Bargains - not CDs!

[Dave2002]

Today (29th Jan) Amazon has Adobe Photoshop Elements 14 and Premiere elements 14 for £39.99. This is good value if you want/need these programs. i got them cheaper than that for £5 less on last year's Black Friday deal. I might buy again to get another set of licenses.

I assume the deal is not just personalised to me, so others might benefit.

However I'd really like to know if this software with work with earlier versions of Mac OS X, such as Mountain Lion (10.8) or even Snow Leopard (10.6.8). It is shown as 'needing' 10.9 or 10.10, though it will work with El Capitan -10.11 which came out after the Adobe software was released. Some users have reported problems with EC, but the programs seem to work with the latest updates to EC.

I am currently trying to upgrade one of my Macs to a more recent OS in order to maximise compatibility with these Adobe products, and I rather wish I didn't need to try this!

Anyway, the deal is out there for about another 15 or so hours.

[Dave2002]

A deal I've taken advantage of recently is this one - https://www.audiovisualonline.co.uk/...speaker-cable/ for Hollywood Twist loudspeaker cable at £1.99 per metre. I am trying to make up my mind whether loudspeaker cables really make any difference. It's only cost about £25 or so for me to put this to the test.

I used to be sceptical about interconnects, but they definitely can make a difference. It doesn't follow that the most expensive ones will give the best results, but very cheap ones will quite likely be poor.

I am still pretty sceptical about loudspeaker cables, and I noticed that at least one cable supplier is offering "burnt in" cables - probably at different price levels depending on the degree of burn. Surely there must be premium cables burnt in by virgins which command a further £50 per metre.

However, so far I've not noticed things getting any worse with this speaker cable, and it may in fact be better. I'll have to test it out further for at least a week I think, and then maybe, if I don't like it, I can sell it on for £10+ more per metre than I bought it for as a burnt in product.

[Bryn]

Any fancy bidding for a 1979 Bosendorfer 290 Imperial?

[ahinton]

Any fancy bidding for a 1979 Bosendorfer 290 Imperial?

Oh, I'd fancy doing so all right! Something nevertheless seems to be holding me back. In the blurb, however, I wonder if they really did mean Nicolas Slonimsky and not Sergei Slonimsky...

If it came up, I wouldn't mind the 290 that was used by John Ogdon for recrding just days after it had been played by Oscar Peterson in concert either...

[Dave2002]

Now that the US Thanksgiving period is upon us, and the so-called Black Friday sales are starting to kick in, has anyone noticed any really good bargains so far?

The only one I've noted is the Amazon Fire 7 - discussed elsewhere - which may be, or may not be, a bargain depending on one's expectations and intended use.
Last year I picked up a copy of Adobe Premiere and Photoshop Elements bundled at a good price, but I've not checked this year.

Is anyone looking out for specific things in the hope that the prices will dip today or tomorrow? I think Apple is having a one day blitz tomorrow - but I've no idea what kind of stuff will be available, or worth looking for.

[Dave2002]

A few more suggestions for the Black Day events

Chromecast - for anyone who hasn't got one, or a similar device already Target price about £18. Try Tescos, Currys.

Chromecast Audio - £15 Currys - could be worth this one - with free delivery. This has an optical out for feeding to a DAC.

Now TV - various packages. Often bundled with with time limited (but watch for the auto renewal ... !!!) Sky packages - target prices £14-£25 depending on the package offered. Currys, Tescos, Amazon?

Printers - look around. Noticed one Epson All in One for under £30 - though reviews a bit variable.

[Dave2002]

I have found very little more of interest. Now if (say) that new Mozart box were to be reduced very substantially .....

There is a deal on a combined package of Adobe Elements 15 and Premiere Elements 15 PC/Mac, for around £50, which is good if you happen to want either of those software packages. Since I bought a similar package (Version 14) last year, I probably don't need another for this year. Also, I had to "upgrade" my Apple systems to get that version to run, which took quite a while, so the latest version might cause similar issues one year on.

For anyone interested - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adobe-Photo...op+elements+15

This article suggests that perhaps enthusiasm for such sales in the UK is waning, though there is still expected to be a surge. Electronics and electrical equipment seems to be the main category of interest to shoppers.

Black Friday: Is it still a big deal for High Streets?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-37922978

[Thropplenoggin]

Chromecast - for anyone who hasn't got one, or a similar device already Target price about £18. Try Tescos, Currys.

Chromecast Audio - £15 Currys - could be worth this one - with free delivery. This has an optical out for feeding to a DAC.

Now TV - various packages. Often bundled with with time limited (but watch for the auto renewal ... !!!) Sky packages - target prices £14-£25 depending on the package offered. Currys, Tescos, Amazon?

Printers - look around. Noticed one Epson All in One for under £30 - though reviews a bit variable.

Thanks for this info, Dave. Not normally swayed by such deals, I took advantage of the Chromecast Audio, as it seems a cheap way of upgrading my hifi gear to (hopefully!) stream from Qobuz, etc. I got two: for the kitchen and lounge, which came to the same price as for one last week.

[Sir Velo]

Thanks for this info, Dave. Not normally swayed by such deals, I took advantage of the Chromecast Audio, as it seems a cheap way of upgrading my hifi gear to (hopefully!) stream from Qobuz, etc. I got two: for the kitchen and lounge, which came to the same price as for one last week.

I shall be interested what you make of the sound quality. I recently took possession of Arcam's super sleek, pebble like mini blink to connect various music streaming apps with the HiFi. So far have been delighted with the Bluetooth connectivity, deriving much pleasure from selecting random items (concerts, recitals, TTN etc) from the last 30 days on the BBC iplayer app to replay instantly at HD sound quality (or as near as Bluetooth technology allows). The ability to pause and move on before any of the (t)witterings of the presenters destroy the pleasure an added boon.

[Dave2002]

That's just under £100 today - I don't know if the price is lower than usual - it may be - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Arcam-MINIB.../dp/B00K6KIZC4

[Sir Velo]

No, I paid £99.95 for it - so negligible. However, a lot more expensive than Chromecast...hence the interest in the sound quality

[Dave2002]

No, I paid £99.95 for it - so negligible. However, a lot more expensive than Chromecast...hence the interest in the sound quality

The £15 deal for Chromecast Audio does still seem to be available (Currys/PC World) - though for how much longer? - http://www.pcworld.co.uk/gbuk/tv-dvd...37628-pdt.html

I had one delivered recently, and have just got it working. I can't say how it compares with the miniblink (http://www.arcam.co.uk/range/rseries/miniblink.htm) as I don't have one. Possibly a limitation with the miniblink might be the Bluetooth connection - there are several different Bluetooth standards, and some speciaist data compression software used for audio on some - I don't know what Arcam have implemented. If you're happy with it my guess is that it's good. I would expect it to be rather good, though not necessarily as good as feeding a DAC with an optical cable via a WiFi link - though that again would depend on how good one's local WiFi LAN is.

I've just got the Chromecast Audio working on R3 Breakfast using an optical link into my DAC - I'd probably rate it at B+ so far, but that's probably as much because of the quality of the stream as anything else. I think I can get better sound from CDs - but this is pretty good for radio. I don't yet know if I can use it to pick up audio from ripped CDs, which might give better results. I would expect connecting via the small electrical cable (or a longer one) would give slightly lower quality, but it might still be good enough for most purposes. I've not tested that yet, or found something to drive with an electrical cable. On R3 the sound of voices shows up some sibilance (Petroc T) but the low frequency response sounds quite good. The overall sound is quite clean, and not unpleasant to listen to. There is a very low noise floor - I can't hear anything too significant in terms of noise. Audible distortion seems very low too - though I do wonder if there is a very slight edge on the sound - but that could still be due to the source material or the broadcaster. Compared with some systems I've heard this is good.

Indeed, as I write this, I'm now wondering if I should go back for at least one more at the low price. It could be worth it if I find a few portable systems to drive with it/them. It's good value at £15 I think. I've just uprated my opinion of the audio to B++. Does that help anyone?

[Dave2002]

Follow up to previous post, I've now found one of the portable speakers we have lying around - Logitech - and connected the Chromecast Audio via the short cable. Fortunately the speaker still has enough power in the batteries to be able to give a quick assessment. Certainly with this kit the results are worth the small sum asked for the gadget, and can effectively turn such a portable speaker into a radio providing there is WiFi to connect to and the other bits and pieces needed to make it all work are available e.g mobile phone, iPad etc. If one wished to maintain portability use of a battery rather than a mains psu as supplied to drive the Chromecast device would be necessary, but that is unlikely to be a major problem for many.

PS: The £15 price no longer includes free delivery, but gives free In Store Pickup - which will help some, but not others.

[Dave2002]

For railway enthusiasts, one of Amazon's Daily Deals today is a Kindle edition of a book - The 50 Greatest Rail Journeys of the World by Anthony Lambert.

At £1.09 it seems a good buy.

[Dave2002]

If anyone wants a copy of Adobe Photoshop Elements 15, it is one of Amazon's Daily Deals for £39.99 - https://www.amazon.co.uk/Adobe-Photo...EG69YD5YB0ZSA7

I can't predict though, but my guess is that it will be bundled with Premiere Elements if you wait until November's Black Friday sales.

I use Adobe PE sometimes, though it's not the only tool I use by any means. It works quite well with Google's Nik collection which is a very good set of tools which also has the merit of being free - https://www.google.com/nikcollection/