Black Friday 2019

[conan50]

Disney+ streaming video is $10 off today for Cyber Monday $59.99 for a 1 year subscription.

[tubemonkey]

Reminder - Technology Tariffs Scheduled for 15 Dec

Keep in mind that a 15% tariff against Chinese goods is scheduled for 15 Dec. This tariff will include technology goods and will affect us in higher prices for the devices we purchase to support our digital reading/listening.

This tariff may or may not be averted. Still, it pays to be prepared as we near the end of our holiday shopping season. If you plan on getting something in the near future, consider getting it now before the BF/CM prices end and an additional 15% tariff markup is added to the every day selling prices. That's a double whammy.

Please, do not discuss the merits of the tariffs themselves. That's a political issue and belongs in the Politics and Religion forum. tm

[Manabi]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Take Amazon's version of Android. It's missing an app drawer and it won't let you place apps and folders exactly how you want them to appear on the screen. It also doesn't support multiple blank screens nor will it let you place the same app in multiple folders.

I don't like the nine very cluttered pages on the Fire Tabs. I only want three pages. The left-hand page containing a calendar, clock and weather widget. The home page containing six folders (my most used apps) and a Google search bar. The right-hand page containing the rest of my folders.

Let me add a bit to this: A launcher also gives you more control over how most of the user-interface looks. You can set how many rows and columns you want on home screens, so you can pack more apps per page if you prefer, or spread them out further. You can set how many home pages you want, as tubemonkey noted above, but Nova also lets you have multiple dock pages. The dock in this case is the very bottom row of apps, where your phone will typically have the dialer and contacts. I have three on my devices, so I can swipe it to the right to get to one with my browser and e-book apps (Moon Reader, Kindle, Calibre Companion) or over to the left for things like Spotify, shopping list and two-factor apps. You can also change the appearance of folders, icon sizes and more.

It basically lets you make your phone or tablet's UI look like you want it to, not how someone else (Google, Amazon) thinks you want it to. Some of the options would be quite useful for those with visual disabilities, such as making the grid smaller and the icons larger.

If you are happy with your existing UI, you don't need to bother with a different launcher, but it's quite nice to have the option to change.

[batpuppy]

The main thing I miss with the amazon OS is having widgets. If you can do this with the amazon system, I not figured it out.

[cc_in_oh]

If anyone is still looking for a cheap Win10 desktop this $185 HP refurb looks nice:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...50_em_1p_10_lm

Core i5, 8GB, 512GB SSD. It appears to only have VGA and displayport video so you'd need a $10-ish adapter for HDMI or DVI...

[tubemonkey]

Amazon Customers Shop at Record Levels Again This Holiday Season

But of course. If it were otherwise, Amazon would be bragging about that day.

Amazon today announced that Cyber Monday was once again the single biggest shopping day in the company’s history, based on the number of items ordered worldwide. Customers all around the world shopped at record levels across a wide selection, with hundreds of millions of products ordered worldwide between Thanksgiving and Cyber Monday, alone. Customers purchased millions more Amazon Devices compared to the same period last year in Amazon’s Stores globally and the best-selling items were Echo Dot and Fire TV Stick 4K with Alexa Voice Remote.

[tubemonkey]

When I attempted to trade-in a Dot 2 for a Show 5, Amazon offered to give me the 25% discount based on the sale price of the Show ($50) and not the retail price ($90). I rejected the offer.

When I did this on Prime Day, I got the 25% discount based on the retail price. Go figure.

[tubemonkey]

Still trying to decide which no-con phone to get. Not thrilled that these phones are so large (5-6"). I don't like this trend. My preference is for (4-4.5") devices.

[OtinG]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

Still trying to decide which no-con phone to get. Not thrilled that these phones are so large (5-6"). I don't like this trend. My preference is for (4-4.5") devices.

Yes, but you are an old monkey now! The young ones want a bigger screen to better see all their social media stuff. Funny how you can go into a restaurant are any other crowded venue and see dozens of people with their noses buried into their smartphones and totally oblivious to the dozens of other people gathered nearby with their noses buried into their smartphones too. Makes you wonder why they go out if they only socialize over the internet!

[booklover6]

I went to Walmart to pick up my online order of a Chromebook and 4 64GB SD cards. To my surprise, there was a bonus 128GB SD card in the box!

I also ordered the Audible card folks were discussing, $30 for 3 credits/3 months. The order page said it was a digital code, however I believe it is a physical card that will be mailed.

After reading the reviews, I cancelled the order.

[Purple Lady]

Originally Posted by batpuppy

The main thing I miss with the amazon OS is having widgets. If you can do this with the amazon system, I not figured it out.

Install nova launcher and you can create widgets there. For right now I just put the nova widget as the first app in Amazon's home screen. There is or used to be a way to force the home button to go to your selected launcher. I saw it on xda.

[ApK]

Originally Posted by tubemonkey

It was a Veterans Day promo - $40 off for veterans and active military.

D'oh, wish I'd known about that.

Other than the Audible/Best Buy gift cards the only BF deal I went for is a 65" TV that I literally stumbled over when I went to pick up some salsa at Target on Thanksgiving night.

Go out for Salsa, impulse buy a 65" TV.


On the topic of launchers, I use Nova on my Moto G5 Plus. It's much nicer experience for me.

[Catlady]

Other than the Audible gift cards from Best Buy and the $5 Amazon smart plug, all I bought was a new Christmas tree with color-changing LED lights.

[tubemonkey]

Originally Posted by Catlady

Other than the Audible gift cards from Best Buy and the $5 Amazon smart plug, all I bought was a new Christmas tree with color-changing LED lights.

Does that mean you have money left over

[GtrsRGr8]

Tubemonkey's reminder is duly noted that politics belongs in another forum/subforum.

Thanks for the heads up on the tariffs. I had heard about them, but didn't know that they were a done deal.

The moral of the story, of course, is to buy that country's big-ticket items, especially, that you have been wanting, like crazy before Dec. 15. Amazon's biggest sales day ever may have been Cyber Monday but it will be interesting to see if Dec. 14 exceeds it. But tubemonkey's sentiment, as expressed in his post above, is apropos(sp?)--does anyone have any money left to buy the stuff?

Speaking of Cyber Monday, I saw the website of a publisher, advertising their Cyber _Week_ sale! What's next year going to bring? Cyber _Month_???? It's all very funny to me.

Thanks for listening.