Getting ready for the Black Friday sales...

[Edwin]

10% cashback on games consoles (including bundles) today only at Currys/PC World. Makes the already cheap packages that much cheaper (though of course you have to wait to get the cash back).

Stacks of decent-looking games bundles, including on the Xbox One X. For example...
Xbox One X console, Fallout 4, Doom, Forza Motorsport 7 and Assassins Creed Origins for £469 (which should get you £46.90 worth of cashback assuming it tracks correctly).
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/tv-an...oft-xbox-one-x-games-bundle-10174016-pdt.html

You can always turn around and flog to CEX any games you don't want. In fact, if you're happy to spend a bit of time min-maxing on the CEX site, you can work out the perfect bundle to give you the absolute maximum resale value for the stuff you don't want. https://uk.webuy.com/ (my sister used this trick a few weeks ago when Fifa 18 just came out - she sold it immediately to CEX for £35, making her PS4 a lot cheaper). They haven't got pricing for many of the Xbox One X games yet, but the major regular Xbox ones and the PS4 ones should all be there.

Here are all the Currys Black Friday console deals...
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/searc...es~price~pr-12~sixth~black-friday~sr~-~241117

(Of course when it comes time to buy, be sure to come via TopCashback in a new browser, not via the above links)

Can't help agreeing with the comments earlier in the thread that some of the merchants are over-cooking Black Friday in their eagerness not to be outdone. I suppose they must still make something on volume, but it's remarkable how they're chasing each other to discount the most.

 

[Adam H]

lol they're almost as bad as the dropcrotch jogging bottoms

Wow some of them even have a reflective strip down the leg , I'll be the first to admit I'm not really down with the kids on style, but I know id look like a total tit in those joggies or short leg suit trousers

 

[Edwin]

Here's an example of CEX math, to illustrate what I mean. I've chosen a couple of the PS4 bundles from Currys. Pretend you turn around and instantly sell all the games to CEX...

BUNDLE 1
PS4 500GB £200
Call of Duty WWII £35
Fallout 4 £2
Gran Turismo Sport £16
Knowledge is Power £4
TOTAL: £57
Effective PS4 cost: £143 (plus you should get £20 cashback)

BUNDLE 2
PS4 500GB £199.99
Fifa 18 £21
Fallout 4 £2
Gran Turismo Sport £16
Knowledge is Power £4
TOTAL: £43
Effective PS4 cost: £156.99 (plus you should get £19.99 cashback)

So even though Bundle 1 is £0.01 more expensive, it's "worth" £13.99 more at resale.

NOTE 1: CEX prices fluctuate (mostly downwards) all the time, so speed is the key. Get organised to sell the games you don't want as fast as you possibly possibly can to lock in the current price.

NOTE 2: For £2, keep Fallout 4! It's a fun game, and not worth dumping for the tiny resale premium.

 

[Edwin]

Ok, here's an Xbox One X bundle
https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/tv-an...oft-xbox-one-x-games-bundle-10174069-pdt.html

Bundle cost: £449.99
Sell games to CEX: Assassins Creed Origins £31 & Forza Motorsport 7 £16 = £47 from CEX
Cashback: £44.99
Effective Xbox One X price: £358

Maybe more fiddly than it's worth, maybe not. But at least theoretically possible!

 

[Skinner]

I've barely spent half of my 2016 total this year, last year I spent x,xxx on hard drives ssd/mech, this year I wanted to move another nas to 8tb mech drives, I nearly bought a pair of 12gb Ironwolf drives, but then remembered why I stick to Hitachi/HGST. Spent 0 on hard drives, no decent deals on any other pc/computer tech I wanted.

I'm trying to decide between a 64gb 10" fire tablet and the 32gb Kids 8" Tablet. The 2 year fuss free warranty appeals on the 8", and the samsung tabs and some others haven't impressed me.

Hows everyone elses bargains been ?

 

[Edwin]

I've barely spent half of my 2016 total this year, last year I spent x,xxx on hard drives ssd/mech, this year I wanted to move another nas to 8tb mech drives, I nearly bought a pair of 12gb Ironwolf drives, but then remembered why I stick to Hitachi/HGST. Spent 0 on hard drives, no decent deals on any other pc/computer tech I wanted.

Span.com has 10TB HGST Deskstar drives for £309.68 in their Black Friday sale.
https://www.span.com/product/HGST-D...72SWW-0S04037-3-5-SATA-6Gb-10TB-7200rpm~62153

Tekshop247 has them for £297.11
https://www.tekshop247.com/product_info.php?products_id=1795361

(Note: I've never heard of either store; reviews of Span.com generally look good. Tekshop247 much more variable.)

If 6TB drives are any good to you, there are some new ones on eBay for £149.95 (free delivery) from a seller with 15,410 feedback and 99.4% positive rating. Says "More than 10 available".
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/HGST-6TB...RPM-HDN726060ALE614-CCTV-DESKTOP/182366060713

(If you do go for the eBay option, there's 5% TopCashback today only. Valid on just about everything, incidentally.)

 

[ian]

Hows everyone elses bargains been ?

I spent most of my gadget funds in the past few weeks on smart tech for my home and a monster new PC build (8700k, 1080ti oc for those interested); quite a few items were discounted in the sales so I simply contacted the respective retailers asking for the difference back, no issues, all of them honoured my request.

 

[RobM]

Hows everyone elses bargains been ?

Unfortunately beer and lapdancers weren't included in the Black Friday promotions
I did buy an XBox One for my son though.... a week before Black Friday and paid more. Doh.

 

[dee]

If anyone needs NAS drives, the Seagate Ironwolf 3TB is down to £69.27 (by far its lowest price ever). Other sizes are also at or near their lows but they’re not such obviously screaming bargains.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Seagate-IronWolf-Internal-Systems-Workload/dp/B01LOOJBRI/

NIce find. Ordering some for work. I go through lots of drives...

 

[Edwin]

Interesting aside: Dell have a "SAVE15" code valid this weekend to take 15% off all laptops and desktops. While that encompasses a reasonable number of products that weren't covered in earlier promotions, their £100 off + £100 cashback deals that I flagged a few pages back actually worked out quite a bit cheaper than this BF deal!

So it definitely pays to keep an eye on things, as if you only go by the most recent price it's pretty tough to see if it's a "proper deal" i.e. genuinely cheap, or a "fake deal" i.e. cheaper than the recently inflated price.

 

[Edwin]

I've decided that 65" is what we "need" So am scouring HUKD several times per day

Did you manage to find the TV you wanted?

If not, there are a number under £1,000 on Argos, and TopCashback are offering 10% back on "Tech" purchases from Argos today only as a Cyber Monday special. With the cashback factored in, that pushes TVs up to £1,100 into the sub-£1,000 bracket...
http://www.argos.co.uk/browse/techn...c:30106/screen-size-(in):65.0/opt/sort:price/

 

[wonder_lander]

Did you manage to find the TV you wanted?

If not, there are a number under £1,000 on Argos, and TopCashback are offering 10% back on "Tech" purchases from Argos today only as a Cyber Monday special. With the cashback factored in, that pushes TVs up to £1,100 into the sub-£1,000 bracket...
http://www.argos.co.uk/browse/techn...c:30106/screen-size-(in):65.0/opt/sort:price/

Not pulled the trigger yet as TV buying is somewhat of a minefield! Due to the setup in our lounge I'm looking specifically for a VA panelled TV by all accounts. I think the Hisense H64N6800 from John Lewis for £899 might be the best in this price range but I'll take a look at the Argos ones too.

Ideally I'd like one with a swivel stand but it's not so common in such big TVs!#

Thanks as ever!

 

[wonder_lander]

Not pulled the trigger yet as TV buying is somewhat of a minefield! Due to the setup in our lounge I'm looking specifically for a VA panelled TV by all accounts. I think the Hisense H64N6800 from John Lewis for £899 might be the best in this price range but I'll take a look at the Argos ones too.

Ideally I'd like one with a swivel stand but it's not so common in such big TVs!#

Thanks as ever!

Damn. Looks like it’s actually IPS that has the better viewing angles.

 

[Edwin]

Damn. Looks like it’s actually IPS that has the better viewing angles.

I assume you've seen this excellent summary?
http://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/ips-led-vs-va-lcd

(Basically it depends on what you prioritise. OLED crushes both, but you can double your budget and add a bit )

 

[wonder_lander]

I assume you've seen this excellent summary?
http://www.rtings.com/tv/learn/ips-led-vs-va-lcd

(Basically it depends on what you prioritise. OLED crushes both, but you can double your budget and add a bit )

Yup seen that and certainly don’t have the budget for OLED at the moment!

 

[Edwin]

Re. Hue lightbulbs, you can get 6 GU10 spots for £79.98 from Amazon.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01L99H850/?tag=acorn06-21

(Add 3 twin packs into your basket, and it should give you the 3rd pack free. Deal expires tonight.)

If you don't fancy buying all the same bulbs, a variety of Hue products are included in the "cheapest product free" promotion: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/A1NAVFK0M7/?tag=acorn06-21

 

[Edwin]

If anyone needs a simple SSD to perk up an older laptop, Amazon have the 240GB Crucial BX300 at just £61.99 until midnight.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0742BC3DQ/?tag=acorn06-21

 

[Edwin]

Black Friday may be gone, but the deals never die...

First 5 discworld novels in paperback for just £16 delivered. Could be good as a gift if you want to introduce someone to the wonderful world of Terry Pratchett.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B076BXWSYS/?tag=acorn06-21

 

[ausername]

Made a Black Friday purchase, 50% off 12 months cloud hosted image hosting script

https://chevereto.com

Of all the things I thought I'd be buying today...

Exercised my right to a refund within 60 days after finding a serious flaw with this software (although now stuck with a domain which won't be developed).

There is no 'moderation queue'.

Obviously the point in an image sharing site is that the uploader can direct link or embed immediately, but that doesn't mean I want to stick adsense ads on the image pages immediately.... and for the images to go straight into the internal 'search' results, 'random' image thing, or the browse by category / latest / popular functions.

Clearly needs to be a function which enables the instant direct link and embed, but for a subsequent moderation process before it shows to browsers + has my ad code all over it.

.... No way I'm risking somebody uploading 100 porn photos when I'm asleep and then waking up to an Adsense warning.

Did feed it back to the developer who said it will come in the future, I'll buy if it ever materialises.... but bullet dodged for now. Could have paid somebody to custom code something but don't like throwing serious money at projects until they can at least demonstrate they can operate at break even point, and then you have the headache of not knowing whether your custom code is going to conflict with the next core update, so then you could be paying for the same thing twice.

I'd probably be perfectly happy to just build an XXX rated site to be honest and read up on adult affiliate and CPA offers etc, could possibly even make some decent money sending traffic to cam sites, but planning to reproduce in the near future and I don't want to build something semi-successful and then have a daughter and feel entirely different about the project, could defo see that happening!

 

[ausername]

ps... Excellent customer service from TMD Hosting (the hosting provider for this transaction / package), who didn't argue at all about my refund request so genuinely no quibble (often hosting firms try to throw various lines from their TOS at you). Customer service agents were native English speakers and seemed to actually be computer literate rather than whoever they could find for $10 an hour to sit in front of a computer.

If Chev do offer the functionality I require in the future I'd have no problem going with TMD again, had never previously heard of them.