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Another who won't go near Amazon here. If I ever did need to, I'd be using smiles.amazon.com. But nah, don't even go looking there.
Are Amazon doing cheap deals on Teslas or BMW's - any good PCP deals... says the man still driving a 2002 Nissan as it doesn't break and carries 4 bikes and blokes and muddy kit no problem, and has clamate, sat nav, reversing cameras - oh and has hardly used it this year.
I took a look at the mesh networking. I may go Tenda but Eero doesn't do PPoE which most of the UK uses, so I'd have to use the router I already have, turn off its wifi and plug the Eero into one of the network ports. Which would mean double NATing as the Eero would DHCP an address from the router and it would then have its own DHCP system for client devices. I just didn't want to go there.
I don't do on-line grocery shopping - we've Morrisons a mile away. So far, we've been avoiding going out, essential shopping only, and have been virus free. But we don't have an on-line regular customer profile with a supermarket if we get told to isolate - only going to come from daughter or son (college and work for them). Registered for Amazon Prime with Morrisons a fair few weeks ago. Tried on-line ordering with Morrisons, filled a big basket, no deliveries at all. Tried again a few days later, nothing. Invite came through yesterday, from Amazon/morrisons. Did a shop last night, had a delivery 10am this morning. They notified me a shoper was picking our basket, and would say if substitutions were OK - we'd said OK. Then delivery on way. It arrived in a car bagged up in paper bags within 15 minutes.
It was excellent. I'll still shop locally, but if we get ill, I now have a way of getting food delivered promptly.
Because this is the internet where nuance isn’t a thing…. I’m not saying never shop at amazon or you are a bastard, I just think it should generally be avoided, and I think some of the justifications for using it so much are a bit spurious. I think looking for things to buy on the basis of ‘bargains’ is particularly pernicious, and yes, I’ve been there.
Well said
Shops paid crap wages long before amazon came along,
Erm yes. But when there were multiple shops there were also multiple shop keepers. Now there is effectively 1 immensely stupendously ridiculously rich shop keeper and hundreds of thousands of serfs/ drones working for him.
Don’t forget all this delivery is keeping people in jobs –
That's such a fragile arguement. I'm sure you see the flaws in it.
So if I buy my my toys from a uk local shop but manufactured by a sweatshop that’s okay. The balls on some of you.
I took a look at the mesh networking. I may go Tenda but Eero doesn’t do PPoE which most of the UK uses, so I’d have to use the router I already have, turn off its wifi and plug the Eero into one of the network ports. Which would mean double NATing as the Eero would DHCP an address from the router and it would then have its own DHCP system for client devices. I just didn’t want to go there.
Is this a joke post or not? I genuinely can't tell.
Anyway, I've ordered a bottle of Quarter Cask, cheers.
They don't sell it at my local Booze Bargains, unfortunately.
Err.. no. Discussions a few hours ago were about buying networking mesh kit on prime day...
Unless I got something wrong, in which case please update me, I like to learn from my misteaks.
So if I buy my my toys from a uk local shop but manufactured by a sweatshop that’s okay.
Your straw man is very straw-y.
Unless I got something wrong
Pretty much my interpretation also TBH. I'm likely to be going with Virgin so the whole PPPoE thing is an irrelevance, I'll just stick it in modem mode and forget about it. I had assumed that this is how they all worked, piggy-backed off the existing router with Wi-Fi knobbled, I was surprised today that this isn't always the case.
The dual-NAT thing I was less sure of, whether it was likely to be a problem or whether it Just Worked and I was over-thinking it.
The Eepo stuff appealed because it's near-half price for the next 24 hours, I could potentially get a 3-pack for like £150, deploy two units and sell the third for nearly £100. But it sounds like whilst it's a mature product in the US it's not quite ready for the UK market yet. I'm eyeing this up for a new house, I think I'd be more confident if I'd actually moved and could test / return it.
Someone on the internet said I can't buy something on the internet.
[sad face]
Not trying to refute it. Just pointing out the irony. Isolationism and nationalism is okay if it’s to support the brick and mortar retail sector. Now that your local shop has disappeared you suddenly realise that you live in a global unscrupulous economy.
You can turn this around to, what have physical shops and councils tried to do to retain your business?
Did trading hours increase or adapt significantly? No. Did parking charges decrease? No. Online presence? Only some. Public transport during weekends? Reduced. More relaxed returns/ product complaints? No. Did product variety or specialisation increase? No.
I don’t even buy that much, but going to physical stores in this country is something that 8/10 times I dread doing.
Isolationism and nationalism is okay if it’s to support the brick and mortar retail sector.
Um.... no. It's nothing to do with isolationism or nationalism.
I don’t even buy that much, but going to physical stores in this country is something that 8/10 times I dread doing.
Well many of the local independent shops round here deliver, some for free - easy to get great meat and fish, local milk and eggs that way, probably other stuff too.
Sunday opening in most shops now.
Most Northumberland towns have free parking.
Public transport is shit.
Local shops are happier than places like sports direct to swap an item.
Product variety is driving by local demand.
I don’t mind shopping local hate going to shopping centres
The absolute best deal is the free tenner for topping up a £100 gift card (provided you have a oner to spare of course!) that you can spend at your leisure on something you actually do need
Well if you have young kids...
I bought a where’s spidey book, play doh ice cream maker thing and hasbro operation for under £30 which I thought was pretty good
The play 8 is a pretty good deal, we have one in the lounge showing our photos and it’s looked at all the time by the boys, I have the smaller 5 on my office desk. Shame they aren’t any deals on the bigger echos, as I want to replace my flaky mk1 which seems to drop connection regularly and need rebooting or it won’t work (not an issue with the dots and shows)
The echo studio is on a deal at the moment
A couple of things I find interesting at first look
20K Anker PowerCore power-bank for £20?
Bought one ages ago for £35. Makes unsupported camping weekends easy. Charges phone about 5 times IIRC, powers my USB bike spot-light (which doubles as a camping light, there was a diffusing globe with it)
Talking of lights - Ravemen PR1200 is down to £70
Brilliant commuting/gravel light, has a remote and functions also as a powerbank. I have the PR900 and can’t shut up about them
20% off everything in the Warehouse. Often worth a rummage in the Amazon jumble sale...
FFS, I finally got my Fire HD that I got free in a promotion from ATS tyres with the intention of instantly flipping it on ebay, and the same day, the price drops by 50%! WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME OH LORD
Hmm... i said to myself don’t buy anything, but my bro and his gf have just moved into their new house tday and they both love the espresso/ decent coffee my sage duo with smart pro grinder can make but I’m not sure they would get the most use out of it, A few years ago I gave my bro My old kitchenaid espresso and grinder but he hardly used it as that machine was a faff to use and temperamental in espresso quality. I’ve spotted the Sage nespresso creatista plus in their sale. , if it’s a present for someone does that break my no buying rule?..........grey area I think.
I’ll see what the online reviews say first, at least I’d get decent enough coffee when I pop in.
zilog6128
Full MemberThe absolute best deal is the free tenner for topping up a £100 gift card (provided you have a oner to spare of course!) that you can spend at your leisure on something you actually do need
Not quite sure I'm understanding this, is this for if you've already got a £100 gift card and you top up the balance?
Err.. no. Discussions a few hours ago were about buying networking mesh kit on prime day…
Sorry, wasn't taking the piss. Just seemed funny that it was total nonsense to me.
Warehouse 20% off is a fairly limited selection, not everything
The top up offer is if you buy a £100 top up they give you £110
Ah, sorry, I'd seen it reported as all Warehouse but didn't test it.
Topup offer seems to have expired
It was excellent. I’ll still shop locally, but if we get ill, I now have a way of getting food delivered promptly.
Our local shops started doing deliveries, pretty sure they still are. Better meat and veg than Morrisons but you'll pay for it, I don't mind but appreciate not everyone can.
Anyway, I bought a Drayton Wiser heating system on BF last year that I never got round to fitting, was saying about doing it this weekend and just got an email from Drayton saying the extra valves are 30% off from Screwfix when you buy 5 or more, we'll timed! The kits are on Prime sale as well so that's where to go for the rest.
Drayton Wiser heating system
It's an excellent system... Get it installed!!
I took a look at the mesh networking. I may go Tenda but Eero doesn’t do PPoE which most of the UK uses, so I’d have to use the router I already have, turn off its wifi and plug the Eero into one of the network ports. Which would mean double NATing as the Eero would DHCP an address from the router and it would then have its own DHCP system for client devices. I just didn’t want to go there.
Going dangerously off topic, but on reading that I thought "Wow, Eero kit is obviously a big hunk of poo if it doesn't have a bridge mode to avoid double NATing, as this would be the obvious solution to someone who sounds that clued up". Turns out Eero does have a bridge mode.
@squirrelking @cp slight threadjack 😃 I bought a Nest smart thermostat a couple of weeks ago (on an Amazon deal!) as that's I have at work (essentially just 1 big room). Not actually opened the box yet though!! Don't think they do multi-zone heating. Recently moved house into a chalet bungalow, the upstairs bedroom is significantly colder but there's only one heating circuit... can we install one of these Drayton Wiser things and bung a smart valve on every rad and then control the temp in each room (effectively)? Possible to self-install or have to get a pro in?
Northwind
FFS, I finally got my Fire HD that I got free in a promotion from ATS tyres with the intention of instantly flipping it on ebay, and the same day, the price drops by 50%! WHY HAST THOU FORSAKEN ME OH LORD
If it makes you feel better I bought a Kindle Paperwhite and and Echo dot for my mum about 10 days ago for when she came out of hospital. Both were purchased at full price. If I bought them today I would have saved myself about £50. Not. Bitter. At. All :-/
@bentandbroken order both now at the cheap price, initiate a return of the expensive ones, and just send back the new ones?
Drayton Wiser looks excellent, especially as it's a direct swap for the existing controller. Much better idea than the Google Nest.
@cp - is it as easy to fit as it looks?
can we install one of these Drayton Wiser things and bung a smart valve on every rad and then control the temp in each room (effectively)? Possible to self-install or have to get a pro in?
Yes that's exactly what I've done - every room has it's own timing and heat settings. It's great.
Install complexity depends on your existing set up. The main control unit needs mains power and the switching cable to your boiler (normally what your single wall thermostat is connected to).
The rad valves themselves are very very easy to fit assuming you've already got TRVs installed. Just unscrew each TRV head and screw the new Drayton one on.
can we install one of these Drayton Wiser things and bung a smart valve on every rad and then control the temp in each room (effectively)? Possible to self-install or have to get a pro in?
I'm interested in this - I'm guessing I'd need to replace the current "controller" which runs from a single radio thermostat such that it talks with the various smart valves, without that I'll have to effectively run the boiler 24/7 so there is on demand heating for the valves to control or all that will happen is they will be create the illusion of additional control whilst effectively doing little more than the current dumb ones as the boiler will dictate if there's any heating available anyway.
Ah sort of answered already - so the control unit isn't "just" a proprietary zigbee hub then?
Tado also works this way (replace thermostat and radiator valves) to give room by room control. And their kit is also on Prime Day deals at the mo. I'm a big fan of their stuff.
The rad valves speak to the controller which then starts up the boiler, if the other valves don't want heat then they stay run shut. So yes, your boiler may run a bit more often but will only heat what it needs to. The master controller can sit in your main room and control all the rads there, that's pretty much what we plan anyway.
Installation is simple enough once you make sense of the wiring, if you have an existing wired controller I believe it's a simple case of removing the old one from the wiring box and replacing with the new one.
Glad to hear good feedback though.
just had a quick Google and apparently Tado is cloud-based only (for smart functions)? Insane if true, definitely a deal breaker!
Only real negative I've read for the Drayton is that the valves are apparently quite loud? Think I will go with it anyway, way cheaper (on this deal) than the Nest I've just bought (that's going back 😂) and more functional with the zoned heating!
Only real negative I’ve read for the Drayton is that the valves are apparently quite loud? Think I will go with it anyway, way cheaper (on this deal) than the Nest I’ve just bought (that’s going back 😂) and more functional with the zoned heating!
You can certainly hear the valves when they operate, but it's only a second or two and they're not doing all the time - only when they turn on and then to turn off when up to temp. They actually tend to 'nudge' closed as they approach temperature so you don't really hear them.
That Drayton stuff looks interesting - can you also set times for on and off or temperature for different rooms with the smart valves? So that in a room at 9pm the temp in that room will go from say 20 to 15 degrees?
I’ll just stick it in modem mode and forget about it
Be careful of that... I stuck mine in modem mode with my Lynskys mesh, and it simply wouldn't work... I can't remember why..
In the end i had to turn it all back on again, then simply disable the virgin WIFI..
Clunky, but putting it in router mode stopped teh internetzzz coming out the cables it seemed...
DrP
just had a quick Google and apparently Tado is cloud-based only (for smart functions)? Insane if true, definitely a deal breaker!
Drayton bang on about controlling your heating from anywhere in the would which would suggest theirs is cloud based too?
looks like there's a cloud option for remote control when away from home but it's in addition to local control via your home network. Cloud-only is a terrible idea IMO for several reasons, the obvious being if you lose internet for whatever reason then it doesn't work, but also if Tado go bust then their servers will turn off so you'll be left with a very expensive dumb heating system! They could also decide to start charging you for the service at some point rather than keeping it free.Drayton bang on about controlling your heating from anywhere in the would which would suggest theirs is cloud based too?
My TV went kaput 3 weeks ago after 7 years use and with the missus over 8 months pregnant and stuck at home it wasn't an option holding out to get a deal on prime day. Of course the TV I bought is £120 cheaper today.....
I've bought cat food (£6 a box cheaper than I pay locally,) so they leave me alone whilst I drown my sorrows with my £20 Woodford Reserve.
Living the dream
You can certainly control the wired thermostat locally. Worst case if Tado go bust I won't be able to change my schedule, but the existing schedule will still work, considering I haven't changed the heating schedule, I'm not too concerned
That Drayton stuff looks interesting – can you also set times for on and off or temperature for different rooms with the smart valves? So that in a room at 9pm the temp in that room will go from say 20 to 15 degrees?
Yes, that's exactly what you can do
Drayton bang on about controlling your heating from anywhere in the would which would suggest theirs is cloud based too?
You can have remote access to it, but when you're at home connected to the same WiFi router as the hub, all control is done locally over your WiFi network.
Just bought a bottle of Aberlour 12 year old single malt for £30 - I live 6 miles away from the distillery and couldn't buy it for that price.
"Aberlour 12 year old single malt for £30"
It's been £30 in Morrisons for weeks & often £28 when on special at Asda
It was also £29 on Amazon only a couple of days ago & £25 this time last month, most of these “Prime day” deals really are nothing special!!