Harnex

How to Buy Apple Products without Breaking the Bank

Matt — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 08:32:16 +0000

If like me, you think Apple (the computer gaint) products are expensive and over price but you still want one, be it Apple Mac, iPod, iPad, iPhone, there are still ways of getting it cheaper. One of the ways is, getting it second hand on eBay, or in the classifeds. I don’t like second hands when it comes to these gadgets so I always have to touch it out and buy a similar product at a lower cost or save up enough to make the purchase.

However, late last year, I was thinking of buying my first Digital SRL camera and the prices were astromical, well for me anyway. Upon some research, I realised that there are manufacturer’s refurbished out there which doesn’t cost as much as the a new one but does have a year’s warranty and comes in a new casing, and new accessories. That’s all that I needed and i’m now sold on the idea of going for most things refurbs instead of going for a new one which cost a lot more than I can afford.

With this idea in mind, I did some searches on some of the products/gadgets on my wishlist and I realised that most companies do sell refurb items but one has to dig deep to find them. This is how I came by Apple Store’s refurbished section and there is always a deal to be had at any given day but if you’re looking for a particular item, it means having to search nearly every couple of hours or so just so you don’t miss out if your product is listed for sale. With Apple, apart from the fact that the refurb items come in a plain boxes, the gadgets are as good as new

To stop yourself from looking obsessed with the Apple Store’s refurbished page, or if you’re not allowed to browse external sites on your computer’s at work, it would be a good idea to have some kind of alerts so you’re notified when a new refurb item is listed so you don’t miss out. This is where this handy Refurb Tracker comes in. The Tracker creates RSS feeds for Apple Store Refurb pages so soon as an item is listed you’re are notified.

What do you have to do? Not much, go to the Tracker Page, set your parameters, submit and you’re good to go. Mainly, choose your country, then choose the kind of feed you want. You’re are provided with three choices; ‘The Big Picture’, ‘All history of new products apparitions’, and ”Only Products Available”. When a product is listed, you’ll be notified.

All with all things, terms and conditions apply so do read them!

Get Paid for Doing Your Normal Shopping Online

Matt — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 10:20:16 +0000

A lot of these cashback sites have emerged in recent years, but I wasn’t taken to them until just before last Christmas when I decided to use them to buy the presents. Thing is, I was getting the presents online anyway, so I thought it wouldn’t hurt if I buy them through a cashback site and see how much I get back in the end.

I did a google search for reviews on these sites and asked around as well and the two sites that kept cropping up with excellent reviews were TopCashBack and Quidco. There were others, but these are the two UK sites I chose to put to the test and in the last couple of days, I logged in the accounts I created and so far, I’m due to be paid over a £100 for using them to shop for Christmas presents, happy days!

How do they work?

Well, basically you register with them by creating a free account online and when you’re making a purchase online, be it non-tangible items like insurance, a service etc or a tangible items you log in your accounts, find the service provider or retailer using the search box and Click through from Quidco or TopCashBack to the retailer and buy online as normal. This is all that is required of you and the rest is left with the cashback site and retailer to sort things out and pay you for your effort.

As with all things, terms and conditions apply so please read the site’s terms and conditions if you decide to use them so you know what to do if something goes wrong. What would go wrong you might wonder. Well, sometimes a transaction might not be tracked and if this happens, there a chance you won’t get paid but if you submit a claim within 30 or 45 days of the transaction, there’s a good chance you’ll get your cashback.

Why not stick to a single cashback site?

During my research prior to my sign up, I noticed, the cashback paid for each retailer varied from between the two I used so, in order to maximise what I get back, I use whoever is giving me more. The idea of using these sites is to get a cashback for doing my shopping so why not get the maximum payable cashback available.

If you haven’t used these sites before and would like to try them out, here are the links TopCashBack, and Quidco. And remember even if you’re getting Pizza, getting a mobile phone, booking a flight, or signing up to a television subscription, you can use them. The only thing is remembering to use them, because it takes a bit of time to get used to the idea. I have missed a few opportunities by buying direct from the retailer because I forgot to go through the cashback site.

Happy shopping!

Get Xbox Live Gold for £1 and 2100 Microsoft Points With O2 Home Broadband…

Matt — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 17:35:55 +0000

What does this offer entails? Well as you might be aware, Xbox Live Gold membership opens the “door” to a lot of apps through your Xbox Console if its connected to the internet. Normally Xbox Live annual subscription costs around £35 but since this month seem like an endless deals doing the rounds by most retailers, manafacturers, and service providers, Microsoft and O2 have joined in and are offering this fantastic deal if you fancy signing up to O2 Home Broadband contract for 12 Months.

O2 currently have two packages for this deal – The All Rounder, and The works. The latter cost £21 a month if you already have an O2 mobile and £24 a month if you don’t. The former however is a bit cheaper, £12.50 with if you have O2 Mobile and £17.50 a month if you don’t. There is even further discount available if you’ve been a customer of O2 for more than 2 years.

The deal:

Microsoft has teamed up with O2 to bring you this amazing offer: get an entire year of Xbox LIVE Gold membership for just £1 and they’ll also give you 2100 Microsoft Points. All you have to do is sign up to O2 Home Broadband on The All Rounder or The Works package for 12 months.

With all deals terms and conditions apply so do read them carefully. Check out the deal details here and there’s a free number to ring if you’re tempted and quote ‘XBOX’.

XBox LIVE has currently signed with a number of service providers like blinkbox, 4OD, Netflix, LOVEFiLM, Demand 5, Dailymotion, and YouTube among others so getting the LIVE Gold subscription opens up a whole new world of entertainment. Some of these on demand services do charge a subscription fee though, so do check it out.

Get 4 Free Audiobooks from The Guardian This Week

Matt — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 07:59:16 +0000

From today 30th of Jan., 2012 to 3rd Feb. 2012, The Guardian is giving out a free self-help Audiobook each day via download. Last year, during the book season, they gave out some fantastic books and this time round, it looks like these are going to be another great listening set of audiobooks.
They have provided the list of Audiobooks and what day they will be available which I have reproduced below. I will add the links to the audiobooks once they are made available each day so you can get straight to it.
The author, Oliver Berkanmen (HELP!: How to Become Slightly Happier and Get a Bit More Done), has written his views about the books on the main Guardian offer page and if you would like to read what he thinks about these audiobooks, here’s a link to the page.

How To Get It

The download link loads up a page where you fill in your details i.e. Name, Email Address, and Country. Hiting the submit button will send you to another page where you’re provided with a code to be used to get the Audiobook free from AudioGo. Eat Pray Love is currently £19.99 normally.
On Monday, as the image up there shows, you get – Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Tuesday: Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig

Wednesday: Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder

Thursday: The Power of Positive Thinking by Norman Vincent Peale

So, there you are, you can get yours today if you go directly to the Guardian offer page. Here’s the link Audiobook Downloads

Enjoy!

12 Days of Kindle

Matt — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 10:09:46 +0000

The year has seen many new gadgets popping up here and there and whereas some have been a great hit with the public, some were not so much of a hit. The Amazon Kindle is definitely one of the gadgets that received positive reviews from those who got it the first time. This encouraged Amazon further and at the moment, there has been different versions of the Kindle from the Wi-Fi enabled to the keyboard intergrated Kindle. In fact according to Amazon, the Kindle happened to be one of the sought after gadgets for Christmas this year, due to the number they were shifting in the run up to Christmas.

For that reason, Amazon is being generous this boxing day to introduce ’12 Days of Kindle’ for those who have got their Kindle unwrapped and those that have them already to buy Kindle eBooks at very low prices from the 26th Dec. 2011 to the 6th of Jan., 2012. The prices are starting from £0.99 and there will be hundreds of eBooks each day of the sale (Terms and Conditions Apply).

There are currently some brilliant free eBooks on Amazon as well including many classics and some self help ones. This list is contantly updating so if you keep an eye on it you might find just what you want for free. There are always a 100 eBooks on that list at any particular time.

Here’s a link to the Deals Page

Happy shopping!

Get Xbox 360 250GB Console – Matte Black Finish for £149.99

Matt — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:30:33 +0000

The price of the Xbox 360, with 250GB hard drive has dropped significantly in the run up to Christmas but not like I’ve come across on

.The outlet shop is currently doing a deal on the Matte Black Finish for £149.99 and this is one of the top ranges and its the latest in the Xbox 360 Consoles. They are also sure they can get it out to you by Christmas so this would be a great last minute present if you can afford it. This is like 25% off the Recommended Retail Price, so not bad at all.

The Xbox 360 250GB Console – Matte Black Finish

The new Xbox 360®. Here today, ready for tomorrow with a brand new, leaner look and an all new black gloss finish. Wi-Fi is built-in for easier connection to the world of entertainment on Xbox LIVE, where HD movies and TV stream in an instant. It’s ready for the controller-free experiences of Kinect—you don’t just play the game, you are the game. With the huge hard drive you’ll have plenty of space to store your favorite games and movies. Xbox 360 is more games, entertainment. and fun. You can even stream latest films via LOVEFiLM to your Television. ( Subscription required, Free 30 day Trial Available).

Features:

Xbox 360 S console: The new console is sleeker and quieter than current Xbox 360 consoles, with a stylish design that will be the centerpiece of your home entertainment system.

Xbox 360 250GB Hard Drive: The internal 250GB hard drive allows you to save your games and store television shows, movies, music, pictures, trailers, levels, demos, and other content available from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.

Built in Wi-Fi: The new Xbox 360 is the only console with 802.11n Wi-Fi built in for a faster and easier connection to Xbox LIVE. Download or stream HD movies, TV episodes, and games from Xbox LIVE Marketplace in 1080p and 5.1 surround sound from anywhere in the house. Compatible with b/g/n networks.

Kinect ready: Coming this holiday, Kinect will make YOU the controller. With a dedicated, specialized port, the Xbox 360 250GB is built to connect seamlessly with the Kinect sensor— and have you up off the couch and into the world of Kinect in no time.

Xbox 360 Wireless Controller: This award-winning, high-performance wireless controller features the Xbox Guide Button for quick, in-game access to friends and music. It has a range of up to 30 feet and a battery life of 30 hours on two AA batteries.

Xbox 360 Headset: Strategize or trade taunts while playing games, and chat with your friends on Xbox LIVE.

Xbox 360 Composite A/V cable: Use your Xbox 360 on standard-definition televisions using this connection over traditional composite connectors. Play high-quality audio with the included stereo connector.
Xbox LIVE: Xbox LIVE brings a whole world of entertainment possibility right to your Xbox 360. Play with friends online, and watch streaming movies and TV from Zune, LOVEFiLM, and Netflix, all in crystal-clear HD. You’ll find loads of your favorite music from Last.fm and the ability to connect with friends on Facebook and Twitter right on the best screen in the house.

Check out the deal here

There are other deals on the deals page such as different accessories for the other consoles and games. There is the EA Sports Active 2 for Wii currently selling for £9.99 with free shipping. This item is located at the bottom of the page on this deals’ page.

Happy Shopping!

Apple iTunes 12 Days of Christmas Free Gifts and SoundHound App

Matt — Sat, 17 Dec 2011 10:11:07 +0000

In 2010, Apple made available some really cool Apps for free in iTunes during their 12 Days of Christmas giveaway and this year its back again and its bigger, better, and fantastic. Here’s why ..this year, from 26 December to 6 January, everyone with a PC, laptop, iPhone, iPod, iPad can download a fantastic selection of songs, music videos, apps, books and TV episodes for free. So there’s something in this for everyone with access to iTunes.

Albeit this is a free offer, a little condition apply and and it’s that, each download will be available for free for 24 hours only. If you miss this window, that’s it. You’ll have to get the next day’s.

Apple is making it easier for those on the go via a special 12 Days of Christmas app to make it even easier to access the free gifts on iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. The 12 Days of Christmas app is free on iTunes to download. As stated earlier, the gifts will also be available to download from a computer. Check the iTunes Store every day from 26 December.

Today’s Free Gift

To get everyone started with this Christmas treat here’s a free download from Apple today. From now until 20 December, you can get the SoundHound Infinity app for your iPhone, iPad or iPod touch for free. SoundHound is a music recognition app which names tunes playing from a speaker. This App is known to identify tunes in record time, in as little as 4 seconds. In fact the makers describe it better here because it has a lot more features than just recognising music in record time.

Seeing as its the shopping season how about some money saving app while out shopping. Here’s Redlaser Barcode Scanner which is also free at the moment from iTunes. When you find a item on your shopping trip, you might save some money by scanning the barcode and compare prices online to see if you can get a better deal elsewhere. Some stores do price match nowadays so if you happen to be in a shop like that, speak to the duty manager and you’ll get yourself a deal.

Happy shopping!

Watch Latest Films on XBox 360 Via LOVEFiLM Instant App

Matt — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 11:04:39 +0000

LOVEFiLM is an Amazon movie and video games rental/subscription service that has been delivering DVDs, Blu-rays, and Video games straight to the homes of its 1.7 million plus members via post, or streaming through their computers for those with high speed internet connection. Members who get their films via post can keep the films as long they want with no late payment fees and no postage costs when returning the rented film or game. Currently LOVEFiLM have over 70,000 titles on DVDs, Blu-rays, and Online. Thats’s a lot in my opinion.
Until now, if you wanted to rent a film and watch it instantly, it had to be on your PC, Laptop, or Mac with a screen that was tiny as compared to the size of a Television screen in most homes these days. With the availability of the LOVEFiLM Instant App now on the XBox 360, you can stream your films on a much larger screen

What’s New?

In Oct. 2011, Microsoft announced a great number of world TV and film services to be included on the Xbox 360 dashboard later this year and some of these services include the BBC, Channel 5, Channel 4, Blinkbox, Vevo, YouTube, Daily Motion, and LoveFilm. The time is here and from now on, owners of XBox 360 who subscribe to LOVEFiLM will be able to stream thousands of titles from the service’s library. Any LoveFilm subscriber with a membership costing £5.99 or more will get Xbox support at no extra cost (Xbox Live Gold membership required).

New Subscribers Benefits

For those who are not yet subscribers of LOVEFiLM and with Christmas approaching, this time would be best to consider how you’re going to fill your days at home when the parties are over, or perhaps you’ve got visitors and would like to treat them to some of the latest films available. This could be an opportunity to check out what LOVEFiLM has to offer.
LOVEFiLM gives you:
* Britain’s largest range of films and games – 70,000 titles and counting
* FREE first class post for DVD, Blu-ray & Games rental
* Thousands of films to watch instantly to your PC, Smart TV, PS3™, iPad® and now Xbox 360® at no extra cost
* No long term contracts – cancel anytime

Films

Subscribers will now be able to watch instantly with LOVEFiLM thousands of titles instantly, via the app, such films as, Red, Happy Feet, Splice, The Losers, Twilight: Eclipse and The Ghost.

There are some exclusive content coming up and they include Unknown, starring Liam Neeson, and thriller Source Code, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, plus many more great films like The Hangover, The Dark Knight and lots of films for kids this Christmas.

The Xbox service comes at no extra cost to LOVEFiLM subscribers. If you sign up for a normal FREE trial and you will get your usual range of 70,000 titles on DVD, Blu-ray and games, as well as access to watch online via your Xbox 360 (or your iPad, PS3, laptop etc). There is currently a deal you can get via Amazon, which gives you 30-day FREE trial and a £15 Amazon Voucher for taking this offer. Use this link to check out the details, but basically, you still keep your £15 voucher even if you cancel your subscription before the trial period ends.

Kinect Sensor

With Kinect for Xbox 360, users have the ability to effortlessly control the LOVEFiLM Player App through motion, gestures and voice commands. This interactivity will revolutionise the way film fans manage their movie selection and engage with LOVEFiLM. Another reason to lazy about this Christmas, no need to reach for the remote.

Enjoy!

Get a Free Forza 4 or Xbox LIVE 12-Month Gold Membership with Xbox 360 250GB Console – Matte Black Finish

Matt — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 13:59:33 +0000

Microsoft announced in October, 2011 that a number world TV and films services would be made available on the Xbox 360 dashboard later this year. Well the time is here and today the 6th of Dec. 2011, the new XBOX LIVE experience is live. If you’re wondering what Television and Films services that will be make available, here’s list of some of them. they include but not limited to YouTube, Channel 4, Channel 5, LoveFilm, Blinkbox, the BBC, Vevo, Crackle, and Daily Motion in the UK.

For those who have been using PlayStation 3, a number of these providers have already been available to you including the BBC, and LoveFilm among others, but the XBOX version promises to be bigger and better because it actually has a potential to be a viable alternative for a Cable or Satellite Television service. To receive this fantastic services however requires an Xbox LIVE Gold subscription, which costs around £32 per year depending on where you get it from. ie from Microsoft, from eBay, or Amazon or any shopping outlet of your choice.

The XBox 360 Console

In the run up to Christmas, Amazon is running a lot of deals and one of them happens to be the Xbox 360 Console with a host of freebies and one of them is a free XBox LIVE 12-month gold membership when you purchase one of the following consoles the Xbox 360 250GB Console – Matte Black Finish for £184.50, the Xbox 360 4GB Console with Kinect Sensor: Includes Kinect Adventures for £224.99, and the Xbox 360 250GB Console with Kinect Sensor: Includes Kinect Adventures for £269.99. If you plan on chilling out at home this Christmas, a service like this will go a long way to help while away the time.

The Freebies

Free Forza 4: You can add Forza 4 for free. The full price of the game will be deducted from your order total at checkout.
Free Xbox LIVE 12-Month Gold Membership: Add Xbox LIVE 12-Month Gold Membership for free. The full price of the membership will be deducted from your order at checkout.
£15 game: You can also add one of selected games for £15. Add one of the games, sold by Amazon.co.uk, to your order by ticking the box to the left of the game. The price of the game will be reduced from your order total at checkout. Details here

The Services

Blinkbox- from Tesco, will make available to XBox LIVE around 10,000 of its library of pay-as-you-go film and TV show rentals to Xbox Live Gold members.

LoveFilm.com- from Amazon, will enable its over 1.7 million subscribers to stream over 70,000 of titles from the service’s library. LoveFilm subscription starts around £5.99 a month. Subscrbers will get an Xbox support at no extra cost, but will have to be an Xbox Live Gold member. There’s always a free trial with this service so if you’re not sure, you can always for the free 14-day trial first.

The BBC will make all its contents available on the XBox owners in the UK but yet to come out with how to do this will pan out because of license fee and Xbox Live Gold membership issue. Will be too expensive and unfair in my opinion if one has to pay both charges for this service.

Channel 4 will be available via its 30-day 4oD catch-up service. 4oD enables viewers to watch shows from the previous month’s broadcasts, on-demand. It will also offer archived content from it’s back catalogue.

Extras

Kinect Sensor support is included with the XBox 360 if you have one. This is the sensor that allows users to browse and search films and TV without the use of a remote. The Kinect sensor utilizes revolutionary full-body tracking. The sensor recognizes your body and mirror your movements. This allows you to use your body movements as the controller.

Now there’s a very reason to stay at home this Christmas and chill with the family!

Overall Rating:

Total Customer Reviews: (92)

List Price: £204.25

Sale Price: £149.95

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250GB HD: more storage for games, movies and music
Super quiet with sleek new design plus matching controller and headset
Ready for the controller-free fun of Kinect

Win a Kindle Keyboard 3G with Audible Digital Audiobooks

Matt — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 08:13:11 +0000

Christmas is nearly here many people would still be wondering what to get for a family member, a loved one or friends. With family finance ever so tight and many cutting down on their purchases this year, it is no wonder companies are luring prospective customers with various offers to get them through their doors or entice them to make a purchase.

The Amazon Kindle Keyboard has been hailed as one of the best eReaders around and would make a perfect pressie year so it all in the spirit of Christmas that audible.co.uk an Audiobooks subscription service, is giving away 12 Kindle Keyboard 3G devices, one each day for the first 12 days of December! If you started shopping early for your Christmas presents and you’ve bought everyone you know a present, why not treat yourself to an early Christmas present or there is still that someone you’re still not sure what to get them, that would be a perfect gift.

How To Enter the Draw

To enter our amazing prize draw, simply buy an audiobook in any of these ways:
1. Purchase an audiobook using a credit 2. Purchase an audiobook using cash, or 3. Join Audible and purchase an audiobook using your credit.

To view details of this promo, visit the page on Audible here audible.co.uk

The Kindle Keyboard 3G

The Kindle Keyboard 3G currently selling at £149.00 on Amazon is top of the range eReader and it boasts of high-contrast E Ink display that delivers clear, crisp text and images. The Kindle is also very light and at only 247 grams and 8.5 mm thin, Kindle Keyboard is lighter than a paperback and thinner than a magazine but also holds up to 3500 books.
The Kindle Keyboard 3G is also comes with a Free 3G wireless with no contract so ebooks can be downloaded anywhere there is a 3G wireless service. That’s not all though, in addition, it has built-in Wi-Fi support so you can connect to Wi-Fi hotspots even at home or on the road. What’s not to like?
Amazon in fact describes it better on the Kindle Keyboard 3G here.

If you would rather buy the Kindle Keyboard 3G, instead of taking your chances with this offer, it is also available now on Amazon.

Overall Rating:

Total Customer Reviews: (10,595)

List Price: £149.00

Sale Price: £149.00

Availability: Usually dispatched within 24 hours

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