Bargain Thread for Hardware?

Is there a significant reliability difference between WD Black (aka Performance) and WD Blue/Green (aka Mainstream)?

Not that I’ve seen, no. Black is much faster, that’s it.

AT&T unlocked, factory refurbished HTC One M7s (2013, 32GB) for $249 on eBay. Seller seems legit and the timing couldn’t be more perfect for me, so I went ahead and got one.

Flirc is 25% off right now.

Logitech Harmony Smart Control $80 new:
http://smile.amazon.com/Logitech-Harmony-Control-Smartphone-Simple/dp/B00BQ5RYI4

I picked one up recently it worked pretty well so I just grabbed two more to upgrade from our old 550’s.

I posted about this in the wrong bargain thread. I really love this remote and hub. But the deal was dead many hours ago.

I tried that Harmony Hub, but the way my shelves are set up in the media cabinet, there was no way for the hub to get line of sight with all my devices.

I need to use the old Harmony remote where I hold it on the couch and it blasts the IR from a distance.

I had to order an extra mini IR blaster to get it to hit everything. For this next set I’m trying some 2.5mm mono -> 3.5mm mono adapters and using some cheap 3.5 mm IR blasters I have and see if those work. I hear you can split them too if you need more than the 2 outputs on the back.

Google Chromecast - buy one and activate it between Dec 7th and Dec 21st and Google will give you $20 in Play credit.

https://support.google.com/chromecast/answer/6008836?rd=1

Let me know how it goes, if you don’t mind. If that works, I might follow your lead, order a couple of those mini IR blasters and dust off the Harmony hub.

I recently picked up the Harmony Home Ultimate because our Pronto was consistently malfunctioning. It’s basically the hub system with a fancy RF remote.

My experience is that the IR mini blasters help. In my setup, the hub is in the AV cabinet, and not directly facing anything. This works because the hub is very bright, bright enough that reflected IR light reaches the AV components. It can be brighter than an IR remote because it’s AC powered, not battery powered.

Even so, the hub wasn’t reaching the 360 and XBone in a secondary cabinet. I threaded a mini IR blaster over there and everything worked. The IR blaster is again not facing the room, not the equipment, and working on reflected light. Yet makes a difference.

Yup that makes a difference and matches my experience. The only 2 issues I’m worried about are:

  1. the official logitech mini blasters are pricey (around $14 each on amazon)
  2. you can only add 2 (2 ports on the back of the hub, 1 mini blaster included in the box).

So I’m experimenting to see if I can use some cheaper 3.5mm ir blasters and if I can also add more than the default of 2. I’ll report back with my findings.

Xbox360 wired controller for windows $15 with free shipping. Deal starts at 6PM ET.

Liar.

http://pinnaclegameprofiler.com/download is 75% off for $4.99 if you want to use game controllers with your PC.

Thanks rei. I guess I’ll post:

Playon/playlater with everything including hd option life time license is $25.

Note that Playon “lifetime” licenses are only for the current version. So yeah, you can use what you bought forever, but when they release another version next year, if you want the new features you will need to buy it again.

I don’t need PlayOn if I have Plex Pass lifetime right?

You don’t even need Plex Pass lifetime, unless you use the sync stuff. I use free Plex myself.

Plex won’t play Amazon instant video or netflix; you will need playon for that. Or Kodi on a HTPC, of course. Or a $25 amazon fire stick, or a roku, or most likely, built-in to your TV.

HP Stream 7 for $69

Atom Z3735G (quad core bay trail)
32gb flash
1gb RAM
full windows 8.1

Only ONE micro usb port that can be used for charging or OTG but not both at the same time. I couldn’t find anything that would indicate the splitters would work. You can always go bluetooth for keyboard/mouse.

I’m not sure why I ordered one. No idea what I’m going to do with it. I don’t know maybe run skyrim or fallout new vegas on it because I can.