Matt’s Desk: Editor’s Blog

When Windows 8 was released late last year, one of the novel aspects of the new operating system was its availability as an online download; even more impressive was the low price for this online version – $39 for an upgrade to Windows 8 Pro, a version of the OS normally priced $199.

But that promotion ends today.  If you want to snag up to five upgrade copies of Windows 8 Pro for $39 each, you’ll have to do so before the end of the day today. 

Tomorrow they’ll be an extra $160.

Looking to upgrade to a new LED monitor?  NewEgg has the Acer S211HLbd 21.5” 5ms LED-Backlight LCD Monitor on sale today and tomorrow for $119 with promo code EMCNENB22, shipped free. 

Includes VGA and DVI input ports & cables.

Amazon has the same monitor for $139, so this is a pretty great deal.

Grab it while it lasts.

Last year, hard drive prices soared following massive flooding in Southeast Asia.  As I wrote in December, a 2TB Western Digital Caviar Green hard drive that sold for $89 before the flood was more than $169 when supplies were tightest.

But prices are falling.  That same drive, nearly $170 dollars in December, is now $129; and the same goes for many popular hard drives currently available.  For example, you can now purchase a 3TB Seagate Barracuda for $164, a price down nearly $80 from a few months ago, or a 500GB WD Caviar Blue laptop drive for $79, down nearly $50.

At this rate, it’ll take a while longer for drive prices to get back to “normal.” If you can wait, you’ll likely save a few bucks.  But if you need a new drive now, it’ll only hurt about as much as filling up your gas tank rather than buying a new gaming console – though it might not be long until you’d rather buy a PS3 than fill up.

You can save yourself $60 on the 11-inch 2011 MacBook Air at Amazon.com; the internet retailer is selling the ultra-thin notebook for $1139 rather than the MSRP of of $1199.  The model is MC969LL/A and features a 1.6 GHz Intel Core i5 dual-core CPU,  4 GB of DDR3 RAM, a 128 GB SSD, a 7-hour battery and Mac OS X 10.7 Lion.

Shipping is also free; no sales tax in most states.  Check out the deal here.

The 13-inch model with the same specs – other than a slightly faster 1.7GHz i5 CPU – can also be grabbed at substantial savings, $1234.

Prices subject to change at any time.