Matt’s Desk: Editor’s Blog

Facing competition from the Nook, the Apple iPad and other eBook readers, Amazon has dropped the price of the 6” Kindle 2 to $189.  That’s a $70 slash of the previous price of $259.

This is a great move for Amazon, at least if they hope to sell large numbers of Kindle readers in the future.  And the price cut is fantastic news for book-loving consumers.

The price cut comes just under a month after Bloomberg reported that the Internet retailer plans to unveil a 3rd generation Kindle in August.  No word on what the Kindle 3 might cost, but Amazon would be wise to keep the price in the $130-$170 range if it hopes to compete with multi-function devices like the Apple iPad and other dedicated eBook readers.

Now through June 8, NewEgg.com is offering the Samsung EcoGreen F2 HD154UI 1.5TB 3.5” SATA desktop hard drive for $79, including shipping. Other features of the drive include a 32MB cache, 3.0Gb/s transfer speed, 8.9 second seek time, and a three year warranty.

To get the $79 NewEgg price, enter promo code EMCYTYV22 at checkout before 11:59PM PDT on June 8, 2010.

Amazon has this drive for $89.

A few years ago, my uncle called asking about a topic I knew little about: color laser printers.  He’s an attorney and wanted to produce cleaner, crisper color prints for his practice.  At the time, the options were few, and those color laser printers that were available were pricey.  If memory serves, the model he settled on – which was on the low end of the price spectrum – was $700.

I hadn’t thought much about color laser printers since then, but last week a friend called asking about them.  My initial response was that they’re nice, but expensive; a little online research quickly proved me wrong, however, at least about that latter part.  Like everything else tech, the prices have come down… way down.

The printer I recommended to my friend was the Samsung CLP-315W, the most affordable color laser printer I could find.  The printer’s MSRP is $455, but Amazon.com is offering the printer for $171 (via the third-party retailer FastFriendlyService).  NewEgg has it for $219.

Here’s the skinny on the Samsung CLP-315W:

If you have an Apple Store in your state, purchasing a new 5th Generation iPod nano from Apple’s online store will still result in your having to pay sales tax on the purchase.  But Amazon.com now has the new nanos in stock, and without sales tax.

Check your state laws to see if you are still responsible for paying sales tax on online purchases.