Thrustmaster’s T248 racing wheel for PlayStation and PC is $100 off

If you’re a fan of racing games, Thrustmaster’s T248 steering wheel and pedal setup is a nice way to make the experience feel more immersive. Designed for both PlayStation consoles and PC, it’s a great all-in-one package that can help beginners get started with a racing setup, one that requires little in the way of preparation. It’s an even better buy today given it’s currently on sale at Amazon, Best Buy, and B&H Photo for $299.99 instead of $399.99, a new all-time low.

Thrustmaster’s T248 is an excellent force feedback wheel, which means it offers a strong level of resistance while duplicating the effects of the track on your car in great detail. As an added perk, the wheel also comes with a handy LCD screen, which can display your speed, position, and other useful information depending upon the game. Note, however, that while the wheel easily attaches to desks and coffee tables, many are not at the ideal height or placement to comfortably play, so we had to spend some time adjusting accordingly. Once we did, though, we found the excellent racing wheel made it easier to understand what was going on in the game and navigate our car more skillfully. Read our review.

| Image: Sam Byford / The Verge

Thrustmaster T248 Racing Wheel

Thrustmaster’s T248 steering wheel and pedal setup is designed for both the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5, as well as PC. It’s an excellent force feedback wheel that also comes with a unique LCD screen that displays information such as speed, position, and more depending on the game.

$300 at Amazon

It may not pack Apple’s faster M1 Pro chip or showcase the wealth of ports found on the latest MacBook Pro models, but the 13-inch MacBook Pro with the M1 chip is still an excellent laptop that’s even cheaper today. Regularly $1,499, you can buy the model equipped with 512GB of storage and 8GB of RAM right now in silver at Amazon for $1249.99, a price that will be reflected in your cart at checkout. That’s a new all-time low for this configuration.

In our review of the 13-inch MacBook Pro, we noted how much we liked that the built-in fan allows for better sustained performance than what the M1-powered MacBook Air offers. We also liked its brighter display, longer battery life, and the fact that it boasts better mics and louder speakers than the Air. Note, however, that we were once again disappointed by Apple’s 720p webcam, which, despite some image-processing updates that make faces appear brighter, actually makes the overall effect worse. Additionally, we didn’t like that the 13-inch model still comes with a Touch Bar as opposed to a standard function row on the keyboard — something Apple ditched on both the 14- and 16-inch models.

Still, if you’re in the market for a terrific laptop with similar performance to the MacBook Air but with a few more bells and whistles, including a fan for sustained performance, this is a solid deal to consider.

If the 13-inch MacBook Pro is too expensive and you’re looking for something more budget-friendly, the 13-inch Lenovo Flex 5 Chromebook is one of our favorite laptops and is currently on sale at Costco. We consider it to be the best Chromebook for midrange shoppers, one that impressed us by how premium it felt in some ways. The backlight keyboard is one of the better ones we’ve used on a Chromebook, and we liked that the device offers a relatively good port selection for its price, with a microSD reader and a USB-C port on each side. While the battery life was disappointing, it’s still a good Chromebook; we gave a 7/10 in our review. It’s certainly not as powerful as the aforementioned MacBook Pro and other premium laptops, but it’s still more than capable when it comes to browsing and performing other basic tasks.

Right now, Costco members can currently buy the Flex 5 with an 11th Gen Intel i3 processor, 8GB RAM, and 128GB of eMMC storage for $299.99, a $200 discount. You can still get the deal if you’re not a Costco member, but note that you’ll have to pay a 5 percent surcharge, which equates to an extra $25.

With Mother’s Day and graduation celebrations steadily approaching, you may be on the hunt for good gift ideas. Whether your mom is a bibliophile or your giftee is about to enter college, the latest Kindle makes for a great present, one that is currently on sale for just $5 shy of its lowest price to date. While we weren’t fans of its low-resolution screen and lack of waterproofing, the 2019 e-reader comes with a built-in front light, support for Bluetooth headphones, and higher contrast than its predecessor. If you can make do with the drawbacks (including Micro USB charging), Best Buy and Amazon are selling the ad-supported base Kindle with 8GB of storage for $54.99 instead of $89.99. Read our review.

In addition, Amazon and Best Buy are selling the ad-free, kid-centric version of the Kindle, which comes with a kid-friendly cover and parental controls, for $64.99 ($45 off). The price also includes one year of Amazon Kid Plus, allowing your child to read over a thousand titles and consume a wealth of other age-appropriate content for free, as well as a two-year extended warranty. You can also save an extra $20 when you buy two at either retailer, though, you’ll need to use the promo code 2PACK at checkout if you buy the e-readers from Amazon.

Razer’s Kishi is a fun gaming accessory you can clamp onto your smartphone to turn it into something akin to a Nintendo Switch. It’s a handy controller grip to have if you’re a gamer on the go, especially since it’s compatible with a variety of games available on Android as well as on cloud-gaming services such as Amazon Luna, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, and Google Stadia.

Right now, both the iPhone- and Android-compatible models — which can expand to accommodate most phones — are on sale for nearly their best prices to date. The Razer Kishi for Android, the model we initially reviewed, is currently on sale at Amazon for $44.99 instead of $89.99, which is just $5 shy of its lowest price to date. Apple users, meanwhile, can pick up the Razer Kishi for the iPhone for $72.99 instead of $99.99, which is the best price we’ve seen on this model so far this year. Read our Razer Kishi review.

Other great deals worthy of your attention today