Kitz Forum
Computers & Hardware => Hardware - Deals & Bargains => Topic started by: Floydoid on September 12, 2008, 02:10:12 PM
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I just thought I'd knock together a few tips for when you're looking to buy electrical/electronic goods & associated items. I think a few of the points will have been made here and there within these forums, so this is my attempt at pulling it all together. Any other tips will always be welcome.
First of all, there's a lot of info out there on the web about money saving, but it can be a bit daunting trying to make sense of it all. A good place to start for general advice is Martin Lewis's Money Saving Expert (http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/) site. It has a wealth of information on there and can take some time to get through, although there are always plenty of current deals & bargains on the forums (http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/) part of the site.
If you know the make and model number of an item you're interested in, then Price Runner (http://www.pricerunner.co.uk/) is an excellent comparison site for all manner of electrical/electronic, and other goods. Do remember that you will often pay less than the store price by reserving online to pick up in store. I know that this technique works with Curry's/PC World.
Now for media. There seem to be two lead players in this area, i.e. Amazon and Play.com and it is all too easy to head straight there for what you want, but they are not always the cheapest. Despite its name, Find-DVD (http://www.find-dvd.co.uk/) is a very useful price comparison site for all types of media - not only films & music, but also books, mobile phones & services, games, and electrical goods. On the DVD/CD front there is one site that I will especially mention as they are not included in Find-DVD's search engine, and have a habit of being one of the cheapest. I have used DVD.CO.UK (http://www.dvd.co.uk/) on many occasions and found them to be very quick and reliable (as well as cheap).
Another site worth a mention especially for memory and camera stuff is www.picstop.co.uk. And for ink cartridges etc. www.justinkandpaper.com (thanks Uncy).
Looking for mobile phone accessories? The best site I've found so far is Mobile Phone Crazy (http://www.mobilephonecrazy.com/). If they do stuff for my ancient Nokia, then you are likely to find bits and bobs for whatever mobie you possess. :)
Now as for PC stuff itself, there are two sites worthy of a mention. eBuyer (http://www.ebuyer.com/) has probably the largest range and most competitive prices. If you're not in a hurry it's worth going for the 'Super Saver' P&P option, as even though it states 'within 5 working days', I've often had items arrive quicker than that. If you spend at least £50 then Super Saver P&P is free, and their customer service is second to none. :)
The other site I will give a mention to, which has a knack of offering good deals on PC towers, complete systems & miscellaneous peripherals is Aria Technology (http://www.aria.co.uk/).
Last (but very definitely not least, given the theme of this site), if you're looking for routers, modems and related accessories, then DSL Depot (http://www.dsldepot.co.uk/index.asp?) is always a good starting point. They tend to stock discontinued lines at very reasonable prices (and good service in my experience). They are a sister site to DSL Source (http://www.dslsource.co.uk/).
Happy shopping :)
I hope this topic will be of use to you all, and I will certainly expand it when I find/remember more related stuff.
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I will second all those sites Floydy as being good,especially www.dvd.co.uk. Another site worth a mention especially for memory and camera stuff is www.picstop.co.uk. And for ink cartridges etc. www.justinkandpaper.com
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Nice one Uncy - I'm not into photography, in fact it's about 20 years since I owned a camera of any sort, so it's unknown territory for me.
(I don't have a printer either)
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I bought a 4gb Kingston flash drive from picstop about 3 weeks ago £6.99 and got a code via their newsletter for free delivery. :)
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Just to add a little 'flavour' to the topic, and an example of what you'll find on Martin Lewis's site... this week I received a *coupon for Virgin Wines (http://www.virginwines.com/dvd40) - so if you feel like stocking up for the festive season, and you're a new customer to the site you can get £40 (plus another tenner apparently) off a £100 case of wine. All you need to enter on the site is:
Code: DVD40WB
Password: WINEBANK
This is valid until 30/11/08... happy drinking. :)
*with a purchase from dvd.co.uk
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Floydy,most wine stores do a case of 12 bottles for around £50+ del
http://tinyurl.com/427992
http://tinyurl.com/49xjdk
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Ah OK... it's not the kind of stuff I buy, except the odd bottle of supermarket plonk if the family are coming over for sunday lunch... I'm more of a Boddington's drinker myself.
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Just to add my pennyworth,
If you are trying to do a price comparison and finding it difficult to find other suppliers, then it may "possibly" be end of line or outdated stock.
This certainly holds true to a certain TV shopping channel.
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I have only once glimpsed that certain shopping channel... when I was visiting Panomania & family (I don't have Sky, and so was curious)... I couldn't believe the tripe they were offering. :o
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Original post updated.
More tips always welcome. :)
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I find Google Product Search (http://www.google.co.uk/prdhp?hl=en&tab=wf) to be very useful for pricing, although the searched for prices can occasionally lag a little bit behind the store price.
As well as using MSE for bargains I also use HotUKDeals (http://www.hotukdeals.com/). I use Netvibes to monitor the RSS feeds from sites.
Although I've never ordered from them I've heard that DealExtreme (http://www.dealextreme.com/) are o.k., although being in Hong Kong delivery time can be a bit hit and miss.
Quidco (http://www.quidco.com) or Top Cashback (http://www.topcashback.co.uk) for cashback.
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Thanks for that extra info orainsear. :)
I would add to the topic that there are a few reliable places for finding products of a more 'mature' nature, but this being a forum open to all ages I won't go into details (if interested, drop me a PM).
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Just to add my pennyworth,
If you are trying to do a price comparison and finding it difficult to find other suppliers, then it may "possibly" be end of line or outdated stock.
This certainly holds true to a certain TV shopping channel.
Hmmm,whatever do you mean.I hope theyre not flogging a toshiba satellite L350-170 Phil