Amazon is offering Tivo’s 80-hour Series 2 recorder for $170 - with a $170 rebate, it’s free, with free shipping. You still have to sign up for Tivo’s service, of course, with a year-long commitment (but without Tivo service turned on, it’s a free door-stop).

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Here are some shortcuts into Amazon to help you set up your Tivo to work with Unbox video downloads, find videos, and find some useful Tivo accessories.

• Register your Tivo(s) with Amazon Unbox
• Find rentals
• Find science fiction & fantasy movies
• Find horror movies
• Find TV shows
• Tivo Series 2 - 80 hour and 180 hour
• Tivo Series 3 - the HDTV Tivo with CableCard support and HDMI and component video out
• Tivo ethernet adapter - not needed for Tivo Series 3 and dual-tuner Series 2 units, which have built-in ethernet ports - requires Tivo 7.3 software or later
• Tivo Wireless adapter - Plugs into the USB port of your Tivo and lets it connect to your wireless network

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Tivo’s been looking for a movie download partner for some time now. There was a day when Tivo and Netflix were in bed together, but their dalliance bore no fruit. A couple of months back, Amazon replaced Netflix as Tivo’s bed-mate, announcing that Amazon’s “Unbox” video service would allow you to view movies on your Series 2 or Series 3 Tivo.

This is the kind of thing that gets announced and months later people are scratching their heads saying “Hey… do you remember something about Amazon downloading movies to Tivo? Did that ever happen?”… imagine my shock when Amazon and Tivo announced last week that you the service was now working.

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Speck ToughSkin for iPod Nano

Speck ToughSkin for iPod with Video

Amazon has a rebate on Speck’s ToughSkin case for the iPod Nano (2nd generation - the ones with the metal case) or iPod with Video. The rebate makes the case free before shipping. If you don’t have Amazon Prime, ordering a book or CD or something else to bring the total to $25 or more will get you free shipping. Click on one of the two above to check it out on Amazon

The ToughSkin is a ruggedized case for your iPod that doesn’t just protect it from casual scratches when you throw it in your pocket or bag that’s full of coins and keys and bottle caps; it also protects it from being dropped or knocked to the floor. The case allows access to all the functions of the iPod, and includes a screen protector.

I’ve never yet met a case that would work in my iPod dock, unfortunately. I’ve read about a company doing a “dock extender”, which would lift the iPod slightly up from the dock so that you can dock it in its case. I don’t believe they’re shipping yet. In the meantime, I find it’s worth more to me to protect my iPod by keeping it in its case than it is to have it sit pretty in its dock.
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I ran across an unusual offer from Amazon today… a pack of 25 blank CDR’s, rated for 80 minutes and 52x performance (the link for them is on the right). The only catch is that you have to process a rebate, but it looks like the rebate can be one online, so they have your money for a couple of months and after that you’ve got it back and 25 blank CDR’s.

If you don’t have Amazon Prime you’ll end up paying for shipping unless you buy enough other stuff with the blank CDR’s to hit the $25 mark, but if you do then you’ll get them shipped for free.

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I know that I recently blogged about Amazon’s $10 savings on groceries, but I wanted to point out an extra good deal they’re offering.

You can pick up two boxes of Keurig K-Cup coffee (for instance, their Extra Bold Dark Magic) for $18.50. The normal price for one box is $13.95. Even if you join Green Mountain’s coffee club and save $2/box, you’re paying $11.95/box.
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Amazon launched a new “grocery store” a few months back. They’re selling non-perishable items in bulk quantities… kind of like what you’d find at BJ’s or other warehouse stores.

You probably don’t want to pay to ship pounds and pounds of pasta to yourself, but most grocery items are eligible for Amazon’s free shipping for orders over $25, or free 2-day shipping if you’re an Amazon Prime member.

Their prices are a bit variable, but in many cases they’re pretty good. They also are offering a $10 immediate discount on orders over $49, good until November 30th.
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Amazon today unveiled their new video download service: Unbox, rumored for several months. Apple is expected to announce the iTunes Movie Store on September 12th; I imagine that Amazon wanted to beat them to it by at least a few days.

The service is built on Microsoft’s Media Player architecture, and utilizes Microsoft’s DRM (Digital Rights Management). Some of the consequences of this are:

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Amazon really started selling “groceries” online… of course you’re not order broccoli from them; most of what they’re selling is dry goods or household stuff. A lot ends up being overpriced, but sometimes they have quite good prices. We use Seventh Generation recycled toilet paper in our bathrooms, and I noticed that Amazon is selling it at an excellent price - just under $39, with free shipping, for 48 500-sheet rolls of 2-ply.

Plus, if you buy $49 or more of groceries, you can save an extra $10 at checkout using the GROCERY2 promotional code. Even without the discount, $39 for a case of this toilet paper is substantially cheaper than Gaiam offers it. I’m not sure yet if you can use GROCERY2 more than once.

Amazon continues to have the best retail prices for Macintoshes.

They’re offering a $100 rebate on the new MacBook. They also offer a $150 rebate on the MacBook Pro, a $100 rebate on the iMac and a $25 rebate on the Mac Mini.

The rebates are also very easy to claim… good going, Amazon! You can submit the rebate online without having to mail anything to them.