the equipment was never touched by clients. Most projectors were setup,
by us, at functions in hotels, convention centers, etc. All we did was
hand the remote and cable to the person with the laptop. So if you do
buy one, you can trust that (well, most of the time) that the equipment
has been maintained by people who know what they are doing. Now rental
cars, HA! I can't tell you how many times I have said "So what? It's a
rental" as I gunned the engine or rode too close to the curb.
-----Original Message-----
From: Jerry Johnson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, November 07, 2003 2:04 PM
To: CF-Community
Subject: RE: iTunes - What does that .99 cents pay for?
For the projector, my needs are simple.
It serves as a large TV for parties, playing xBox and sometimes coding
from the couch.
I went to a couple of local projector rental places (down in CT), and
found a few with knowledgable service guys.
I told them to give me a call when they were unloading any decent
projectors that met my specs (800+lumens,video in, 8-foot throw)
It took a while (a couple of months), and they called a couple of times,
but I finally found one I wanted. (Of course I saw other stuff I
"couldn't live without". I also picked up two 17" flat screen monitors
with touchscreens while waiting for the projector.)
What I looked for:
No obvious holes.
No obvious dents from dropping it. (Lots of scrapes and little dings
OK)
No obvious scratches on the lens
Good fan sound.
Decent bulb. (He said it probably had 1500 hours on it)
What I didn't get:
cables
case
remote control
software
Most of the equipment I have dealt with from rental places have been
fairly lightly used. The rental places charge such high fees that they
break even pretty quickly on this gear. And it is very important to
their clients to be renting the very latest, smallest, fastest gear
possible. Stuff they can't afford to buy so they have to rent. A lot of
it is "fronting" by their clients, putting on a better show than they
can really afford. So they tend to offload the older equipment (read a
couple of months) for whatever they can get for them. Turnaround is
important.
I agree I would never buy a rental car, since they are used to death,
but most of the rental equipment I have seen is pretty good. This does
not include laptops, however. They get treated pretty poorly.
Jerry Johson
>>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 11/07/03 01:30PM >>>
Jerry,
Actually, I need all those items!! I understood about 500 each. What
do you have to look over to make sure you get a good one? I'm always
looking for better ways to save money but have been leery of getting
stuff from rental places. The perfect example is the used car. I would
never in my life buy a used car from a rental place. However, lm all
ears for good strategies! One effective one thats worked for me once or
twice is to find recently divorced women trying to get rid of their exes
toys. Of course I'm not going to stand outside the court to find them so
its pretty much happenstance. Garage sales are occasionally good.
Local auctions too. I've rarely found ebay to be that good.
DRE
-----Original Message-----
From: Jerry Johnson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, November 07, 2003 9:41 AM
To: CF-Community
Subject: RE: iTunes - What does that .99 cents pay for?
If you ever need a decent projector (for personal and hobby use), buy a
used projector from a rental service. If you are careful, and look over
what you are buying, you can get fairly recent models at great prices.
Some dents and dings, but the hardware is fine.
I picked up my InFocus LP240 used for $420. It is going to cost me
another $300 soon, since I am going to need to replace the bulb, but
they gave me a bulb with decent life left on it so there is no rush.
But that paragraph meant to imply I paid less than $500 for EACH item,
not together.
Jerry Johnson
>>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 11/07/03 11:28AM >>>
Oops, that previous one got away from me.
Jerry,
Mind if I inquire on your shopping habbits to get:
Its more than I paid for my projector, my desktops, my touch screens, my
ebook reader, my cellphone, my digital camera, my TV, my Tivo, etc. for
less than 500? A good projector alone is usually 4x that.
Thanks DRE
-----Original Message-----
From: Jerry Johnson [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, November 07, 2003 9:05 AM
To: CF-Community
Subject: RE: iTunes - What does that .99 cents pay for?
Me?
(Oh wait, you said "right mind")
I've got the 30GB model. I've got roughly 7000 songs on the iPod at the
moment. A mix of singles and albums. Which makes it about 2/3 full.
I will end up filling it up, and probably needing to delete things to
rotate different songs and albums.
I do store a little bit of data on it, as well.
As for whether or not Apple can sell hardware to a limited audience, I
think they do it very well.
I paid $499 for the darn thing. Plus accessories. That is more than I
paid for any other computer I own at the moment, except my xServe and
Sony Viao.
Its more than I paid for my projector, my desktops, my touch screens, my
ebook reader, my cellphone, my digital camera, my TV, my Tivo, etc.
I bought an xServe because I was impressed with my iPod and previously
with my iMac (and a little because of my Apple ][).
If they came out with a modern eBook reader, I'd be on it immediately.
If they did a camera with the same engineering details, I'd by it.
Or a professional quality digital recorder to replace my minidisc.
There are a myriad of consumer electronics I would by from them if they
made them _right_. Only Sony is coming close to answering my desires for
personal electronics. And they get it wrong as often as they get it
right.
Jerry Johnson
>>> [EMAIL PROTECTED] 11/07/03 10:45AM >>>
>>Who in their right mind has 1000+ albums? <g>
*raises hand*
-----Original Message-----
From: Philip Arnold [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Friday, November 07, 2003 10:43 AM
To: CF-Community
Subject: RE: iTunes - What does that .99 cents pay for?
> I'm just waiting for the new Nomad Jukebox Zen Ultra. 60 gigs of
space.
I had a 6Gig MP3 player when they first came out, and that held 120-130
albums
Who in their right mind has 1000+ albums? <g>
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