New Gift Card Offer : Shoppers Drug Mart
Participating Shoppers Drug Mart locations are offering 10% discounts on $50 and $100 iTunes cards until September 11th, 2015. Please consult your local flyer for details.
Shomi – First Impressions
Now that Shomi has been made available to all Canadians I thought perhaps i’d give you my first impressions on this service.
I started using Shomi a few months back when I switched from Bell to Rogers and I currently get it for free with my cable package. But I don’t think if i’d pay $8.99 per month for the service.
Although I can access the service conveniently via by set top box and view content without it counting towards my download/upload limit, I still have issues with the service in regards to content.
Like the Canadian version of Netflix, Shomi has a limited catalogue of television series and film. And I happen to already own the vast majority of my favourite films on the service.
On the other hand Hollywood Suite is being offered to me at $5.95 per month and features quite a lot of films, including some on demand. And Crave TV has a significant amount of television series i’d be interested in at $4 per month, but the later would count towards my download/upload limit.
If Crave TV was offered via Roger’s set top box i’d go for it, in a heartbeat. But Crave TV is operated by Bell Media, Roger’s competition. And they’re only going to start offering the service to the rest of Canada on January 1st, 2016.
I’m hoping Shomi will expand their selection considerably to compete but I seriously doubt it will happen for some time because of licensing.
Netflix Canada have been plagued by licensing issues that have kept them from offering as many titles as their American counterparts and i’m guessing that both Shomi and Crave TV will be subjected to the same limitations.
I’m definitely going to keep checking Shomi for new content. But I suspect Crave TV will win me over by February because it has South Park, Little Britain, Monty Python and several music documentary series like Classic Albums and the INXS television mini-series.
Gift Card Offer : Real Canadian Superstore
Select Real Canadian Superstores are offering coupons for 10% off $50 iTunes gift cards, which can be found in their latest flyer.
This coupon will expire on August 27th, 2015. Check your local flyer for details.
Low Currency Blues
The Canadian dollar is currently hovering at around 75 cents U.S and some economists claim it might drop as low as 70 cents U.S so imports from the states will likely be a bit more expensive for a while. But deals can still be found, provided you shop around and avoid retailers with usually high shipping and handling rates.
Imports valued at less than $20 Canadian are still tax free and American retailers like Amazon.com
have some great deals that you can still take advantage of.
Another option would be to import from Europe, which can actually be faster and occasionally cheaper than ordering from the states.
In the past i’ve purchased books, CDs, CD singles and DVDs from Amazon France
Although it should be noted that most of their DVDs and Blu-rays are not compatible with North American Players, some of these are NTSC compatible or region free, so pay close attention to the information provided on the site. And yes, many European releases have yet to make it online or to iTunes so it doesn’t hurt to browse around.
Vinyl fans will also like AMAZON U.k’s
Basically you can save a few bucks by shopping around and keeping an eye on the exchange rates.
Columbia House Files For Bankruptcy
Filmed Entertainment Inc. filed for bankruptcy in Manhattan yesterday and wishes to sell Columbia House’s remaining assets, specifically the DVD Club that was still operating in the United States.
Columbia House had closed their Canadian operations in December 2010 and stopped selling music in the states to concentrate on the sale of film and television series on DVD. Click here for their August 10th, 2015 press release.