This news is going to mean a lot more bargains for Irish online shoppers.
Amazon-UK have removed almost all restrictions on shipping goods to Ireland (April 2009).
Previously - Irish online shoppers could only get jealous and angry as they bought their books, cds and DVds on Amazon and saw all the other great prices on laptops,  cameras, camcorders , satnav - ie. almost everything else they sell.
Well now - Irish shoppers (ie all  of Western Europe) can get all items delivered to their door by Amazon. This is not an April fools joke - I have tried it and it is true. I ordered an Xbox Console , a Laptop,  a Digital Camera all for delivery to the West of Ireland - and there was no problem getting through checkout. Usually you would be told at checkout that your items could not be delivered to your address. Not any more.

Get on to Amazon UK now to see all those great prices and a great selection too. Go easy on that credit card!!

See Full List of Amazon Shipping Rates Here

The prices shown on the Amazon UK include UK VAT (15%) .
Irish customers - correctly and legally - get charged Irish VAT (21.5%) . So just be aware of that when you notice a difference in the price at checkout.
If you want to work out a final price yourself - just add on 5.65 pence  for every pound or £5.65 on every hundred pounds.

Note: Make sure the item you have selected is being sold by Amazon and not by one of their marketplace sellers. Many of the other sellers don’t deliver to Ireland

NB: Items Still not delivered to Ireland: (updated April 24th 2009)

Televisions and TV equipment
Mobile phones
Medicines, blank CDs and blank DVDs
Light bulbs
Childrens clothes , car seats, safety equipment
Magazine subscriptions and MP3 downloads.
There are also restrictions on weight - any item that is 30 kg or heavier, cannot be delivered outside mainland UK. (Will probably only apply to some fitness equipment or lawnmowers etc)

This article is about an expired Homebase Voucher - but we have found a similar discount available at Woodies and Atlantic Homecare on October th 2009  - See here for Discount Vouchers

We have found another great value discount  offer for Irish shoppers.
We hope you all enjoyed your free Milano Pizza last week - now it’s time for some more savings.
Get 20% off everything at Homebase from Fri 30th Jan to Sun 1st Feb 2009. This includes items in the Sale too!

Click here to get your Homebase 20% Off Voucher.

Just print it off (you will probably need a colour printer) and bring it with you to the checkout.

Valid in all Homebase Stores in Ireland, Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

Homebase has shops in Ireland at Dublin , Galway , Letterkenny Castlebar, Sligo,Limerick, Drogheda, Killarney, Waterford, Longford. They sell loads of DIY stuff as well as rugs, lamps, bathroom suites and kitchen fittings, plants, furniture, insulation, electrical goods -.

Miele are always coming out on or near the top of Best Buy tables for vacuum cleaners. In a recent survey in the UK by a well known consumer organisation - Miele had the top 4 vacuums out of 49 that were tested. They came out above  makes such as Hoover, Dirt Devil and  Electrolux .
Miele also came top in a vacuum cleaner reliability survey.  Miele might have a reputation for being expensive - but that is not the case with their vacuum cleaners .
Buying Miele appliances online in Ireland is fairly difficult - but we found one retailer called Electric Shopping that sell Miele vacuums with delivery to Ireland for just €5 euro per order. They also sell Dysons and lots of other electrical goods.

Recommended

Miele S4211 Vacuum Cleaner is one of the lower priced Miele models and is made specially for parquet and wooden floors but it also performs really well on carpets too. Available with delivery anywhere  in Ireland for around €258 euro from Electric Shopping

It’s a great choice bagged cylinder cleaner for any floor surface. It is compact and easy to store when not in use. Good for pet hairs and allergen retention. It is light and easy to move around.

Buy Miele Vacuums here:

Buying washing machines online in Ireland is almost impossible. None of the major online electrical retailers offer delivery to Ireland on appliances such as washing machines or dishwashers. Stores like Currys, Dixons, Pixmania, Comet, Amazon , Boots , Empire Direct John Lewis, don’t sell appliances to Irish residents. Most don’t even deliver to Northern Ireland .
DID Electrical , Discount Electrical and Powercity are 3 Irish based retailers that will allow online shopping - but the prices and product ranges available are not great.

Most of us will end up driving to the nearest big electrical chain store or an indpendent local shop and get sold something based on how it looks or what the salesperson says. The sales people have targets to meet and some shops only deal with certain makes or brands. You could end up buying an expensive machine that may not perform as well as other brands. Why not use the services of Which to help you find the Best Buys in Washing Machines and almost anything else you can think of buying. They also tell you which one to avoid.
The Which web site subscription is available to UK and Irish residents. They have a 30 day trial offer for just £1. You might have trouble actually buying a washing machine online - but you can do all the research before you choose the best model for your needs and budget. The surveys , tests and reviews are very detailed. Which does consumer reports on a wide range of products - from cameras to Sat Nav, Cookers Fridges Dishwashers, MP3 players and more.

The iRobot Roomba is a  vacuum cleaner that hoovers  the floor by itself .  Basically - you just plug in the base station where the Roomba will return to when it needs charging - and you let it loose around your rooms to vacuum the floors for you.

Roomba Robotic Vacuum

There are not many places that sell the Roomba in Ireland - or even online . But you can BUY an iRobot Roomba 560 online here for around  €335 delivered to Ireland. ( Now back in stock for 2010. The roomba 530 is also available at a lower price. Don’t be fooled into buying reconditioned ones or US imports - these are new UK models with a warranty.

The Roomba 560 has additional features such as two virtual wall units, now called ‘lighthouses’ and a a scheduling function -  so you can get it to start cleaning  at a specific time of  day or night.

Similar robotic hoovers by Electrolux are selling for around €1000 Euro!

Review: I bought a Roomba 560 in November 2008 and have been really impressed with it .
The instructions supplied are simply and easy to understand mainly because there is very little to do with the Roomba, just charge it and its away to go.
I have a bigger than average house but Roomba easily copes with cleaning the whole down stairs, supplying about 2 hrs of constant vacuuming on one battery charge, it docked itself and after about two hours of charging was ready to go again.

I have a mixture of flooring types, Tiles, wood flooring and a few rugs - the Roomba does them all. Emptying the dirt  bin you can see that the Roomba has done a good job.
The Roomba easily navigates around the house- and does a better job of cleaning than I did - especially under beds

The “light houses” supplied are easy to set up, just put batteries in, decide where you want them and roomba does the rest.  The lighthouses act as sort of homing beacons for Roomba, confining it to one room before guiding it directly to the next, they also assist in getting roomba back to the charging station.

When i want to do upstairs - I just pick the Roomba up carry it upstairs and set it off, obviously it can’t get back to it charging dock (downstairs) so we leave it hoovering away until it runs out of steam, then pick it up and stick it back on the dock.

It is a brilliant invention - worth every penny.
It would be a great Christmas present for a loved one who usually does all the hoovering - but expect funny looks when you tell friends you bought your wife/husband/partner  a hoover for Christmas!

Irish Residents - buy your  Roomba Here

Tags: irobot roomba