josetann
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Posts posted by josetann
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I got four iPhone SE (2020 version) from Cricket (AT&T owned MVNO) for free. The deal was you paid $60 * 3 months upfront and got the phone free. I plan on keeping the plan for a while, so the phones are essentially free. They limit you to two free phones per 180 days, but my mom lives nearby so we used her address for two of them. Once all four were activated we merged them into one account and are paying $100/mo for all four lines. The iPhone SE is decent, definitely an upgrade from a 7. You still have the physical home button, which can be pretty useful when out and about with a face mask (as a fingerprint works fine regardless of face mask usage; gloves would be an issue though).
I also jumped on the buy one get one iPhone 13 deal at Costco (T-Mobile lines), and since all four lines were new I should be getting another $400 that will nearly (but not completely) cover the monthly fees for the period I have to keep the lines active. Already got the main b1g1 rebates, just waiting on the $100 per line that will take longer.
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I don't buy gifts for anyone but our kids. Problem solved. We'll have meals with our relatives, spend time with them, bake Christmas goodies for them to take home...but no store-bought gifts anymore. Though with us being so far away this year...can't even do that...I guess some free phone calls are all they're gonna get. First year doing this, a few still bought us gifts...when they didn't get anything they quickly got the picture (or slowly...I mean we did give them lots of advance warning). They still get gifts for the kids...cause I'm not going to dictate who can and can't give gifts to our kids. Well, I can't dictate who gives US gifts either, but I can let my preference be known (my mom still gives us some cash, I'd rather she didn't but it makes her happy, so there ya go).
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I will graduated nursing school on Dec 13 (YAY!!)
Simple solution! Get a couple years of experience under your belt, start travel nursing, and make sure you're always on a travel assignment far away during Thanksgiving (and any other time of the year you need to be away). "Gee family, I really really wish I could make it home for Thanksgiving, but even if I somehow got the day off, I'm 3,000 miles away. Maybe next year...."
Ok, an even simpler solution is to just work a normal staff job and volunteer to work that day. Shouldn't be hard...you'd probably be made to work most major holidays anyways, especially if you're the newbie. "Sorry guys, I'd love to make Thanksgiving/Christmas/other major holiday, but darn it, people are so inconsiderate and get sick/have babies/etc. even if it's a major holiday, and being the newbie I gotta be the nurse who's there taking care of all those inconsiderate patients. My manager is confident I'll get Thanksgiving off sometime in the next decade though!"
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I think I may have turned anti Black-Friday. I don't think I went the past three years at all (my wife did two years ago). I realized I was a bit too much into it when I was contemplating having Thanksgiving dinner in the parking lot of Best Buy. Not worth it.
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A speedy core i7 laptop with a large drive, lots of ram, all packed in a small package (14" screen would be nice, 15.6" would be ok I guess).
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I changed the oil in the RV.
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I've read a lot of incorrect information in this thread regarding resolution and refresh rates. Let me explain:
720p/1080i are NOT two separate options. A 720p set will also display 1080i signals as broadcast.
The upgrade from this is to 1080p, which is the blu-ray resolution.
HD TV shows are displayed in either 720p (FOX, ESPN) or 1080i (ABC, NBC, CBS). Very few would notice any difference in quality between these two. I only notice a slight improvement when viewing sports broadcast in 1080i. It's not like you have any choice, it is dependent upon the source. Again, if you have a 720p set, it will also display the 1080i at the highest possible resolution.
If you think you'll ever hook up a blu-ray player, you want a 1080p set. If you don't have one, there's no real reason to have blu-ray either as your TV will be downgrading the resolution to its limited capacity (1080i). With blu-ray players available this year at under $150, you'll be getting one eventually!
When HDTVs first came out, they were all 720p/1080i. The next gen. became 1080p. It's almost like B&W and then color sets. For a time, you could get both, and B&W could be had for a song compared to color. But eventually, it would be ridiculous to buy anything but color.
It seems from the early signs this year that the big "deals" advertised are going to be on 720p sets. They're doing this because they can advertise a very low WOW price on an HDTV of a certain size. They will get a lot of takers on these, but mark my words that manufacturers won't be producing 720p max. sets much longer.
Now if you're just buying a smaller set for a bedroom or whatever, you can probably be pretty satisfied with one of these. But again, don't expect to hook up a blu-ray player to it and be impressed versus your DVD player.
As for refresh rate, 60Hz will allow you to notice some blurring, when watching sports mostly. 120Hz will all but eliminate the blurring. I don't see any need to spring for 240Hz.
Personally, I have a 1080p 120Hz 60" for my main TV and love it. Blu-ray is amazing, and HDTV satellite broadcasts are pretty darn good too. My secondary set is one I inherited and is a 720p 60Hz 32". My son watches it mostly and at 6 yrs old, certainly doesn't poo-poo it's shortcomings versus our main set! I do notice the blurring when we happen to have sports showing on it. What I'm hoping for this year is a great deal on a 46" or 50" 1080p 120Hz to replace this secondary TV, which I would move to our bedroom to replace a SD tube set. Yes, replacing any SD tube set with any HD resolution LCD would be an upgrade.
So, if you really just want a small bedroom or kitchen set, you'd probably be okay with one of the 720p sets advertised (stick to a "real" brand though, including Vizio). I would not recommend one for your main set though since you will end up disappointed WHEN you go blu-ray.
Well, it's not entirely accurate, but good enough for the average consumer I guess.
Basically, 720p and 1080i ARE two separate "options." If you watch a lot of 1080i content, you may want a set that has 1080i as it's native resolution. True, the vast majority of HDTVs (and I'd wager every single one manufactured today) will have no problem letting you view 720p and 1080i, but it'll end up either upconverting or downconverting at some point. If I was looking at multiple TVs at about the same price range, then I might worry about something like native resolution. Otherwise it's not a big deal in my book.
1080p is best, period. If you're upgrading from a non-HD TV, then you will be quite pleased with a set that has a native resolution of 720p (I'd say about half of broadcast HD you can watch is going to be 720p anyways, but I don't have exact figures).
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I saw a GPS on clearance last night at Target. It was a Garmin nuvi 255w I think. It was about $219 on clearance for $159, I think. So far all the GPS's on BF are the bottom of the line models. Is this a good deal or should I wait for BF?
I don't ever go by the "original" price. Amazon has it currently for $159.99, so $0.99 more. But remember there's no shipping and probably no tax too.
Unless you must have one today, I'd wait. Might want to keep an eye on refurbs, I've seen decent deals on Amazon now and again (and don't forget checking woot.com daily, sometimes it seems all they sell are gps, roombas, and sansas).
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Here are my thoughts on the K-Mart netbook:
1. A 400 MHz chip from 2009 is far superior to a 400 MHz chip from ten years ago. Performance-wise, even this odd ball Sammy chip is going to outpace an old Pentium II. So, it should be survivable for all but the bigger Flash elements on the web.
2. It is a netbook. There's always a certain element of lowering your expectations with netbooks.
3. It is K-Mart.
I'm not so much excited about this particular netbook (folks can do better, for sure). I'm excited about the price.
If K-Mart, one of the also-rans for BF computers, is going $120, it's sets the bar for BB and Wally. And when BB and Wally get into a fight over BF computer prices, we the consumer tend to win big. K-Mart obviously isn't going all-in for BF electronics. They never do. So, to see K-Mart so close to a $99 netbook gives me a lot of hope.
The cpu is from 2003 or sooner, see here: http://www.samsung.com/global/system/business/semiconductor/product/2007/8/11/259693s3c2440x_rev21.pdf
Also of note, the cpu is ARM based, not x86. Meaning, no matter how much ram or disk space you throw at this netbook, it will NEVER run Windows XP, Vista, or 7 (or even 2000, Me, 98, 95, etc.). Windows CE is somewhat related to Windows Mobile, if that helps.
Most netbooks out there have a processor that's x86 based, meaning you can install "regular" windows on it. Some still come with a slower Celeron, most now come with an Atom, but both are x86 based. Even if it came with linux installed, you could still wipe that out and put Windows XP/Vista/7 on it. Not so with this "netbook."
Ok, here's a better analogy. I mentioned the Dell Axim above. If you had that, then you have a good idea of what this is capable of, just with a bigger screen. If not, then imagine a smartphone from a few years ago running Windows Mobile. Take out the phone, increase the screen to 7", and throw in a keyboard and a few ports. That's basically what this is.
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But would this notebook be okay for kids to go online with, and play online games?
It'd be ok for very basic sites, but don't expect it to work well for sites reliant on java, flash, or anything like that.
Windows CE is the same OS that many PDAs used to use (such as the Dell Axim). If you ever had one, then you pretty much know what this netbook can do.
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Wow. No one has yet posted about the $120 netbook from K-Mart this year?
That's a very positive sign. Considering the tendency of Walmart and Best Buy to get into a shooting war over the big electronics items, a $120 netbook at K-Mart (a lightweight in the electronics fight) all but guarantees both Wally and BB will have a $99. In fact, I wouldn't be shocked to see Wally go $89 on a doorbuster.
Either people missed it, or initially got excited until they found out what it was. The OS is Windows CE (not XP, Vista, or 7). Some quick research revealed it probably has a mere 2GB SSD drive, and 128MB RAM. Not much of a deal.
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I would have no problems taking my kids with me. Neither have been yet, and probably won't again this year (things came up last year and looks like we'll be skipping this year too).
My oldest camped out for the Xbox 360 at Target, but he didn't get one (some stupid rule about only giving tickets to people who've already been born). He also helped camp out for two Wii preorders (one of which was also a PS3 preorder) and again for the actual PS3 launch. He made an excellent line holder, and we were more than prepared (nice tent, small heater that kept it warm enough you didn't need a coat inside, etc.). Don't worry, he did get a tickle me elmo out of the deal :)
Now, if we had problems like many places do, I would never consider letting him go out on BF (or any crazy event where people are lining up days in advance). People have been pretty civil, no big rush on the doors when they open, and at least at Best Buy they only let so many people in at a time. Might be a bit crowded, but again everybody stays civil.
Oh, and about being dressed appropriately. I'll dress them as much (or little) as I/they think is needed, not as much as some random stranger (or even family) thinks. I've had the audacity to let my 1yr old out with just a diaper on in the middle of summer (and my wife's been asked if he was cold...he wasn't in the least). Both kids would kick off socks when they were infants, and of course we'd be asked where their socks were (true, they may end up sockless even in winter, but we carry a small blanket to keep them warm). Heck, it's in the 60s today and most people were wearing long sleeves or jackets, and my son was out playing with long shorts and short sleeves (he'll tell you when it's cold, and he didn't say a peep about it).
Anyways, unless I see something that is way wrong (such as a child with no jacket/pants shivering and crying while in line outside below freezing, in the rain, parents not keeping track of them, etc.) I'm not going to worry about it too much. Now, feel free to look at what I do and say to yourself "that's something I'd never do", just don't come up to me and shout that to the whole world.
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Don't tell my wife, she's already freaked out enough about our drive back home to Tennessee (currently in Alaska). Her mom told her about snow in Montana, but I pointed out we'd be going through the Dakotas instead.
Oddly enough, here in Anchorage there's no snow, and the snow on the mountains we had the past couple weeks is melting. We're in the 50s and the low tonight is 48
I was sure we'd be playing in the snow by now! -
Netbooks (at least my niece's) do not have a CD or DVD drive so you can't use it as a portable DVD player. Also the one's with Windows do come with Word but be prepared to have a bunch of flash drives or an external hard drive because they don't have much memory. I'm still planning on getting at least one this BF, maybe 2 if they are under $100!
True, but you can probably convert your dvds to divx or some-such and store them on your netbook. Hard drive size depends on the model. Most with really small drives are SSD (no movable parts, should handle vibrations and rough handling better). Many come with regular drives though, mine came with 320GB.
As much abuse as mine gets, I should have purchased an extended warranty. Using a netbook with a regular drive as a gps in an RV going on the Alaska highway is a bit rough on the poor thing. I had three regular drives go out on the trip up, and these were in devices not even powered up (the drive in the netbook survived though). As much as these are apt to be tossed around, an SSD drive is great (and as I stated before, an extended warranty should probably at least be considered).
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Anchorage's Wal-Mart, Fred Meyer's and Target all have some christmas stuff up now. Kohls does too! I was excited to see the new christmas village pieces
I was just at the Wal-Mart off Old Seward the other day, didn't see anything. I'll probably have to run out by Kohl's and Target since they've got their stuff out now. Oh and I did see that Fred Meyer's had a few things out. Not much, but I did pick up a Charlie Brown Christmas tree for $15 (bought one years ago for much more, but this one comes with the blanket!). With the temperature falling and snow on the mountains, it's definitely starting to look a lot like Christmas (at least to this Tennessee boy). Already went through a whole thing of hot chocolate!
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At least one of the Costcos in Anchorage has half an aisle or so of Christmas stuff. Didn't notice anything at Sam's Club last time I was there, that was a couple weeks ago though. Haven't seen any Christmas items in Wal-Mart, Fred Meyer's, or Target yet.
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Ace Hardware. September 7th.
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What do you charge? And are the rates for #1 and #2 different?
A buck a dump.
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Can you still get awesome deals on Black Friday without camping out? I really don't want to sit in a tent for 3 days.
Define "awesome". If you want that unadvertised desktop from Best Buy for ~$150, you might want to start camping out now. If you're just looking to pickup some cheap dvd box sets, then you can probably wait until sometime late October.
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Roombas. With kids we just can't keep the house clean enough to run the things.
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Hey Big Jim! I need to get a tent for my relay for life next summer. I was starting to look around because of the end of season. I have never bought a tent before....Tents don't need stakes? Can you tell me more???
Well, all tents need stakes to be properly setup, but there are many that don't require them in order to keep their shape (generally dome tents). Basically, what you want is a tent that you setup first and then stake down, vs one that you have to stake down first and then setup the poles. Just make sure if it's windy outside and you have to leave for a bathroom break, that there's enough inside the tent to weight it down. Otherwise your tent may end up across the street (hopefully near the front of the line at another popular store).
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RV
Planned on taking it last year, but due to family illness we had to skip TG and BF. Assuming we don't get stranded on the way back from Alaska, should be back in time to use it this year.
Of course we'd still be in line too, so at least one tent, plenty of blankets, heaters (camping heaters plus a couple electric, if we can keep the gen running on the RV), maybe some chairs, etc.
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Where do you live? Only 70's for the highs? Man, it's been in the 100's down south. I'd love to be in the 70's right now! :)
We're in Anchorage until sometime in October. It's supposed to cool down to the mid-60s next week, but the weather's lied before (It was supposed to be mid-50s last week, but instead was more 70s)! Once we get some snow I might have to head north to North Pole, AK. That should put everyone in the Christmas mood! After this assignment's over it's back home to TN (where the temps were awfully close to 100 shortly after we left, and let's not talk about TX where we were at before).
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Unless something drastic happens, we'll be off the entire holiday season. My wife has taken up travel nursing, so if ya don't wanna work the holidays...don't take a contract then! It'll be the first Christmas in a while that we don't have to worry about how work will screw up our plans again (they always liked to pull the "everyone has to work a half shift on Christmas" routine, vs rotating).
I was sure we'd be playing in the snow by now!
Best deal you got
in 2021
Posted
Best deal on Black Friday itself was getting an iPhone 13 mini for $400. Went to Walmart and got the 12 mini locked to Straight Talk for $300 plus tax. Then went to Best Buy and traded it in toward an iPhone 13 mini for another $70 plus tax (T-Mobile gave an extra $200 trade-in value).