The Daily Deal for Saturday, September 27, 2008

Got grocery bags? If you're in Seattle, Washington or a number of other U.S. cities considering following the northwestern trailblazer, you might be replacing your plastic bags with something more permanent. The Gregory Gran Torino bag sounds like a great answer; it combines "the best features found in briefcases, messenger bags and urban backpacks and blends the functionality into a look that's distinctly contemporary and complete."

It's high praise from a bag manufacturer, of course, but it's a good deal so why not check it out? Other retailers had the bag listed at $74.95 to $128.95, so this is a screaming deal at $24.97 at Altrec.com. It includes a laptop sleeve, waterproof outers, and lots of room for books or groceries. Bike to class, bike to the coffee shop, bike to the grocery store, and your things will be fine. Best of all: no 20 cent surcharge to carry home your bagels and brussels sprouts.

Wal-Mart recently finished judging a competition amongst its suppliers to produce environmentally friendly packaging that protected the product while using consumer-attractive design. The winner was an HP laptop that is shipped and sold in a stylish carrying bag made from 100% recycled materials. This specific laptop, the HP Pavilion dv6929, not only uses 97% less packaging but also requires fewer trucks to deliver, thanks to the smaller container.

Given the fact that in 2006 6,000 people made visits to emergency rooms due to the cursed plastic coffins that many retailers keep gadgets in, I wholeheartedly applaud this move on an anger management level alone! The added benefit of reducing the usage of cardboard while providing the consumer with a carrying case is a wonderfully useful idea. Normally when I get a new gadget the first thing I have to purchase is a new carrying case which leads me to agree with Matthew from Geek.com: This kind of packaging would be a welcome change to the gadget world.

This innovative and useful packaging simply knocks this product out of the park for both Wal-Mart and HP. The price for this energy star-rated laptop is $798 including the messenger bag, which it is packaged in. Without specs I can't comment on how good of a deal it is in computing terms, but I'd expect something which would provide enough umph for the average college student. Here's to hoping my next laptop, cell phone and video game console come with a cool carrying case instead of a blister pack!