-ear dials for adjusting volume and ANC (active noise-canceling) levels, an always-on voice assistant (Cortana), USB-C charging and automatic pause/resume when you take the headphones off and put them back on.
In other words, great usability. All too many headphones seem to saddle you with hard-to-find or hard-to-operate controls. Auto-pause in particular is one of my favorite features.
So if you're shopping for a premium headphone and feel that even something like the Sony WH-1000XM4 for $219 is too high, give this a look.
Your thoughts?
Watch this: Microsoft Surface Headphones: The surprise noise-canceling...
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Turn an old laptop into a new Chromebook
CloudReady adds the Chrome operating system to just about any laptop. You can run it entirely from a flash drive or overwrite the existing OS.
Sarah Tew/CNETCan't find a good deal on a Chromebook? Consider repurposing that seemingly slow, seemingly useless old Windows laptop that's sitting in your closet. It's a free and fairly easy operation; all you need is a tool called CloudReady.
CNET's Josh Goldman covered this back in March, when parents were scrambling to find Chromebooks for their newly housebound kids. I won't reinvent the wheel, other than to say I just got done performing this resurrection on an old laptop of my own. (Crazy coincidence: It was the exact same HP model Josh wrote about.)
Anyway, it worked like a charm, and now that slow-booting Windows 7 machine from yesteryear feels like a fresh new Chromebook. I haven't fully kicked the tires on it, but there's no reason to think it won't get the job done -- especially for, say, an elementary- or middle-school student with modest needs. And I'm donating it to just such a kid.
All you need is a formatted USB flash drive (ideally not a SanDisk, because reasons) with at least 8GB of storage. On the off chance you don't have a drawerful, here's a 64GB drive for $10.
CNET's Cheapskate scours the web for great deals on tech products and much more. For the latest deals and updates, follow him on Facebook and Twitter. You can also sign up for deal texts delivered right to your phone. Find more great buys on the CNET Deals page and check out our CNET Coupons page for the latest Walmart discount codes, eBay coupons, Samsung promo codes and even more from hundreds of other online stores. Questions about the Cheapskate blog? Answers live on our FAQ page.
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Microsoft's Surface ANC headphones are on sale for $400 less than Apple AirPods Max - CNET
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