Some of you may have taken a glance at today’s deal of the day and exclaimed in shock, “Hey! Didn’t they just feature this product on their site a month ago? Who are these jokers trying to fool? Just how many iPod docks do they think I need, anyway?” Well, those would all be perfectly valid questions if we’d ever offered this product as a daily deal before. But we haven’t!

Back in February, we offered a Benwin iChoice iPod Dock that was very similar to today’s deal… except it wasn’t compatible with the iPhone 3GS! Now, we sold a rather large number of those iChoice docks last month, but we also received a stack of e-mails wondering if the dock worked with iPhones, and FOR PETE’S SAKE WHY DIDN’T IT. We take feedback from our Buyers very seriously, so when we discovered a cache of Benwin iChoice iPhone docks had become available from our distributors, we jumped all over ‘em. They’re a little pricier than the all-white version we sold a month ago, but an extra six bucks is a pretty small price to pay for iPhone compatibility. After all, if price was you only concern when it came to mobile electronics, you’d probably still be rocking the Motorola RAZR you got for free in 2002. Am I right? Besides, $29.99 is still cheaper than you’ll find this model anywhere else on the Internet! (We checked.)

At Buyers HQ, we’re committed to the idea that more is better, especially when more is less!   The Memorex MI1003 iPod Speaker System with Remote Control was first featured on our site back in November 2009, our second month in business.  It also happened to be one of our most popular deals of the day ever, helping us to establish ourselves as THE headquarters for bargain seekers online.  When we found a new batch available from our distributors, a wave of nostalgia washed over us.  It only made sense to bring this deal back.

But here’s the kicker—today only, we’re offering the iPod Speaker System at an even lower price than we were able to originally!  The suggested retail price for these babies is $39.99, which, frankly, we find outrageous.  That’s why we sold ‘em for only $18.99 last year.  As a thank-you to our loyal buyers, we’re slashing that price even lower today, to $15.99!

All of  the features that made the Memorex MI1003 such a popular deal before are intact:  It plays any iPod, and it’s got an S-Video output to watch iPod video on your TV as well as an RCA subwoofer output to kick the bass into overdrive.  Enjoy the return of the Memorex mack, and if there’s another Buyers HQ deal you’d like to see again, head on over to our Facebook page and let us know!

I like the idea of my iPod having a little home of its own.  Today's deal of the day reminds me of the plush bed I bought for my dog, except it plays MP3s and doesn't smell awful.  Still, it's nice to be able to tuck my iPod in at night, content in the knowledge that's it's recharging while I sleep, relaxing me with its digital lullabies.  It makes my iPod seem almost like a pet.

You’d think I’d be a little uncomfortable with that notion.  After all, iPods are unfeeling machines who can’t show affection the way a dog or kitty could, and when they die, you can’t get a new one free at the pound.  I guess people are already treating their MP3 players like pets, though, what with buying them new clothes and ringtones and playing with them all the time to the detriment of their human relationships.  I’m sure Steve Jobs is working on a furry model as we speak.

As we’ve discussed before on this blog, it seems as if every possible electrical item you can think of is now available with a USB plug.  I’m not sure what day or year precisely that it became acceptable to plug a mug warmer into your computer, but what a day it must have been.  There’s no going back, of course; USB 2.0 is here to stay until they figure out a new gimmick to get us to buy all of our appliances all over again with a fancy new plug.

We sell a lot of cool items at BuyersHQ.com that are designed with USB ports in mind, and I own about a dozen or so personally.  In fact, the only gadgets I have that DON’T plug into my USB hub are the ones that plug into the cigarette lighter in my car.  Some things, like my GPS locator, plug into both.  So what’s the deal, automakers?  Can we just go ahead and start building USB 2.0 ports into every car yet?  Because we’ve got plenty of USB 2.0 hubs for iPhones ready to roll out to the dealerships whenever you’re ready.

It’s nearly 2010, folks.  In this age of amazing gadgets, wireless comfort is prized above all else.  Our Internet connections are wireless, our phones are cordless, and even our video game controllers function using infrared.  So why are we still cramming uncomfortable earbuds into our hear-holes?  All they’ve ever been good for is being sat on, getting clogged with earwax, and worst of all, getting impossibly tangled.  Why did we start using these things, anyway?  Because they didn’t mess our hair up like headphones used to?  That’s not good enough anymore.  It’s time to toss the earbuds in the trash where they belong.

Today’s wireless behind-the-head earphones can’t get tangled, they can’t get filled with earwax, and they’ll never tie you down.  You can plug these babies into your stereo in the living room and listen to music outside while you mow the back yard.  Try pulling that off with the turds that came with your iPod Mini.  We’re about to enter the second decade of the millennium, and mark my words: Earbuds were SO Aughties. 

The 1980s were the decade when portable music players really took off.  Not only did the 80s see the rise of the classic ghetto blastin’ boombox, but the game-changing Sony Walkman, as well.  In those days, cassette tapes were the only way to carry your tunes with you, and even though that format has been obsolete for nearly 20 years now, the portable stereo systems used to play cassettes have lived on as highly nostalgic collector’s items.

It’s enough to make one wonder:  Is that the fate that awaits our iPods and docking consoles today?  In another 20 years, will some new revolutionary portable music device have taken the world by storm, relegating iPods to the recycling bin?  And if so, will systems like today’s Memorex MI1003 Speaker System become as collectible as the iconic boombox has?  It’s tough to say for certain.  Just to be safe, though, I’m buying 30 of them.

What gadget or device today do you think has the most potential to become tomorrow’s prized collectible?

Nowadays, there are all sorts of nifty electronic gadgets (like today’s FM Transmitter) that you can plug into your car’s cigarette lighter and power using your car’s battery.  I’ve used my car’s cigarette lighter to power my iPod’s FM transmitter, my GPS locator, my cell phone, an electronic air filter, and a George Foreman Lean Mean Grilling Machine (don’t ask).  Pretty much the only thing I’ve never used my car’s cigarette lighter for is lighting a cigarette. 

Is it even accurate to call these little sockets cigarette lighters anymore?  Who uses them to smoke?  My current car didn’t even come with lighters to plug into them—just little black caps that you take off when you want to plug in your TomTom.  It’s still legal to smoke in your car, I think, so what happened to the lighters?  If no one uses them to light anything, what are we supposed to call these little holes in our dash?  AC outlets?  Car plugs?  That sounds stupid!  And if they aren’t lighters anymore, why do we still only get one per car?  I’ve got like five things I need to plug in!

Now I’m upset.  Anybody got a smoke?

I go on a lot of road trips. There's nothing I hate more than watching a movie on my laptop and the battery dies before I get to the end of the movie. Will Paul Blart save the mall? I don't know my laptop is dead. I don't know about you, but I can't wait 6 more hours to find out.

Problem solved. I purchased a Cobra 150 Watt micro port power inverter, and now I can watch Mr. Blart  single handedly save the mall. I plan to watch every Halloween movie ever made (not the remakes, because they're lousy) on my next roadtrip to Florida.

Bonus: The Cobra Power Inverter is so small it fits in my laptop bag and it has a USB port to charge my cell phone (multi-tasking is sweet).

It’s easy to use the ezWake iPod Alarm Clock Radio to make waking up a more pleasant experience.  But I find it’s more hilarious to use this amazing device to torture my wife.  Naturally, she was extremely pleased when I bought her the ezWake for her birthday—it’s a great gift!  You can wake up to any song in your iPod that you choose, or a random song if you’d prefer.  It beats the hell out of being bludgeoned awake by the morning news on NPR, let me just tell you.  But sometimes, after she’s gone to sleep, I like to replace her iPod in the alarm clock’s cradle with my own.  Unbeknownst to her, instead of waking up to the lilting soft rock of Fleetwood Mac’s “Rhiannon,” she’ll be roused from her slumber by the face-melting riffage of Ted Nugent’s “Stranglehold.”  Or perhaps she’d prefer the booming bass and fury of Public Enemy’s “Bring the Noise!” Her fate is in my hands. I find it’s a nice touch as well to hide the remote so she can’t change the track or turn the volume down.  Gets her heart rate up faster than a morning jog would!

It’s a fool-proof prank: She’s unconscious, so it’s not like she can catch me in the act.  I do somewhat fear reprisals, though. If I’m not careful, I could be blasted out of bed by Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl” or Salt ‘n Pepa’s “Push It.”  That’s why I’m always careful to keep the ezWake remote on my nightstand.  Preparation, after all, is the key to security.