Re: What have you just bought?
 

Bought some UV activated glue, it came with 2 refills.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Supporting a painter ,have house painted inside , at a cost of 4 0,s such fun with 3 dogs ! Looking at some carpets next .

Re: What have you just bought?
 

1Kg Pork crackling joint. Was £6.50, yellow sticker price £2.50. Will go in the freezer until I need it. :)

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Please please can we have one in Cardiff !!!!!!

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Re: What have you just bought?
 

4TB SSD still expensive but I really want to move away from mechanical drives this year

Re: What have you just bought?
 

No moving parts, just like me when i get on the sofa;)

Re: What have you just bought?
 

haha very good

Re: What have you just bought?
 

A pair of rocking zero G chairs - black. We paid £45 each so gone up since yesterday. Our current chairs are tearing.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 APO EX DG HSM OS FLD lens for my Nikon D750.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Kioxia 1TB Nvme SSD for £69 off Scan on Ebay. Had a 10% off voucher. Not the fastest SSD in the world but a solid performer.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Another official Samsung S7 Bookcover case in Navy as it is going so cheaply, hopefully I've not wasted £15 just because I wanted a different colour but these things normally cost a rip off £50.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Replacement oscillating bridge components for my Braun 3000s electric razor. The drive pins on the plastic components that engage with the cutter heads eventually wear away and have to be replaced. Fortunately they are readily available, probably indicating that they wear out often.

I looked back and it's just over 3 years since I last replaced them so not too bad at £9.99 delivered.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Who did you bye from?

Re: What have you just bought?
 

It was on Amazon marketplace from Sussex Spares.

Part number 67030836.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Thank you

Re: What have you just bought?
 

45w Samsung charger as the Samsung site currently has 50% off accessories.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Bought 15 month Norton 360 Premium (10 devices) from Amazon £19. I know from previous years you activate the new license then support move the time from the new to existing and you get renewal cheaper (there are a few caveats).


This time I had to enter new billing details to activate the new key. Support moved the new key time to old (Oct 2023). Later I get email that Norton have renewed my old key for £95 (Oct 2024).


Back to support to refund. They offer the renewal for £40. I send the link on Amazon for £19. They match it so now good to Dec 2024 for £40 total.


They did explain the difference and I do understand why Amazon can sell that cheaply but the extreme difference to the renewal is less understandable. A feature of the renewal is support in removing viruses and use internationally but should that cost £75.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Probably too late now but i recommend using 3 or 6 months Bitdefender trials(top package) then when it expires do it again.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

I use "my method" because it means the license stays the same and I don't have to reactivate on all the devices I have Norton on. I had that issue one year before I knew about the time moving where I put in new key on the renewal day and that was fine but I had to go round all the devices and activate on the key. I currently use 6 of the 10 seats. The VPN is good to get to radio streams no longer available in the UK, use Eire server and it works all fine.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Was just trying to save you money, personally i prefer Free for a top AV package.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Same as although in his favour is the fact Norton is not as tripe as it once was and comes out high in tests

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Just bagged me a bargain on an ebay auction. Brand New Corsair K70 RGB Pro (latest model) with Cherry Brown switches £155+ normally got it for £75. Seller has 595 ratings and 100%. Just hope he does not cancel cuz it went cheap cheap

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Air con recharge and clean for Mrs G's car.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Rug for hall ,ready for when the painters have finished

Re: What have you just bought?
 

A bundle of wool to knit some jumpers and cardigans for my niece

Re: What have you just bought?
 

A mini amplifier with built-in Bluetooth for some Sony passive speakers that have been up in the loft for almost 20 years. I set them up earlier and they sound amazing.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

A monitor.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Joan Baez 3 ,found in charity shop for a £1 in better nick than my copy !!!!

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Gloss paint to start to freshen up all the skirting boards

Re: What have you just bought?
 

A 512Gbyte micro SD card to go in the Galaxy A12. At the moment I have a 4 Gbyte one from my old phone in it which I want to put back in the old phone.

I've also ordered a microSD to SD adaptor so I can put the cards in my laptop and transfer the data needed between them. I could muck about with bluetooth but as I'm not familiar with the app I'll do it the old fashioned way.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

a 100g bar of Galaxy Cookie Crumble. It is so yummy

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Add on for Three

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Bought myself a bread maker on the recommendation of a friend.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Hope you enjoy your home made bread .

Re: What have you just bought?
 

In all my years of owning Samsung phones, I've NEVER managed to successfully connect via bluetooth.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Set of Procomp arrows, 30.5" blue nock and fletchings.


We have to use carbon/aluminium shafts not pure carbon because (like many clubs in the UK we share a field so have to find all arrows and carbons done show on metal detectors. The manufacturer has stopped making their cheaper ACC shafts so instead of around £180 for a set it now comes to £300.


First time I've ever used arrows like this, I normally shoot woodens but want to get better and more consistent.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Adoption fee for the new rescue dog that SWMBO turned up with.....

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Good man! (&SWMBO)

What breed/age is it?

Re: What have you just bought?
 

It's a lurcher (which is a complete change for us as we've always rescued Staffies before) 4 yrs old, suffers from the worst separation anxiety I've ever seen in a dog, had his nose bound with barbed wire by the previous owner never slept inside a house before, never had his own bed before never played with toys before.

Wasn't coping in the rescue kennels at all...... There's been a lot of sleepless nights (first two nights my wife and i slept on the sofa next to him in the snug)

Yet he is the sweetest, most loving dog i've known.

SWMBO takes the old, smelly, lumpy ones or the ones that no one else will take and gives them a forever home....

Re: What have you just bought?
 

That is lovely mate

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Charcoal for the weekend BBQ

Re: What have you just bought?
 

I buy mine from Coals2U, around £14.50 for 12kg at the moment. Quality is variable, usually though lots of nice big pieces that burn for a long time, great for longer, slower cooks. You do need to order over a certain amount else delivery would be expensive. One year they had bags at £9.99 but minimum of £50 order for free delivery. Five bags came to around £75 with delivery, add £2.50 for fire lighters and total order was £52.45.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

A new patio table and chair set - just in time for the Test Match season :)

Re: What have you just bought?
 

DK Eyewitness Top 10 Dubrovnik and the Dalmatian Coast (Pocket Travel Guide) book.

(going there next month).

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Midnight Black Dualsense controller for PS5.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

A couple of cases of Prosecco for our niece's 50th birthday party tomorrow. It's her favourite tipple and we and her sisters are planning to give her 50 bottles between us. :)

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Deposit down on a new electric SUV to replace the v6 diesel SUV

Now looking at electric motorbikes……

Re: What have you just bought?
 

iPad Mini 6

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Yumove , dogs just love pets at home sit by till waiting for biscuits . Strangely people don't come near that till ! Luckily the staff know them well :D

Re: What have you just bought?
 

A new kitchen plus appliances and triple glazed windows and a door.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Coffee pod machine, trying out different coffees ,im totally buzzzzzzzing.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

New cooker for the boat, been a nightmare sourcing one but it arrived today after a month of trying.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Nikon D850 DSLR camera.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Sixty five litres of acrylic patio/driveway sealer.

The fumes !!!!!!!

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Let me know how you get on as we've got a few square miles of Indian sandstone (feels like when it takes best part of 2 days to jet wash) and have been wondering about using a sealant.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

This is the stuff I bought (on recommendation)

https://www.fibregrid.com/paints-tap...paving-sealer/

They also do a heavy duty one as well if required, give them a ring they’re really helpful and will be able to tell you if it’s safe for your Indian sandstone

Certainly seems to be much better than the silka (sp?) that was put down last year

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Samsung Tab S8+ on Prime Day discount. The 256GB is cheaper than 128GB today. Also bought case and 45W charger. Using up tax refund, vouchers on Amazon the cost to my normal money pot is less than £300.


This replaces my old Tab S2 that has some app crashing repeatedly.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Wow you did well on the S2 as long as that. I upgraded from the S2 to the S6 2 years ago. You'll notice a huge difference. It's bigger but thinner and lighter.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Yes, I don't throw much at it so it's annoying that I get crashes. I just missed a good deal on a SD card to go in it, 512 GB A2 Samsung, by time I went for it it was sold out, still got a decent 512GB A1 for about the same. Should be here in next couple of hours, I have a password to give to courier.


Most stuff will copy over OK but some games you need to get the authors to get it all copied else only sync's the levels. Can also tidy away some other junk away.


Will install the Amazon app store as I have some of the "Absolutely free" paid apps from when Amazon did that sort of thing.


Any tips on what junk to remove?

Re: What have you just bought?
 

I never bother removing much. They don't come with much preinstalled nonsense anymore. My tab s6 has all apps sorted into folders and only a page and a half of apps not in folders. Just customising the appearance and the quick access features like swipe does to open the status bar from desktop and swipe up to access apps, although you can still have the app drawer icon if you want. Double tap to lock screen.

I think the crashes you got on the s2 were just newer apps struggling on the older hardware/software.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

The crashes seemed linked to adverts, the apps not that new or demanding. In once case the app is fine if offline. Problem with the biggest crasher is they it doesn't sync all it's progress so you need support to move to new device.


The S8+ is much heavier and thicker than the S2. And the screen is an odd shape. I liked the more 16:10 ratio to the long thin one. The new tablet looks older now my greasy paws have been all over it. When the SD card arrives I can copy my music over.


Do I need to keep all the Samsung stuff? I removed Samsung kids.


Last night something crashed badly, ended up with a small image of the crashed app in top left and nothing else worked. Had to do a soft reboot (power/vol down) to get it back.


What I really was interested in is the pen. I want to be able to annotate and scribble on PDF's for my GDip course. Apple may do this "better" but iPads need to add pen as an extra and some apps I use are not and some never will be available on Apple. (WiFi analyzer - Apple rates this as a hacking tool (I believe) so you can't get it. Other apps the author only does Android versions.)

Re: What have you just bought?
 

There are a lot of things you can do to stop ads on Android phones. I use adguard and with a few settings changed I hardly see any ads even in MIUI apps which is notorious for adware. I know it does not save you apps that do not sync but you could try a custom firmware and no you do not need to keep all the android stuff but you may need temp root to get rid of everything

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Best to use the tablet in landscape and paired with a Samsung magnetic book cover case, you should get used to it, modern tablet screens have a better aspect ratio but if someone insists on using it in portrait mode they may struggle with them.

Been using the official book case with my Tab S7 and it's a good weight and strong but it's not for someone who drops them on the corners.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

There are sites which tell you what apps on samsungs can be deleted without issue on each phone.

Some don't have an uninstall so the trick is to enable developer options and enable debugging and connect it to a pc to run ADB commands to list apps and uninstall them. Easier than it sounds and plenty of tutorials about for it.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

There is an app that I use called Write on PDF. It let's you use the pen to write and scribble on PDFs.

The aspect does take some getting used to but it's great once you do. Video content usually looks great.

If the crashes are on the S2 then it's possible it's a combination of older apps or newer apps and the older version of the OS that's on the S2.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Shorts, Ankle Socks and car detailing bits and bobs for that black mirror finish.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

420mm Artic Freezer II AIO water cooler to see if I can get a bit more out of my old 9900K before it hits 100 degrees @ 5GHZ on Air (had to restrict its turbo to 4.3 so I did not have to worry about it) will see what I can get once I have given the thermal compound time to bed in

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Been trying various apps.
Samsung's own app is nice, has a scribble to text but save as file -> PDF -> change storage to SD -> crash.


WriteonPDF is a bit clunky especially opening a file as it seems just to list all the PDF's scattered all over the device. I can't browse to a single directory.


One terrible thing with the S8+ is the battery life is terrible. Yes the screen is a bit bigger than the S2 but the latter battery lasts much longer. I'm not running huge battery hog apps on either.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Tomato plant feed. As well as tomatoes, it's great for all flowering plants/veg. My pumpkins are swelling nicely (as the Actress said to the Bishop ;) )

Re: What have you just bought?
 

A cake of 100 DVD disks for backups. I hadn't bought any for maybe 5 years.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

they are quite expensive now aint the. I like the Maxwell -R used to be able to get 100 for about 15 quid but now they are like £13 for 50. I use them to burn special events for those in my congregation that do not do the internet

Re: What have you just bought?
 

I paid £20.49 for the pack of 100 Maxell, so just over 50p each. Some places are selling 50 for that price.

---------- Post added at 13:02 ---------- Previous post was at 12:58 ----------

I bought loads of Doff Seaweed feed before it got trendy. Also many packs of Chempak Calcium nitrate before the company was bought by Thompson Morgan and the inevitable price hike.

I need the Calcium as most tomato feeds removed it a few years ago, and it's vital to prevent blossom end rot in tomatoes and chillies.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

At least you must find the 45w charger charges extremely quickly(make sure to use the provided cable otherwise you will likely not get 45w) It's a night and day difference on my Tab S7.

Have you tried setting your screen brightness to 1 3rd of max?

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Yes, noticed that. The cable provided with the tablet did fast charging, the one with the charger super fast. Shame as cable with tablet is much longer.



I have brightness way lower than that.


One other issue is the resolution is some games is very low so huge items on screen. On S2 I had an app to adjust the resolution for individual games but can't see that setting on S8. I still have to get the really crashy app moved over as need to get developers to copy over some of the achievements.


It is nice though to annotate PDF's and have all the information in one place though I do like to have paper copies too. I'll see how things work when classes resume.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Picked up a £10 smart IR/RF universal remote control thingy that attaches to the bottom of a shelf . It lets you use Google Home/Alexa or whatever to control anything that uses Infrared or Radio Frequency remotes.

Despite having a TV than can be turned on remotely by the LG app, its been a PITA getting it to automatically turn on without it. Spent hours trying stuff with HomeAssistant, WOL, CEC etc as workarounds but nothing worked reliably.

This little box solved all that so I can ask the smart speaker to turn the tv on/off and instead of talking to the LG assistant service, through Google (which takes time), the device just sends the IR code instantly as if the button on the remote was pressed. Added to routines I can now reliably turn the tv, surround speakers and lighting on with a quick voice command.

I actually took the 'tell LG *****' stuff out of the we are going to bed routine and added this device to power the tv off as its quicker and not vocal.

Defo worth a tenner!

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Sounds like a good find - got a link, please?

(might try it with my Sony TV/Alexa combo)

Re: What have you just bought?
 

https://a.aliexpress.com/_v6Hr88

Its from like the Chinese version of Amazon/Ebay so they take a few weeks to turn up but all instructions are in English and it was so simple to setup. I order quite a few gadgets from there and it was a lightning type deal but still only about £15 now.

You can find some on Ebay but they tend to be about £35+ and many of them ship from China anyway.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

I have the Logitech's Harmony Hub version. Anything that has IR can be controlled by phones, iPads or Alexa etc. Comes with 2 small IR receivers so can position them where ever you want. Been great so far, and replaces worn out or lost controllers. Good for pausing/playing TV or changing channels without using a remote via Alexa.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

I had the Harmony One remote before but not the hub. The remote annoyed me because of the DRM it had which made configuring it under linux almost impossible. Even the web version wanted silverlight running in the browser. So I kept away from Logitech remotes after that.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

£7.97 (inc. VAT) with free shipping - thanks again.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Can't complain at that price :D

Keep in mind its USB powered but comes with a USB cable. My power sockets have a USB port and was within range of the shelf I stuck it to upside down. They give you a mounting bracket and some screws in case you want to do that but I just used some gorilla tape to stick the bracket to the underneath of the shelf but it will sit on anything ok too.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

20kg Bag of wild bird seed.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

3 tickets to the England v South Africa ODI at Headingley this Sunday.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

A full tank of E5 petrol. 37 litres for £72.11 (194.9p/ltr). Standard E10 was 187.9 and diesel 196.9.

The last time I filled her up was back in February, when E5 was 150.9.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

This right angled 3metre cable supports super fast 2.0 charging for the 45w charger if you need a better cable.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/UGREEN-USB-...ps%2C91&sr=8-4

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Christmas tree from balsam hill £378 , 50% off !

Re: What have you just bought?
 

That has got to be some tree. Is there a pic anywhere

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Breakdown cover, 12 months road tax and renewed my driving licence.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

TV license £159 :mad:

Re: What have you just bought?
 

I just cancelled mine.
I do not watch live TV apart from the soaps which I can watch on demand except for Eastenders which I found posted regularly on the news groups so I literally can do it with breaching the TV License laws. Anything else I actually want to watch on the beeb I can download elsewhere anyway so stuff the TV Tax

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Well the old man likes his black and white movies, especially if John Wayne stars in them and also all sports, I can't deny him can I? At around 44p per day if my calculations are correct, is cheap entertainment. :)

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Just be ready for the theatening letters and Bozoe visits.

Tip: The Bozoes have no right of entry and you can send them packing.

BTW it's 14 years since we paid the BBC tax and they've given up sending Bozoes.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

There plenty on their website www.balsamhill.co.uk

Re: What have you just bought?
 

I legit have no connected equipment so have nothing to worry about :) all ready for em, kinda looking forward to it hahaha

---------- Post added at 18:47 ---------- Previous post was at 18:45 ----------

Got to say some of them look really impressive

The Nordmann Fir look really good. Shame I do not celebrate Christmas or I might have invested my cost of living payment on one hahaha

Re: What have you just bought?
 

£500 of second hand furniture/appliances for my sons new rented pad, from the local hospice charity shop. Some real bargains.
Worth it to get rid of the bleeder!

.

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Never mind Hugh at least you'll get your money back !

Re: What have you just bought?
 

50%

Re: What have you just bought?
 

Water filters for the coffee machine
Decalc as above
Silicone toilet brush
Carpet stain remover (if it doesn’t work I’m a dead man)
Fast track security, meet & greet parking, reserved seats on the flights

Re: What have you just bought?
 

A couple of 4TB drives to increase the available media storage.