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Post by ChrisK on Jan 29, 2008 1:10:45 GMT -5
Regarding new toys, I'm typing this on a new Dell XPS1330 that I just got. With the sale discount ($799), my corporate 12% discount ($212), an additional 4% ($66) for opening a Dell credit card account, and free shipping, I saved $1,100. I also got 1 year same as cash, so I can invest the cost for a year and earn interest on it.
Going to the 4 year warranty was $80, but it had a $70 gift card as a bonus.
This is a most serious laptop (T7500 Core 2 Duo 2.2 Ghz, 800 Mhz Front Side Bus, 4MBytes L2 cache, 3 GByte SDRAM, 160 GByte 7,200 RPM disk w/ a free fall sensor [parks the heads when it detects that it's falling], discrete graphics card, LED backlit 13.3" display, WiFi a/b/g/n, Bluetooth, slot DVD/CD RW, web cam, fingerprint reader.....
It also came with Photoshop and Elements for free.
It weighs under 4#.
Way more features and stuff than the AirBook, for a lot less cash.
And, 800 Mhz DDR2 SDRAM is now available for laptops. As soon as I get the gift card, I'll upgrade it to 4 GByte SDRAM and upgrade another laptop to 3G.
The sale is almost over.................www.dell.com
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Post by gfxbss on Jan 29, 2008 8:46:50 GMT -5
CK,
i now understand what people mean when they ask me "is that necessary?" i suppose i have 3GB Ram in mine, but do a lot of video work. regardless, go big or go home. ;D i suppose what i should be asking is...... how does it run?
As far as my new toy, well i now have a violin. found it on ebay for pretty cheap. i had been wanting one for a few years thinking "it has strings, how hard can it be to play?" also, the fact that they have 2nd graders playing these things(albeit not well) reinforced my thought of "how hard can it be." I have been playing violin for a week now, dear lord, they are tough if you dont know what youre doing. it squeaks, it shrieks, it also had a "moo" sound that came out of it once.
anyone else have some fun new toys?
Tyler
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Post by ux4484 on Jan 29, 2008 9:55:06 GMT -5
I got one of those $29 Rogue Mandolins (now $49) from MF last summer (right before their warehouse fart). It's amazing how hard it can be to play chords upside-down and tonally reversed. If I add it once a week to my playing schedule, it really makes a difference in my fingertips. I think if I started playing live again, I'd pick up the mando more often just to keep my fingers in better shape.
The Mandolin is the one instrument that drives my kids nuts, they just don't see the point. Daughter #1's comment was: "I'm glad it's not electric".
We picked up a new Dell desktop just before Xmas, (a deal very like yours Chris, they sent us the gift card even though that promotion started after we bought it). We opted for Windows XP because of the Mrs' tax prep software (she needs to run previous versions), not to mention things like X-edit (for my Digitech) won't run under Vista.
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Post by ChrisK on Jan 29, 2008 13:00:19 GMT -5
Great! If only I could keep up with it.
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Post by dunkelfalke on Jan 30, 2008 2:42:06 GMT -5
not yet, but i want to upgrade my mobile phone to 128 mb ram so i am looking for two special memory chips and someone who can solder BGA.
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Post by ChrisK on Jan 30, 2008 13:31:40 GMT -5
It ain't someone, it's something (as in a vapor phase, forced hot air, or infrared SMT rework station).
BTW, the ball joint quality check method for BGA SMT is an X-ray machine (although there is a side-looking occular device available).
I've done SMT prototype assembly and proto rework over the years, but I won't even think about BGA (and my company HAS the tools).
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