One has to wonder: what's the point of a sale on a proverbially cheap item? And the obvious answer is, it's five bucks you wouldn't have otherwise had. So it is with Google's Chromecast streaming HDMI dongle, which has once again gone on sale at both Amazon and Best Buy. You can pick one up for $29.99 at either retailer, with free shipping for Prime members at the former and free shipping for everyone at the latter.

If you happen to be a member of Amazon's Student program, you can qualify for even more discounts. The total cost of the Chromecast for Amazon Student members is just $24.98, a full ten bucks off the $35 retail price. (Best Buy previously featured student-only discounts on the Chromecast, but it looks like it's the same price for everyone at the moment.) That's the cheapest that we've ever seen the Chromecast, so if you've got a free HDMI port on your TV and a little pocket money jingling in your jeans, there's no reason not to pick one up. We have no indication of when the discounted price will go back up this time.

The Chromecast is still a little light on app support - aside from Google's own properties, you can stream Netflix, Hulu Plus, HBO Go, Pandora, VEVO, Red Bull TV, Songza, Plex, PostTV, Viki, and RealPlayer Cloud from Android. Of course the device can "cast" from any desktop or laptop running the Chrome browser. If the recent uptick in app support is any indication, its capability may be dramatically expanded soon.

Google Chromecast - Best Buy, Amazon