Dealmaster: You can still convert 3 years of Xbox Live to Game Pass Ultimate for $ 1, Ars Technica

        

Greetings, Arsians! The Dealmaster is back with another round of bargains to share. Today’s list is headlined by a deal over at Microsoft that gets you a month of the company’sXbox Game Pass Ultimate service for $ 1or two months for $ 2. Normally, a Game Pass Ultimate membership — which wraps Game Pass for console and PC together with Xbox Live Gold — costs $ 15 a month. This offer has admittedly been live for a while now, but Microsoft says the $ 2 deal is set to expire on September 30. (The company declined to specify when the $ 1 offer will end.) Plus, you could still turn the discount into an even better value with the right planning.

To explain: we noted this back when Microsoftfirst ran this dealearlier in the year, but when you buy Game Pass Ultimate, the company will still turn up to (months of existing Xbox Live Gold (or non -Ultimate Game Pass) subscription time on your account into the all-in-one membership. That means you canstock up on Xbox Live Goldfirst — which many Xbox players will buy anyway to play online — then add up to three years of Game Pass to that prepaid time for $ 1totalinstead of the usual $ 10 (for console) or $ 5 (for PC) a month. Put another way: after getting three 12 – month Xbox Live Gold codes for $ 60 each, you could get three years of Game Pass Ultimate for $ 181 instead of the $ 540 it would cost at full price. (Or two years for $ 121 instead of $ 360, one year for $ 61 instead of $ 180, etc.)

The catch is that these offers are only available to those who are new to Game Pass Ultimate, not existing subscribers. If you have a standard Game Pass subscription for console or PC, though, you can still take advantage. It’s also worth noting that Game Pass Ultimate subscription time can’t be reverted back to individual Xbox Live Gold or standard Game Pass subscriptions after upgrading — your account won’t be locked into the Ultimate plan forever, just the prepaid time up to 36 months. Butyou’ll have to turn off recurring billing and re-jointhose other services separately if you don’t want to renew Game Pass Ultimate once that prepaid time expires.

As a refresher, Game Pass makes a bundle of Xbox games available to download and play at a fixed monthly cost. (Think of it like a gaming Netflix, without the streaming.) Whether or not the service is worth having will, as always, come down to the games you prefer. But its lineup is growing — there are currentlymore than 200 games on consoles and more than 100 on PC– and while there’s certainly some filler, we’d say a good chunk of the library is genuinely worthwhile. Microsoft is probably happy to have people buy years of Xbox Live Gold in advance whenit has a new console comingnext year. So if you do make the conversion to Ultimate, make sure to only get the amount of subscription time you’re comfortable with or at least be sure that you’ll still be using the Xbox One for the foreseeable future. And if you don’t want to convert, the two-month deal is still agood way to beatGears 5and (Outer Wilds) for $ 2.

If you’re not an Xbox person , though, we also have a ton of Prime-only deals on Amazon devices (just note thatnew hardware of some sortis coming), pre-order discounts on the latest Apple Watch and iPad, headphone discounts, and more. You can take a look at the full list below.

Note: Ars Technica may earn compensation for sales from links on this post throughaffiliate programs.

Table of Contents

•                 Top 10 deals of the day      

          

•                 Laptop and desktop PC deals      

          

•                 Video game deals      

          

•                 Gaming deals      

          

•                 TV and home entertainment deals      

          

•                 Electronics deals      

          

•                 Accessories deals      

        

Top 10 deals of the day

• New Ultimate users only:Xbox Game Pass Ultimate2-month subscription for ($ 2) ****************************************************** (at Microsoft) normally $ 29. 98).
• ************************************************** (Microsoft Xbox One Wireless Controller) ************ (Black) for$ 39. 99at Walmart andBest Buy(normally $ 49. 99).
• Prime only:Amazon Fire TV Stick 4Kmedia streamer for$ 34. 99at Amazon (normally $ 49. 99).
• Prime only: (Amazon Fire HD 8) ************ () GB, ads (tablet – 8-inch) *************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** (x) for$ 49.at Amazon (normally $ 99).
• Prime only:Amazon Kindle Paperwhite(8GB, ads) e-reader for$ 89. 99at Amazon (normally $ 129. 99).
• Amazon Cloud Cam1080 p security camera for$ 89. 99 (at Amazon) normally $ 119. 99).
• Roku Premiere 4K media streamer for$ 39at Walmart (normally $ 49).
• Beats Solo3 WirelessBluetooth on-ear headphones for$ 149. 99at Best Buy and (Amazon) (normally $ 179. 99).
• Pre-order: (Apple Watch Series 5) (40 mm, Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band (for) $ 384. 99at Amazon (normally $ 399).
• Pre-order:10 .2-inch Apple iPad(128 GB) for$ 399. 99 (at Amazon) normally $ 429).

Laptop and desktop PC deals

• (Samsung Chromebook Plus V2) ************ (laptop – Intel Core m3-7Y) , 12 .2-inch x) touch, 4GB RAM, 128 GB eMMC for$ 399at Best Buy (normally $ 449. 99).
• ************************************************************** (Lenovo ThinkPad P) mobile  workstation laptop – Intel Core i7 – (H,) .6-inch (x) OLED touch, 16 GB RAM, 512 GB SSD, Nvidia Quadro T 2000 4GB GPU for$ 1, 484. 45(use code:THINKSEPT– normally $ 1, 899).
• Asus ROG Strix Ggaming laptop – Intel Core i5 – 9300 H, .6-inch (p) Hz, 8GB RAM, (GB SSD, GTX) Ti 6GB for$ 999at Walmart (normally $ 1, 299).
• **************************************************************** (Dell G3) gaming laptop – Intel Core i7 – (H, (*************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************. 6-inch 1080, (GB RAM, *********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** (GB SSD, GeForce GTX) Ti 6GB for$ 979. 39at Dell (use code: (SAVE) – normally $ 1, 179. 99
• ***************************************************************** (Dell XPS) (9380) laptop – Intel Core i7 – (U,) .3-inch (x) , 16 GB RAM, 1TB SSD for$ 1, 618. 49 (at Dell) use code:SAVE 17– normally $ 1, 949. 99).

Video game deals

• Mario Rabbids Kingdom Battle(Switch) for ($) ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************* 99at Best Buy (normally $ 24.
• Dragon Quest Builders 2( Switch, (PS4) for$ 44. 99at W almart andAmazon(normally $ 59. 99).
• Ace Combat: Skies UnknownPS4,XB1) for$ 29. 99at Walmart and (Amazon) (normally $ 36. 99).
• Mega Man Legacy Collection 2(XB1) for$ 9. 49at Best Buy (normally $ 14. 99).
• Prey(XB1) for$ 4. 99at Best Buy (normally $ 12 . 99) .
• Horizon Zero Dawn: Complete Edition(PS4) for$ 13. 50 (at Amazon) normally $ 19. 99).
• Red Dead Redemption 2(PS4) for$ 31. 50at Walmart (normally $ 39. 99).
• Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age(Switch) for$ 34. 99at Amazon (normally $ 49. 99) .
• Final Fantasy X | X-2 HD Remaster(Switch) for $ 34. 99at Amazon (normally $ 49. 99).
• Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End(PS4) for$ 9. 99 (at Kohl’s) normally $ 14. 99).
• Infamous: Second Son(PS4) for ($ 9.) at Kohl’s (normally $ 14. 99).
• Titanfall 2(XB1) for$ 4. 99at Walmart (normally $ 9 . 99).
• Yakuza 0(PS4) for$ 14. 47 (at Amazon) normally $ 19. 99).
• (Undertale) ******************************(Switch, digital code) for$ 9. 99at Nintendo eShop (normally $ 14. 99).
• (Persona 5) (PS4) for$ 11. 99at PlayStation Store (normally $ 19. 99).
• Judgment(PS4) for$ 38. 99at PlayStation Store (normally $ 59. 99).
• To The Moon(iOS, Android) for$ 1. 49at App Store and (Google Play) (normally $ 4. 99).
• Chrono Trigger(iOS, Android) for$ 4. 99at App Store andGoogle Play(normally $ 9. 99).
• XCOM: Enemy Within(iOS, Android) for$ 1. 99at App Store andGoogle Play(normally $ 4. 99).
• This War of Mine(iOS, Android) for$ 1. 99at App Store andGoogle Play(normally $ 13. 99).
• Pre-order:Cyberpunk 2077(PS4,XB1(for) $ 49. 94 (at Walmart and) Amazon(normally $ 59 . 99).
• Pre-order:Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age – Definitive Edition(Switch) for ($) . 94at Walmart and (Amazon(normally $ 59. 99).

Gaming deals

• New Ultimate users only:Xbox Game Pass Ultimate2-month subscription for ($ 2) ****************************************************** (at Microsoft) normally $ 29. 98).
• ************************************************** (Microsoft Xbox One Wireless Controller) ************ (Black) for$ 39. 99at Walmart andBest Buy(normally $ 49. 99).
• Microsoft Xbox One Play and Charge Kitcontroller charger for$ 19. 99at Walmart andAmazon(normally $ 24. 99).
• Microsoft Xbox One S(1TB)Minecraftbundle for$ 203at Walmart (normally $ 239. 99).
• Sony PlayStation 4 Pro(1TB) for$ 349at Best Buy andAmazon(normally $ 399. 99).
• FastSnail GripsJoy-Con holders for Nintendo Switch for$ 10. 44 (at Amazon) (clip 5% coupon) – normally $ 12. 99).
• Splendorboard game for$ 19at Walmart andAmazon(normally $ 29. 99).

TV and home entertainment deals

• Prime only:Amazon Fire TV Stick 4Kmedia streamer for$ 34. 99at Amazon (normally $ 49. 99).
• Prime only:Amazon Fire TV Stick1080 p media streamer for$ 24.at Amazon (normally $ 39. 99).
• Prime only:Amazon Fire TV Recast(500 GB) over-the-air DVR for$ 169. 99 (at Amazon) normally $ 229. 99).
• Roku Premiere 4K media streamer for$ 39at Walmart (normally $ 49).
• Roku TV Wireless Speakers(for Roku TVs only) for$ 149 . 99at Roku (normally $ 199. 99).

Electronics deals

• Pre-order: (Apple Watch Series 5) ************ () mm, Aluminum Case with Black Sport Band (for) $ 384. 99at Amazon (normally $ 399).
• Pre-order: (Apple Watch Series 5) ( (mm, GPS Cellular, Stainless Steel Case with White Sport Band (for) $ 649at Amazon (normally $ 699).
• Apple Watch Series 4(40 mm, GPS Cellular, Aluminum Case with Pink Sport Band (for) $ 349at Best Buy (normally $ 449).
• Pre-order:10 .2-inch Apple iPad(128 GB) for$ 399. 99 (at Amazon) normally $ 429).
• 12 .9-inch Apple iPad Pro( (GB) for$ 799 (at Amazon)discount seen at checkout– normally $ 949).
• Apple AirPodswith Wireless Charging Case for$ 169. (at Amazon) normally $ 179. 99).
• Prime only: (Amazon Fire HD 8) ************ () GB, ads (tablet – 8-inch) *************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** (x) for$ 49.at Amazon (normally $ 99).
• Prime only: (Amazon Fire 7) ( (GB, ads (tablet – 7-inch) ****************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************** (x) for$ 29. 99 (at Amazon) normally $ 49. 99).
• Prime only:Amazon Kindle Paperwhite(8GB, ads) e-reader for$ 89. 99at Amazon (normally $ 129. 99).
• Prime only: (Amazon Kindle) (4GB, ads) e-reader for$ 64. 99 (at Amazon) normally $ 89. 99
• Amazon Cloud Cam1080 p security camera for$ 89. 99 (at Amazon) normally $ 119. 99).
• ******************************************************************************************************************** (Amazon Echo 5) ************ (smart display for$ 64. 99at Amazon andBest Buy(normally $ 99).
• Tile Mate with Replaceable BatteryBluetooth tracker for$ 19. 99at Amazon (normally $ 24. 99).
• Philips Hue White and Color Ambiancesmart bulb starter kit – 3x smart LED bulbs Philips Hue Hub for$ 99. 99 (At Amazon) normally $ 159. 99).
• Seagate FireCuda(2TB) solid state hybrid drive for$ 64. 99At Amazon (normally $ 89. 99).
• Netgear Arlo Q(2-pack) 1080 p security camera for$ 202. 71at Amazon (normally $ 279).
• Jaybird TarahBluetooth sports earphones for ($) . 95at Amazon (normally $ 99. 99).
• *************************************************************************************************************************** (V-Moda Crossfade Wireless) ************ (Bluetooth headphones for) ***************************************************** ($) . 99at Amazon (normally $ 129. 99).
• Beats Solo3 WirelessBluetooth on-ear headphones for$ 149. 99at Best Buy andAmazon(normally $ 179. 99).
• Sennheiser HD (SE) wired open back headphones for$ 129. 99at Amazon (normally $ 164. 99).
• ***************************************************************************************************************************** (Audio-Technica ATH-M) ********************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************************* (X) wired over-ear headphones for$ 79at Amazon (normally $ 99).
• Instant Pot Ultra(6qt) electric pressure cooker for$ 83. 77at Amazon (normally $ 109).

Accessories deals

• Anker PowerPort Iwall charger – (W, (W USB-C PD, 4x USB-A for$ 34. 89 (at Amazon) normally $ 49. 99).
• ******************************************************************************************************************************** (Anker PowerWave Pad) ************ (wireless charger -) W for Galaxy phones, 7.5W for iPhone for$ 9. 99at Amazon (use code: (LABOR) – normally $ 17. 99).
• Anker PowerLine II3-in -1 charging cable – USB-C, microUSB, Lightning for$ 11. 24 (at Amazon) use code:ANKER 8436– normally $ 17. 99).