I just joined the World Market Team…… I have a goal of $250. Help me help the Whitman-Walker Clinic eliminate HIV!
You can sponsor me here:
Thanks!
HP Touchsmart PC
So it would not be fair if I were the only one to go shopping…Patrick came along and picked up an HP Touchsmart at Best Buy. Oddly enough, not all stores carry all products. The first store we went to near the Circuit City in Bailey’s Crossroads, VA did not have the 506 model which comes with the following additional items…
- 4 GB Ram (504 has 2 GB)
- NTSC and ATSC Digital Tuner (504 does not have one)
- NVideo w/ 2 GB video ram! (504 has Intel 256 MB)
- 500 GB 7200 SATA Drive (504 has a 320 GB 7200)
Both come with a 22″ touch screen and is less than 2″ thin! As a Mac convert, I am hoping that the next generation of iMacs will come with a touch screen option. Definitely a new concept in home computers. Aside from the HP, I am not sure there are any other touch screen all-in-one computers out there, but this is definitely a glimpse of the future!
Labor Day Shopping!
Did I mention I have two jobs? There is a reason…not just because I live in a place that does not have mice or cockroaches, the last apartment did, I like to shop. I also like to research products and get the best one at the best price. Which these days tends to lead to me to Amazon.com or another online retailer.
Best Price = Internet
Granted, I would gladly spend more to get a product from a local, independent store, but when your main options are chains, there is no loyalty there.
Ever since I entered the world of HD November 2007 with the purchase of a Samsung 1080i 32″ LCD TV, a Panasonic 1080i HD Home Theatre Projector, and a HD DVD player, now obsolete (tear), I have been looking to get an HDMI switching audio receiver.
About 4 years ago I upgraded my Philips with a Harman/Kardon AVR 135 (6.1, 40 watts per channel, S-Video). This was a big improvement! Slowly I upgraded my speakers from the set that came with my Philips to Polk Audio. I realized that bigger is better with speakers as they sound much fuller when there is a cabinet to resonate in.
Hint: Don’t waste money on an expensive name or those tiny speakers that promise to be better.
Prices have continued to drop and there was both a sale and interest free financing for 36 months at Circuity City. It was time!
I ended up getting a Onkyo TX-SR606 (7.1, 90 watts per channel, 4 HDMI Inputs) for just $399. What a great receiver and deal! Here are just a few of the cool features:
- Full 7.1 channel surround with support for HD and Blu-Ray HD Audio.
- 90 Watts per channel.
- Satellite Radio and iPod ready.
- 4 HDMI Inputs with switching and up-conversion to 1080i. (S-Video to HDMI is not impressive, thankfully all of my components have HDMI outputs)
- Automatic speaker setup and equalization!
Automatic Speaker Calibration
This was really cool…plug in the provided microphone and position as instructed in the 3 listening locations and after a series of test tones, the technology calculates the distance away and compensates for distortion to give the best surround sound experience. I don’t know how to calibrate them myself, so even if it does not work, the idea is great. After is was done, it sounded great!
Happy?
You bet! Not only does it have 4 HDMI inputs where the competition has only 2 or 3 for the same price, I can finally use all 7 speakers and send HDMI signals from the components to the projector in best picture available! (PS – I don’t even have to change inputs on my projector between S-Video and HDMI.)
35 Year Goal: 62,333
Not much more to say…this past weekend I reached 62,333! It is sure taking a long time. I have been volunteering for 17 months in DC and knew that it would take 35 years or so in order to get there.
1,000,000
For the billionaires out there, 1 million does not seem like and much. With me talking for more than 900 people each weekend, I would not think it would take so long, but the calculator does not lie, I checked a while back and changed my estimate to 30 years and now, it looks like 21 years….still a long time, but definitely a long term goal and a fulfilling one 🙂
To recap…..
- 462 Hours
- 26 Zoo Tours
- 14851 Interpreting at the Zoo
- 47482 Visitor Services at the most visited museum in the world.. Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.
- 124 days