Amazon UK's "Black Friday"

From amazon.co.uk:

From 22nd November, UK customers can experience ‘Black Friday Deals Week’ featuring over 200 limited time deals on products including Nintendo Wii consoles, Microsoft Xbox consoles, Sony TVs, Canon PowerShot cameras, Le Creuset cookware, Toy Story Talking Buzz Lightyear Space Rangers, Harry Potter Blu-ray box sets and much more... 

Every year, towards the end of November, millions of shoppers on the other side of the Atlantic take advantage of the massive savings offered by retailers around ‘Black Friday’, the discount shopping day that follows Thanksgiving in America. Now, Amazon.co.uk is bringing those incredible deals to the UK with ‘Black Friday Deals Week’, five days of high discount, limited time, limited quantity offers culminating on ‘Black Friday’ (26th November).
“For many years, shoppers in the US have enjoyed massive savings on great products as a result of the ‘Black Friday’ phenomenon,” said Brian McBride, Managing Director, Amazon.co.uk Ltd.

“Amazon is always looking to offer exceptional value for money, especially in the run up to Christmas, and will replicate that activity for the benefit of all customers here in the UK. There will be some fantastic savings on must-have items.” ‘Black Friday’ signals the start of the Christmas shopping period in the US and it is reported that over $10bn was spent by shoppers in America on ‘Black Friday’ alone in 2009.

 Offers on Amazon.co.uk will take the form of ‘Lightning Deals’ with a limited quantity of an item being offered at a discount for a short period of time. Once that quantity has been reached or the time limit elapses, the ‘Lightning Deal’ will end. There will be more than 200 great deals available over the five day period including*:

- Over 60% off Nintendo Wii Consoles
- Over 60% off Flip Mino High Definition Camcorders
- Over 60% off Microsoft Xbox consoles
- Canon PowerShot Cameras at less than half price
- Over 60% off Eternity Moment Eau de Parfum
- Over 70% off Pearl Necklaces
- Sony TVs at half price
- Coronation Street Golden Anniversary Collection DVD at less than half price

*All discounts from RRP or Amazon.co.uk selling price
 Customers can keep track of all the deals by visiting www.amazon.co.uk/blackfriday

Kindle 3

Finally, it's here. The latest in the wildly successful line of e-book readers produced by Amazon. The Kindle 3 picks up where the Kindle 2 left off: battery time is improved. The screen is even sharper. It's smaller and lighter. It now has wifi, so you can pick up books directly from the online store (not to mention browse the internet!)

Did I mention the price?

$139.

Again, $139.

That is a fantastic deal, in anyone's book.

Powerball Metal 350Hz now only ~€64

The heavyweight metal powerball is now a bargain at about half it's original selling price: £56. Weighing in at 870 grams, this chromed beauty will take your hand off if you're not careful. For those now familiar with powerballs, they are a handheld gyroscope used to rehabilitate and entertain alike. But don't take my word for it, watch this crazy Greek in action:



Wow. Nuts.

They're made by RPM sports down in Thurles who are really super-nice guys who offer a lifetime guarantee on all powerballs. Now stop reading this and buy one.

Disclaimer: I am not affiliated with RPM Sports in any way. I just think their customer service rocks.

DS Lite £79.99

Argos have come up trumps for this deal on the latest DS (until the next one) with a sub-£80 offer on this black DSi.

With normal prices of £119 online and €149.99 in Irish retail stores, you can't really go wrong with this one.

Argos don't do delivery to Ireland from the.co.uk site, so it looks like you'll have to collect in person or arrange some alternative method of collection.

€99 Wii at Golden Discs

Like the title says. It's the standard Wii Sports pack.

 

For €99, in store.

Go liquidation!

Amazon relax delivery restrictions to Ireland

After an exile of 5 years, you can now buy electrical items from Amazon again! Hale-freakin-lujah!

Exemptions: stuff over 30kg, mobile phones, toys, medicines, blank CDs and DVDs, light bulbs, TV equipment, freesat boxes. I'm sure there's more.

VAT is still charged at the Irish rate but advertised at the UK rate so when you get to the checkout page you may find the price jumps up a bit.

No sign of Super Saver Delivery. Shipping prices here.

WEEE exchange courtesy of Rehab Recycle in Cork, Galway, Dublin and Kilkenny.

Some great bargains to be had from a reputable seller! Have fun!

BOGOF: Two Porsches for the price of one

Hahaha... April Fools day is now over. Nothing to see here.

Lenovo S10e for less than €290, delivered

 

Cute. Small. Nicely built.

No, not Olga Kurylenko.

Blurb:

"Lenovo designed the IdeaPad S10e netbook as an introductory mobile PC for students in grades K-12 and as a secondary device for those in higher education. Ideal devices for connecting to the Internet for online research, students can use the netbook for sharing ideas and for conversation through email, social networking and other applications. Additionally, the Lenovo netbook provides basic functionality for word processing and light multimedia capabilities. A built-in webcam on the 10.1 inch display makes creating and sharing video messaging simple. And for a faster PC experience, the Quick Start feature allows students to quickly check email, browse the Internet, conduct video conferencing, view photos or listen to music without having to fully boot the operating system."

Facts:

• It's small
• It has a Splashtop style quick boot system
• It has a 1024 x 576 screen which is good for widescreen SD and little else
• It is very well made compared to other netbooks little notebooks
  
• It is €275.27 inc vat and €12.66 in shipping to the ROI at dabs.ie
  

Near-free home delivery from Tesco (valid until 21st Feb)

As the title says. Get a load of shopping delivered to your house for 1 cent.

http://www.tesco.ie/

Power User

Now that your house is full of buzzing, bleeping gadgets of all descriptions it's time to make sure the juice isn't on the loose. That's right, it's time to get all environmentally conscious and normalise your electricity usage. First of all, good news everyone! The Irish Energy Sector has been deregulated to the point where you can be switched over to a new supplier within an hour. See that, Eircom, hmm?

That means you are now free to get your power from alternate suppliers. At a minimum saving of 10%, you'd be mad not to.

https://www.thebigswitch.ie/
http://www.airtricity.com/ireland/for_your_home/index.xml

Way-hey! Instant savings. Now how can you get it down further? Well, why not invest in a handy-dandy energy meter to see which devices are drawing down unnecessary Watts?

http://www.efergy.com/en/
http://www.ecostore.ie/acatalog/Energy_Saving.html

After buying one of these suckers you'll think twice before leaving that Xbox plugged in all night!

And finally the most important part of all: common sense. Electricity has only been in common usage since the early 19th century and people somehow managed to survive without it. I'm not suggesting using candles and horse-drawn carts but don't forget: walking is good for you, you can't watch television in the living room while eating dinner in the dining room and laptops are good enough for checking email.

Terabyte drives ahoy!

Finally, those 1TB drives are hitting the sweet spot. That's TB as in the unit of capacity, not the disease. Now if only people would ditch FAT32 for a file system that makes sense. Seriously, why should I even care about how the bits on my disk are arranged? Grumble grumble blame microsoft grumble!

scan.ie
HDT721010SLA360 - 1TB Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.B, 3.5", SATA 3Gb/s, 7200 rpm, 16MB Cache, HDD
£72.38 + £6.99 shipping (I guess, not clear from site)

komplett.ie
Hitachi DeskStar 7K1000.B - hard drive - 1 TB - SATA-300
€79.00 + €12.50 shipping

And...

dabs.ie
Buffalo 1TB DriveStation Turbo USB2 3.5"
€92.51 + €12.66 shipping
For the record, I'm all in favour of the "naked" drives. I had a seagate 500 crash and burn on me for no particular reason other than the case was possibly a bit suspect. So from now on, I'm buying a good quality case with eSata + NAS and popping in drives as needs be. Instructions are widely available on how to do this and it is simple.

Cheap laptops at Dabs

 

So they're not brand new. So they don't have integrated webcams. But for €312.98 and €12.66 for shipping, you can have a whole lot of dual core laptop.

To that I say: more please.

Thanks to lensman.

http://www.dabs.ie/ProductView.aspx?Quicklinx=5DN9&InMerch=1

Hint: Search for refurb

AVG Anti Virus

I love AVG. I really do. Even though they absentmindedly borked the web when they released version 8, I still liked them (once I was able to fix the problem anyway). What I don't like is the "Invalid update control CTF file" problem I've been having lately. Luckily, there is an easy fix. Just delete the two .ctf files in C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\Avg8\update\download and all will be well.

This guy even wrote a VBscript for all you lazy suckers out there.

Oh, and that free 10 year subscription that's being doing the rounds on bargain sites? It is warez, made using the EMBRACED keymaker. Avoid. If not because it is the right thing to do, then because it will eventually fail when AVG block new updates to it.

This will be gone by tomorrow morning!

Sony BRAVIA KDL-40V4000 40 Inch Full-HD LCD

• Brand: Sony
• Type: Sony BRAVIA KDL-40V4000 40 Inch Full-HD LCD
• Full-HD: 1920 x 1080p resolution
• 50 Hz
• Dynamic contrast: 33000:1
• Audio modes: Dynamic/Standard/BBE ViVa/Virtual Dolby
• Viewing angle: 178 degrees
• Digital Comb filter
• BRAVIA Engine 2
• Connections: Digital audio-output (optical) / 3 x HDMI / HDMI-signal capability for the PC / PC input (15-pins D-Sub) and audio in / 1 x component / Composite video input/ USB 2.0 Input / Mini jack connection: 3.5 mm / PCMCIA-card slot / RCA audio out / RF connection / Scart 2 x RGB / BRAVIA Sync
• Colour & design: “Draw the line’ piano black finish
• Image format: 40 inches
• Signal: 576i / 480p / 576p / 1080i / 720p / 1080p
• 24 P-input
• Advanced Contrast Enhancer
• AFD (Auto Format Detect)
• Automatic noise reduction
• Picture in Picture
• Image ratio 16:9
• S-Force Pro Front Surround
• Analogue Terrestrial Tuner
• Digital Terrestrial Tuner
• Digital TV-cable tuner
• Auto Labelling and Auto Start-Up/Tuning
• EPG
• Included accessories: Table stand / Remote control RM-ED013 / User’s guide
• Dimesions: Including table stand (B x H x D): 98.6 x 68.4 x 27.9 cm / Excluding stand (B x H x D): 98.6 x 64.6 x 11.0 cm
• Warranty: 2 years

Price: € 699,95

Blurb

"The Sony KDL-40V4000 40 inch Full HD television is the latest in the BRAVIA series and is equipped with the new BRAVIA 2 engine for a better contrast. With its “draw the line” design and the glossy black piano finish, the BRAVIA KDL-40V 4000 is a real vision to look at. The exclusive BRAVIA 2 engine creates unprecedented viewing quality with enhanced depth, improved clarity and high definition. You have a 40 inch viewing area at your disposal with an amazing resolution of 1920 x 1080p. Combined with an extremely high dynamic contrast of 33000:1 and with 3 HDMI ports, this gem of a TV ensures that you are all set for the future. Experience the effect of digital Surround sound from just two loud speakers with Virtual Dolby sound and BBE ViVA sound technology. This full HD TV is equipped with the Bravia Theatre Sync with which you can operate your sound system, TV and DVD player with just a single remote control. With the 3 HDMI ports, it is now easier than ever to connect high definition sources to your TV. At last, you get to watch movies the way the director meant it to be, with the Sony BRAVIA KDL-40V4000 40 inch full HD television!"

Awesome deal. Buy it if you can. Do not expect it delivered until mid-January though. €12.50 shipping to Ireland.

Couple of Christmas Crackers from Dell

Just like to point out that both of these are going to expire TOMORROW, 16th December.


XPS ONE for €495 delivered

Dell all-in-one premium iMac knockoff is going for half the going rate. Presumably that means it's on the way out, but it's an ok deal for people with a need for an average but very portable/storable machine. The keyboard and mouse are a cut above the norm too. The built-in tuner means you can use it as a TV with PVR features. 20" is nothing to write home about, but it gets the job done. Throw in an accessory worth about €35 to qualify for 10% off, bringing the final price down to €495.


23" Full HD Monitor for €186 delivered

A nice, sizeable monitor with a 1920 x 1080 screen. At a nice, not too sizeable price.

Komplett Weekly Offers 08/12/2008

Let me save you the bother. Nothing interesting this week. Tv, speakers, printer, graphics card. No bargains.

Free Boff still in progress

Those of you who know Boffer should know that the free boff is still in progress. Those of you who don't, this means every product is free except for shipping charges, although those are free in some cases too.

If you missed it, don't worry. Apparently there is a secret sell-off on or before the ninth which should have plenty of cheap goodies thrown into the middle of it.

But don't tell anyone. It's a secret. That's why I'm not going to tell anyone about it either.

Komplett Weekly Offers 01/12/2008

NETGEAR ProSafe Switch 8P gigabit

€ 39.00

-34%

My €0.02
It's cheap, but who needs an 8 port gigabit switch? If the answer is you, this is cheaper than any equivalent products at misco or pixmania. That said, for a little more you could get a much better product...

Logitech MX Air Rechargeable Cordless

€ 95.00

-13%

My €0.02
I have one of these. They rock. Cost 15 euro this time last year.

Samsung 22" LCD Syncmaster T220HD

€ 273.99

-9%

My €0.02
There must be something seriously wrong because elara want 440 for this. Pixmania are selling it for 269.

Gigabyte GA-E7AUM-DS2H, GeForce 9400

€ 139.49

-7%

My €0.02
Not a bad price but only buy if you want the GeForce 9400. Which I find unlikely.

Samsung 40 Inch Full HD 100Hz LCD TV

• Brand: Samsung
• Model: LE40A615
• 40 Inch Full HD
• 1080 24p Real Movie
• Resolutiion:1920 x 1080p
• Dynamic Contrast Ratio: 30.000:1
• Entertainment Mode
• Picture in Picture
• Picture Ratio: 16:9
• 100 Hz Technology
• DVB-T
• Clear Panel
• Movie Plus
• Wide Colour Enhancer 2
• DNIe Pro
• A2/NiCAM
• Downfiring speaker
• SRS TrueSurround XT
• Electronic Program Guide
• Loud Speaker Output: 20 Watt (2 x 10W)
• Power Consumption: 240W
• Connections:
• 3 x HDMI / Component (Y/Pb/Pr) / 2 x Scart / Video Monitor Out (L/R) Only Audio / PC Connection (D-Sub) / Optical Audio Out / USB 2.0 / S-Video / Composite / Headphone
• Dimensions: 99.8 x 63.8 x 8.4 cm (WxHxD) / 99.8 x 69.9 x 30 cm (WxHxD) including Foot
• Weight: 17kg / 20.2 kg including Foot
• Warranty: 2 years

Price: € 777,00

Go iBOOD. That is one serious telly. I would buy it in a heartbeat if I wasn't up to my eyes in tv's, projectors and monitors at the moment. €12.50 shipping seals the deal.

Komplett Weekly Offers 24/10/2008

Epson Projector EMP-X5, 1024x768, 2200 ANSI, 400:1

€ 469.00

-6%

My €0.02
This projector must be nearing the end of it's life cycle by now. I would go for a newer model, which would deliver more bang per buck. Or a Infocus IN1 for less than €200.

Creative Zen 4GB, SD/SDHC slot, MP3/AAC,2,5" LCD screen, DivX/XviD/WMV

€ 65.00

-12%

My €0.02
Why? All I want is an iPod Touch with an SD cart slot. And who watches video on a 2.5" screen?

Canon IXUS 80 Silver 8.0MP 3x opt.zoom

€ 148.00
-0%

My €0.02
Beats pixmanias €159. Any good? Dunno.

Samsung 19" LCD-TV Syncmaster 932MW, Widescreen, TV-tuner, DVI, 5ms

€ 189.00

-5%

My €0.02
19" LCD TV again? It's still pointless.