ALDI’s Special Buys Weekend Sale: How Do The Deals Stack Up?

This Saturday (16 November), ALDI is having a sale on various tech and lifestyle items as part of its ‘Special Buys’ promotion. The deals on offer include mountain bikes, tablets, e-readers, Windows 8.1 touch screen laptops, smartphones and pool cleaners. Here are a few products that caught our eye for one reason or another.

ALDI’s ‘Special Buys’ sale features new discounted items every Wednesday and Saturday which are available until sold out. We’ve earmarked a few of the more interesting deals below:

Medion 15.6″ Touch Screen Notebook ($688)

The Medion 15.6″ Touch Screen Notebook is a Windows 8.1 laptop that comes with a 4th generation Intel Core i3-4010U CPU (1.7GHz), a 500GB hybrid drive, 4GB of DDR3L memory and a swiveling multitouch 1366×768 pixel display. Connectivity options include an HDMI output, two USB 3.0 ports, a memory card reader, a Mini Display port and an inbuilt DVD/CD burner.

Most online reviews of the Medion have been fair to middling, which is all you can expect from a Core i3 laptop. Our advice would be to have a play with the touch screen to see how responsive it is prior to purchase. Click here for more information.
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Automatic Pool Cleaner ($89.99)

The Automatic Pool Cleaner does exactly what it says in the tin. It requires a pump of minimum 0.75HP/550W (or a minimum flow of 6m3/hour/1600gal/hr).

The package includes an 80cm hose length and adaptor. It has a six month warranty which is a teensy bit dubious. While we can’t vouch to its quality this is one of the cheapest automatic cleaners you are likely to find.

Click here for more information.

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Maginon Full HD Camcorder ($49.99)

The Maginon Full HD Camcorder comes with a 3-inch TFT touch screen display and a 5-megapixel sensor with 8x digital zoom. We’ve not tested the Maginon but we can confidently assert that it’s probably not worth getting, even at the super-low price of $49.99.

If you’ve purchased a smartphone or compact camera in the past few years, its video-capabilities will almost certainly run rings around this thing. That said, we think it would make a fun first video camera for kids, so maybe keep it in mind for Christmas.

Click here for more information.

Medion Wi-Fi Range Extender ($39.99)

If you’re looking for a cheap way to add range, speed or stability to your home network, the Medion Wi-Fi Range Extender could be worth a look. It includes has three different modes: Wi-Fi range extender, access point mode and client mode. An RJ-45 network cable is also included. Most range extenders fall somewhere in the region of $50 and $120, so this deal isn’t too shabby. We’ve seen conflicting reports about the unit’s performance though — some customers claim it boosted download speeds from 1Mb/s to 8Mb/s, while others have dismissed it as a dud. Caution is advised.

Click here for more information.

Bauhn 5″ Smartphone ($249)

The Bauhn 5″ Smartphone is an entry-level Android handset that runs on 4.2 Jelly Bean. It has a 5-inch multi-touch HD display with a native resolution of 1280×720 pixels. Other noteworthy features include a 1.2GHz quad core processor, an 8-megapixel Camera, 8GB of inbuilt memory a Micro SD card slot and Dual Sim card functionality. This seems like a pretty good deal on paper, but it basically comes down to the battery life, touch screen and user interface. We strongly suspect you’d be better off spending the extra dosh on an entry-level Samsung Galaxy model.

Click here for more information.

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Crane Unicycle ($49.99)

We’re not sure whether this is good value or not, but come on — it’s a frickin’ unicycle. We had to include it in our roundup.

It comes in a choice of chrome or black and sports an alloy rim, double sealed bearings, a front holding grip and a rear saddle bumper. A parking stand is included.

Click here for more information.

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Cocoon 7″ Colour eBook Reader and Media Player ($49.99)

This ereader sports an LCD with a native resolution of 800×480 pixels, 4GB of inbuilt flash memory, a Micro SD card slot and a G-sensor for automatic screen rotation. It supports all Adobe DRM PDF and ePub ebook formats, along with JPG, BMP, GIF, PNG, AVI, MPG, MP4, MOV, MKV (XVID/H.264), RM/RMVB, MP3, AAC, WAV, OGG, FLAC and WMA. One notable omission is inbuilt Wi-Fi. It does not come with a touch screen either, although that’s probably just as well. We’ve not tested the Cocoon so we can’t vouch for its UI or battery, but at $50, it’s probably worth taking a gamble.

Click here for more information.

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Crane Men’s or Ladies Cruiser Bike ($119)

The Crane Cruiser Bike is described as a low-maintenance “beach-style” cruiser with laid back riding position. It comes with raised handle bars and wide 28-inch tyres which purport to give a smooth ride.

At over $100, this is obviously something that you need to try before you buy. There’s no maximum weight mentioned either, which is a bit dubious.

Click here for more information.
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Bikemate Car Bike Carrier and Rear Pannier Bag ($39.99 each)

The Car Bike Carrier can carry up to three bikes and is rated at 60kg. It comes with padded grips to protect bike frames, a security lock and has been designed to fit most tow bars. The Pannier Bag lets you carry your stuff while traveling about on your bicycle. It’s made from water resistant materials, comes with a reflective rear band for safety and has a detachable top suitcase with shoulder strap for carrying. Both the Pannier Bag and Car Bike Carrier cost $39.99, which seems pretty reasonable.

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Bauhn 8″ Android 4.1 3G Tablet with Phone Function ($159)

This 3G-capable 8in tablet can double as an oversized phone. It has a native resolution of 1024×768 pixels and comes with 1GB of RAM, 8GB of internal memory, a 5MP rear-facing camera and a 1.2ghz dual-core MTK8377 CPU running on Android 4.1. The model originally debuted at ALDI back in August for $169, so this isn’t much of a saving. Nonetheless, it would make an affordable secondary tablet for train travel and the like. (Note: The tablet supports the 850MHz and 2100MHz 3G network bands in Australia which makes it better suited to Telstra customers.)

Click here for more information.
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If any of the above items interest you, the usual ALDI sale rules apply: get to your local branch as soon as it opens to ensure you don’t miss out. Stock is usually limited to a handful of units per store (especially with big-ticket items) which means they tend to sell out fast.

You can check out the full range of Wednesday Special Buy products at ALDI’s website.

Got your own take on the usefulness/value of one of the above deals? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.