Few HN Deals :)
50% Off Panasonic Headphones
Microsoft Surface Pro 4 128GB Tablet $698 (Was $898)
HTC U Ultra 64GB $898 (Was $1199)
Raw Audio Motion 2.0 Wireless In-Ear Headphones $48 (Was $99)
Raw Audio Halo 2.0 Wireless On-Ear Headphones $58 (Was $80)
Sunbeam GoBlend Blenders $17 + Bonus Mothers day Card
Well.. Now that the S8 is out and iPhone 8 is getting "closer" (despite the delays), this phone is dropping to levels that the market accepts it as - something that only contends to last year's models. It's a good price for what you are getting though, but I think the sweet spot should be more towards the $700 mark or so. I dare say it should drop once more in price to just below 800 ($798?) within about a month or so with flat sales and over inventory from the suppliers.
What does "despite delays" mean? If you mean no design progress for 3 years, that's embarrassingly true, but, the release cycle of Apple is traditionally September. I'm not aware of it being delayed. It's also missing a headphone connector :)
Now that Apple fans are upset, the Galaxy s8 looks pretty, but it's crippled by Samsung's touchwiz that's still invasive and is traditionally slow to get updates (if at all). You're paying for a premium phone with clumsy software and slow updates. Also, the unlock with facecam is tricked by a photo and the fingerprint sensor is right next to the camera lens :)
The (iPhone 8) delays are well documented from supply parts and fingerprint scanner which was required a late redesign to put around the back apparently.
http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/79318…
http://www.news.com.au/technology/gadgets/mobile-phones/appl…
They are expecting an October launch now from most reports.
8S: Waiting for a 20% off ebay sale + root.
Also all iPhone news is just speculation, the supposed display shortage is caused by Samsung… news agencies just parroting.
Touchwiz no longer exists. It's actually alot better than stock with functionality
http://www.theverge.com/2017/4/18/15338052/samsung-galaxy-s8…
Also, please try the S8. The fingerprint scanner is EASILY accessible and easy to reach with your index finger. Unless you have toddler hands i can see why you can't reach it. And Facecam? It's an Iris scanner.. you know.. Eyeballs scanner? It's really quick. I guess you haven't tried one yet and full of assumptions
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017...ftware-habits/
"Actual in-app performance on the Galaxy S8 is not great. The Google Pixel raised the bar for what smooth Android performance looks like, and the Galaxy S8 just can't keep up. In the above picture you see Android's built-in GPU profiler mode. Each vertical line is the time it takes to draw a single frame, with the horizontal green bar representing 60FPS. Bars under the green line rendered in time, resulting in smooth 60FPS scrolling. Bars that overshoot the line took too long to render, resulting in a stutter in the UI animation.
Even inthe lowest resolution possible—1480×720—the Galaxy S8 still drops a ton of frames when scrolling complicated apps like the Play Store. The highly optimized Google Pixel—at itsfull 2560×1440 resolution—is easily getting frames in on time. And even if things do slow down, there's a sizableamount of rendertime still.
No matter what resolution you pick on the Galaxy S8, scrolling (especially scrolling slowly) has this weird stutter to it and a slight ghosting effect. Not everyone is sensitive to small performance issue like this, but if you are, you'll find the S8 a little unpleasant to use. I wish Samsung focused more on optimizing the whole display and GPU stack to hit 60FPS and run more smoothly, rather than adopting the raw benchmark focus the company seems to have now."
Many reviewers have pointed out that this isn't bang for buck.
Missing a headphone jack when it has more than enough room to house one. No water protection either, and the button layout is poorly designed.
This thing was north of 1100 not long ago, and now it's below $900. It'll continue to drop as no one will be buying it.
Great looks, that's about it.
The new blue Xiaomi Mi 6 has the same "liquid surface" effect as the sapphire HTC, too, as far as pretty phone materials go.
Price drops as they prepare to release the HTC Ocean Flagship.
Given the mediocre S8 reviews, the HTC pricing should enter at an attractive price, given they use the same new Chip and HTC Sense is way better than TouchWiz will ever be.
@Dano33: LOL.. the verdict is a bit of a joke. They struggled to find whats wrong with it other than calling industry standard stuff "gimmicks". Typical iSheep complaints about Touchwiz, when the new interface is no longer Touchwiz and totally been re-written from ground up. Not everyone wants Springboard as their shell you know?
https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2017/04/samsung-galaxy-s8-re…
Read down the bottom of this page under performance and look at the difference between the S8 and Pixel.
"Actual in-app performance on the Galaxy S8 is not great. The Google Pixel raised the bar for what smooth Android performance looks like, and the Galaxy S8 just can't keep up
Even in the lowest resolution possible—1480×720—the Galaxy S8 still drops a ton of frames when scrolling complicated apps like the Play Store. The highly optimized Google Pixel—at its full 2560×1440 resolution—is easily getting frames in on time. And even if things do slow down, there's a sizable amount of render time still.
No matter what resolution you pick on the Galaxy S8, scrolling (especially scrolling slowly) has this weird stutter to it and a slight ghosting effect. Not everyone is sensitive to small performance issue like this, but if you are, you'll find the S8 a little unpleasant to use. I wish Samsung focused more on optimizing the whole display and GPU stack to hit 60FPS and run more smoothly, rather than adopting the raw benchmark focus the company seems to have now"
@Dano33: I'm sure that is the sole deterministic factor of everyone trying to buy a flagship phone. Because it doesnt subjectively move smoothly at 120fps? All phones will have snares here and there - even the infallible iFlown 6S I am using too will struggle to update screens at times.
Samsung are notorious for creating phones that look great in the showroom. Personally I value a smooth, fluid software experience over a screen that's almost free from bezels. If the S8 suits you then go for it. But understand not everyone is going to feel the same way you do.
I refrain from buying Samsung phones bacause the Software experience is always compromised and sadly I can't see this changing anytime soon
Here is a HTC 10 vs S8+ speed test.
He S8 wins the games but the year old HTC wins the majority of the apps. Further example of poor optimisation on the S8
@Dano33: You have to be joking with using "opening apps" as a benchmark. Why?
1) you are comparing a mature phone of over a year old with at least 3 patches of optimisations, to a recently available brand new phone that has not been optimised as yet and probably still with a few software defects?
2) the tenths of a second when opening an app or changing between - realistically means nothing in real life. Are you going to even feel the tenths of a second in every day practical sense?
3) What about the other features and capabilities of the phones that 99% of the people care about? Focusing on the 1% of a supposed performance issue is pretty low and lame.
Why? Because it's a $1200 phone from the biggest smartphone manufacturer in the world and they can't get the software basics right on their launch software (this is final software btw). Not good enough in my book.
I've seen so many Samsung's that slow to a crawl in time and I find it frustrating that Samsung don't think software optimisation is important. iPhone users offen complain about speed related issues with Galaxy's when they switch over.
Clearly you don't think it's important and that's fine. Let's agree to disagree
@Dano33: Actually if you take the HTC-10 back to launch.. guarantee you will get same issue with performance. It happens to all products. Even the "infallible" Crapple phones too. It is how people develop these days with a launch product ("Minimal viable product") versus what matures with time. Companies need to launch in time to beat competition, so they do end up with something 80% and the 20% to be fixed over the lifespan of two years.
I've seen so many HTCs and iphones thrown out the door too with performance and problems. Just because you've seen it, doesnt make it a real statistic?
I guess we'll see when HTC launch their new phone in a couple of weeks time. The Pixel is a better performer than any other device except for the iPhone. Samsung need to work in this. It's not like they don't have the resources
the HTC U looks like a
It's the first phone that I've looked at and gone "yuck". It looks like my Note from 2011 except with more bezel.
Not really, I think it actually looks similar to the note 5 but a bit better looking with a full black face. I agree that the bezels are a bit big but they never bothered me while I use my phone :P
It'd be a great phone if it were say… <$700
The rear glass laminate is atrocious,if you drop it, you'll get shards of glass onto your hand if you pick it up with your bare hands, which most people would do.
Quick review - overall bad reviews from all reviewers on the interwebz
TONS of cons for this phone.
- Unwieldy size
- second display is a gimmick
- no heapdhone jack
- no wireless charging (being a big phone, they could have added this)
- useless fingerprint scanner doesn't double as home button
- no water resistance
- display quality issues
- expensive
PROs
- shiny
HTC went backwards.
It comes in pink.
Someone is bound to love it for just that reason
Agreed. Who like old boring dark sad dirty black phones.
Shiny isn't a pro imo, but each to their own.
I like my V20 second display…
I second this, I didnt care much for it when i bought the v20 but after 2 weeks of daily use its pretty handy
i can see how handy it would be, but wouldn't you rather have the extra screen estate and add a widget that does the same thing? just a thought
Not really. As it's its own display it doesn't need to power the entire 1440p display to work, saving massive battery life and meaning I can leave it on 24/7 without any noticeable drain. I love being able to toggle WiFi, BT, torch etc without having to turn on the entire screen and I can also use it to swap/play/pause songs too. Having it on my desk at work just showing the time and notifications as they come in is a big bonus also.
They've been going backwards for a while. The 10 was backwards compared to the M9 too. The M9 was a brilliant phone apart from camera quality, battery size, and a heat fault in the CPU that shows up during intensive apps like GPS. All they had to do was fix those three things, put it in a new case each year, and that phone would be outselling other brands four/five years on. Stereo speakers with boomsound, huge external SD slot… the list goes on. Bah - they're fools.
The M9 was a piece of junk. The 10 is a stellar device. Underrated
Apart from what I mentioned, the M9 has been brilliant. Especially the boomsound, which HTC dumped with the 10.
@GregMonarch:
It's still got boomsound, but in a different configuration. The new config sounds better in portrait mode though.
Err the fingerprint sensor is a home button..
Double post
Reminder, you can't add Microsoft Complete if you don't purchase the Surface direct from them.
FYI, all surface pro 4 models are 20% off - I'd have led with that.
Pretty much standard every second week. Wish they would hurry up and release the SP5.
Upvoted for the Surface Pro 4 at $698. I'm loving mine that I picked up two weeks ago at that price.
What's the difference between the $698 model, and the $1098 model. They seem to have the same specs?
That's a duplicate listing of this one. I recall that from last time. The next model up is the i5/4GB/128GB for $1198.
Strange, that it's $400 more expensive and the same?
This one comes with a pen and such?
That's a duplicate listing of this one. I recall that from last time.
You recall wrong.
@PainToad: Possibly. But this comment from last time (and others) discussed the multiple postings of the M3 model at different price points. It was possible that the more expensive listings came with a pen, but none of those other listings now mention a pen.
@Rumbaar: No pen included in any of the M3 models. As I wrote elsewhere, none of them mention a pen or type cover as being included.
You are very confused.
but none of those other listings now mention a pen.
All come with the pen (including the standard M3 SKU). It's only the budget M3 SKU that doesn't.
No pen included in any of the M3 models.
Again, standard M3 model does.
@PainToad: You're right that I am confused! Thanks for taking the time to assist in clearing it up.
For the record, here's why I'm confused:
The Harvey Norman listing for the $1078 M3 lists the following:
What's In The Box?
1x Surface Pro 4
1x Power Supply
1x Quick Start Guide
1x Safety and warranty documents
Compare this to their listing for the $1198 i5, which lists the following:
What's In The Box?
1x Surface Pro 4
1x Surface Pen
1x Power Supply
1x Quick Start Guide
1x Safety and warranty documents
So while that M3 model may come with a pen, HN's listing doesn't do anything to dispel that confusion.
At any rate, at RRP$95 for the pen, the $698 SKU is a much better deal.
1078 now. the difference is with pen and without pen.
Thanks OP got Surface Pro 4.
$698 is a great price for the SP4!
For those bought or will buy $698 model, I just bought pen and keyboard from amazon US for $151.77 USD(around $202 AUD)
Hey can you provide a link for the keyboard?
https://www.amazon.com/Microsoft-Type-Cover-Surface-Pro/dp/B… I didn't choose the one cheaper($98) but from third party although the postage is same. Amazon price is hidden, the price is $99 USD after adding to the cart.
Any chance you could provide a link for the stylus pen as well please? :)
Excellent, just got a SP4! Thanks OP
Had ordered one from JB a couple of days ago, so now to cancel that one.
Wondering what is the difference between SP4 http://www.harveynorman.com.au/microsoft-surface-pro-4-m3-12… and SP4 M3 http://www.harveynorman.com.au/microsoft-surface-pro-4-m3-12…
Seem to be exactly similar in specs
Difference is one comes with pen and the other one doesnt
This was discussed last time. That other listing, despite showing a pen in the pic, doesn't list the pen:
What's In The Box?
1x Surface Pro 4
1x Power Supply
1x Quick Start Guide
1x Safety and warranty documents
Actually there is no difference as the two URL's are identical.
SP4 looks like a great buy..shame I dont need one.
$698 surface pro 4 is a great value for money. excellent build quality and best screen I have ever saw, including Samsung AMOLED screens
You know Trent is a veteran when they have around ≈10 tags with no revision…
Shame that my Macbook Pro 15 (3 yr old) is still much better performance wise… No reason to upgrade (or downgrade)
Anyone got any insights about how the m3 model Surface goes running as a dual-monitor affair (inbuilt screen + external)? Need something for the missus but she needs that extra real estate. The i5 model is punching just a little above the budget right now.
Anyone price matched SP4 at JB? Not many HN have stock.
I don't see why it would be a problem but maybe ring first and ask
The first JB refused to match because of no stock at HN and tried another JB and matched no problem.
Could you please post the receipt? The product seems to have gone from HN site.
Actually a very good price on SP4 I could only find one instance of any SP4 going for a lower price on eBay sold listings.
Anyone have any experience with the Raw Audio Halo 2.0 headphones?
The $14 shipping for the Sunbeam blender killed that deal for me.
if anyone is after a good cheapish blender… I got this one today: http://www.kenwoodworld.com/en-au/products/blenders-mixers-a…
Around $133 delivered
Also comes with a couple of spice and nut blending attachments.
You think $133 for a blender is cheap?
The blender is rubbish. Picked one up on special around Xmas, lasted one month before the open/close mechanism started acting up. Couldn't be bothered returning for 19 bucks.
Anyone here used Raw Audio Halo 2 headphones? Can't find any reviews online
Has anyone ordered from dwi before, are they reputable??
https://www.dwidigitalcameras.com.au/astore/Microsoft-Surfac…
SP4 i5 256gb - $1338 after discount w/ free delivery appears a good buy
They are grey imports. No TRS and no local warranty.
Missed the $699 Surface Pro 4 deal. Do it again!
FYI the Panasonic 50% off headphones seems to have ended, the posted link goes to full-price items. Perhaps the whole sale has ended too
Sp4 deal expired?
Yes
Hi all
Nice post but just a heads up that the HTC U looks like a phone you really need to do some thorough research on before buying. The reviews are not good on this monster.