The Westchester Co. Market Pro Computer Show: A review.

Posted At : March 22, 2009 7:58 AM | Posted By : name
Related Categories: The Morning Shift

The Westchester county computer show is in town (White Plains, NY) this weekend. The Show is sponsored by Market Pro. www.marketpro.com The Westchester County Center web site (view Site) boast this: "Computer Show and sale! Up to 50% in savings. Millions in merchandise available for sale including: laptops, full computers, motherboards, monitors, hard drives, printers, CPU's memory, modems, zip drives and more!" But after I paid the $7.00 admission fee, (There is a $1.00 discount on the Market Pro Web Site)I was disappointed to find only 60-70 tables. of those tables 50-60 were computer vendors, The others where gifts, household goods and other unrelated merchandise. The show is a good place to go if you are looking to build your own custom computer from scratch. There were about 5 vendors that sold a complete line of computer components. But if you were looking to purchase a laptop or any other off the shelf product, The prices were about $30-$75 higher than most of the big name retailers in Manhattan. There was one very interesting table that sported the i9, The Chinese made copy of the iphone. This phone looks like the Apple iphone but is slightly smaller and much lighter. The phone's operating system is written entirely in Java, instead of C (actually objective-C) It is an impressive effort to say the least, but notable drawbacks are installing new applications are practically impossible and the graphical display is medium resolution. The big advantage that the iphone does have is a memory card slot. I would have bought one except it did not have a 3G to USB bridge like netPDA net PDA. If you have never seen the i9 here is a good link to view the phones. i9 Phone. This vendor also had the Chinese made copies of the ipods which were selling for $25 and looked exactly like the real thing.

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This is not a test!

Posted At : March 11, 2009 7:07 AM | Posted By : name
Related Categories: The Morning Shift

Yes!, This is an actual emergency! This weekend I bought one of those new fangled "just push the Button coffee makers" As usual, I researched this purchase extensively. Basically it all boiled down to three brands. Tassimo, Keurig and Flavia. I have owned the Sensio in the past, and while it was easy to use, the coffee was not so good. In fact I quickly ruled out the Tassimo for the same reason. My feelings were confirmed when I walked into Bed Bath and Beyond to find all the Tassimo large variety boxes marked down from $29.95 to $9.95. The office I am working at has a Flavio machine (large office version of course) and the coffee is the best I tasted from any of the automated coffee machines. The Keurig came in as a very close second. And I had previously tried the Platinum model at another office I was working in. Given the fact that I couldn't find the Flavio machines or coffee in a retail location near by, I opted for the middle Keurig Model, the Special Edition. This model is pretty much the same as the platinum except it has a slightly smaller water tank and it accommodates three cup sizes instead of five.

It is Sunday, and I really don't need a cup of coffee in the afternoon, but I am so excited, I am ready to take her for a test drive. I actually read the instructions, primed the coffee maker and dropped in a k-pack (That is what they call the coffee modules) and pressed the button, after a short hum and 30 seconds of rattling I had a steaming hot cup of coffee! And it was a good cup of coffee too! I am lovin life. Later I sample the hot chocolate k-pack and the quality was also very good.

That night I had a sound sleep knowing confidently that I would have a fresh hot brewed cup of coffee waiting for me in less than a minute. I awake in a fog early Monday morning, stumble down stairs and as I clear my eyes I see the blue water tank in the foggy distance. I make my way over to the beckoning coffee machine, grabbing a mug along the way. This situation can be likened to the James Bond scene in Casino Royale, where Bond, (Danial Craig) has been poisoned and he has to administer the electro cardio shock to survive.) I know that if I can just get that 1st cup of coffee I can make it to work on time. The camera is rolling and I place the mug down on the drip tray and push the middle button. Phew... I made it! The machine hums and and I hear two short womp womps, my heart is pounding, and ... nothing! Dead silence. This is not what happened on Sunday. I panic and I open the pod cradle and pop in another one. I push the button and again I hear that comforting hum. Then the womp womp. And nothing! NOTHING! The rest is a hazy blur. I vaguely remember the shower water and shaving and the next thing I remember I am standing in line at the Dunkin Donuts at the train station.