The only site I'll ever need...

[Kerm]

Looking for a cheap laptop for the trailer.  I use a thinkpad at the meth lab where i work, which i love, but i know next-to-nothing about computers.  newegg has a daily special on this bad boy: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834146441

(the lenovo IdeaPad Y510(59013769) NoteBook Intel Pentium dual-core T2370(1.73GHz) 15.4" Wide XGA 3GB Memory 250GB HDD 5400rpm Dual layer DVD Burner Intel GMA). 

Can someone tell me (a) if this is good deal (appears to be), and (b) if this is a good computer (i don't "game"; I only use my computer for working from home via citrix and itunes).

Thanks.

When shopping for a laptop, figure out how portable you're going to need it to be.  You can get a 17" screen, which is awesome but very heavy and not very portable.

You can get a 12" screen, which is good and portable.  However, obviously, the screen is small.

The one that's there is perfectly fine if you don't game.  It's portable enough, 3 GBs of RAM, 250 GB of HD.

The battery is kind of small (that 4 hours will likely be closer to 2.5 or 3), but you can upgrade that.  The price is all right.  It is a consumer-grade notebook, which means [I've heard] that it goes through less testing/qc than a business notebook, but is also much less expensive.

Speaking of batteries, do you have any tips on where to get them on the cheap?  Stock laptop batteries suck balls.

Yes, I do.  I don't know about price, but here you go.

I'm sure there are other places, but here's a start.

Yeah, see, the key word from my post was "cheap."  If I want to get raped, I'll just wait until Edmonds gets to town.

[berkeleycubfan]

Every July 4 I go to Las Vegas with a group of friends, and spend 4 days there, which is too long. Because of that, we schedule a day trip to a ballgame. It started innocently enough, with us renting a car and driving down to Phoenix to watch Mark Mulder come five outs from throwing a perfecto vs. Bob Brenly's and Mark Grace's D-backs. It continued with two more trips to Arizona, once in 2002 to watch the Dodgers knock off the D-backs, and then again in 2004 as the D-backs celebrated Brenly's axing by losing to Minnesota (and I celebrated by watching the fifth game of my $50 5-team parlay come in on the out of town scoreboard). Then we mixed in a trip to LA (to watch the D-backs and Dodgers yet again), and then PETCO in 2006 to see Chris R. Young's fist and Matt Morris' beard duel.

This year, we're going to San Francisco to catch the Cubs and the Giants play in a 4:05 game at Pac Bell SBC AT&T Park. Here's the catch: Game starts at 4:05 PT (weird), and we have a 9:00 flight out of SFO to McCarran. Berkeley, Stew, how much should I allow for traffic/BART/packed mule to get back to the airport?

I'm a big fan of public transportation...as long as I don't have to take it everyday!  (Which I did for over 5 years.)  BART is usually very reliable except for delays after earthquakes and "police actions" and people getting smashed on the tracks - but seriously, most of the time it's very punctual.  However, it's not a very direct route to SFO, so it can take longer to get there than driving.  I'm not sure how crowded it would be after the game, but based on my experience after a Cubs game last year, I'm guessing attendance will be much higher than usual; as you might imagine, the Cubs will be a big attraction.

If you took BART, you'd probably BART from the Powell or Montgomery station in the City - that's about a 35 minute trip on the train all by itself.  And once at the SFO BART station, you have to board the "Airtrain" which takes you from the station to the actual terminals - that process is only about 5 or 10 minutes and it's actually pretty convenient, but it does add a little more time .  Additionally, getting to the BART station from the ballpark is about a 15 minute walk or a short bus or cab ride.  Add it all up, it's gonna take an hour to get from the ballpark to SFO that way.
http://www.bart.gov/guide/airport/outbound_sfo.asp

Driving or taking a shuttle or a cab will probably be much quicker at that time of day - though much more expensive.  The traffic around the immediate ballpark area will probably be unpleasant especially if it's just after the end of the game.  But it's entirely possible to get to SFO from that area in 15 - 20 minutes by car, but don't expect that to happen - I'd give it a half hour just to be safe.

See what Stew says, though.  He's definitely the man.

And thanks for bringing this up.  I haven't gotten tickets yet - I need to do that!

[Andre Dawson's Creek]

DPD.

I'm thinking about making a trip to Chicago in July with my girlfriend!!! to visit some friends and see a Cubs game.  The weekend that seems to work is July 11-13, when the Cubs are playing the Giants.

Since it's a weekend, all tickets appear to be snapped up.  So what's the best way to go about finding tickets?  Stubhub?  Or do any morans here have tickets they don't want for that weekend? 

Suggestions are appreciated.

For affordability,  EBay still trumps Stubhub I've found. 

If you go the StubHub route, wait until the game gets closer.   

Hello my friend.  I have tikets to the matchup of the Cubs you can bye from me from Ebay.  sadly, I'm in Nigeria on business.  But if you kindly would wire transfer the monies i would be requesting.  I dont have a doubt I could provide you with the tickets you require.

[Indolent Reader]

DPD.

I'm thinking about making a trip to Chicago in July with my girlfriend!!! to visit some friends and see a Cubs game.  The weekend that seems to work is July 11-13, when the Cubs are playing the Giants.

Since it's a weekend, all tickets appear to be snapped up.  So what's the best way to go about finding tickets?  Stubhub?  Or do any morans here have tickets they don't want for that weekend? 

Suggestions are appreciated.

For affordability,  EBay still trumps Stubhub I've found. 

If you go the StubHub route, wait until the game gets closer.   

Hello my friend.  I have tikets to the matchup of the Cubs you can bye from me from Ebay.  sadly, I'm in Nigeria on business.  But if you kindly would wire transfer the monies i would be requesting.  I dont have a doubt I could provide you with the tickets you require.

Golf.  Clap.

[CT II]

DPD.

I'm thinking about making a trip to Chicago in July with my girlfriend!!! to visit some friends and see a Cubs game.  The weekend that seems to work is July 11-13, when the Cubs are playing the Giants.

Since it's a weekend, all tickets appear to be snapped up.  So what's the best way to go about finding tickets?  Stubhub?  Or do any morans here have tickets they don't want for that weekend? 

Suggestions are appreciated.

For affordability,  EBay still trumps Stubhub I've found. 

If you go the StubHub route, wait until the game gets closer.   

Hello my friend.  I have tikets to the matchup of the Cubs you can bye from me from Ebay.  sadly, I'm in Nigeria on business.  But if you kindly would wire transfer the monies i would be requesting.  I dont have a doubt I could provide you with the tickets you require.

It's true, he's in Nigeria.  He and I are dating while he's out of town.

[Shooter]

I'm going to be traveling in Europe for a couple of weeks this summer. Any tips on renting a cell phone to use while over there (companies to use, etc.)? It will be used mostly to communicate with others I am traveling with, call ahead for hotel reservations, etc. I'd be unlikely to use a lot of minutes.

[Andre Dawson's Creek]

I'm going to be traveling in Europe for a couple of weeks this summer. Any tips on renting a cell phone to use while over there (companies to use, etc.)? It will be used mostly to communicate with others I am traveling with, call ahead for hotel reservations, etc. I'd be unlikely to use a lot of minutes.

1) Do they have prepaid phones over there,like they do here?

2)  Call your provider and tell them you need your phone unlocked because you're going overseas.  If you can get it unlocked, it should work across the pond without any problems (depending on the phone).

[Oleg]

I'm going to be traveling in Europe for a couple of weeks this summer. Any tips on renting a cell phone to use while over there (companies to use, etc.)? It will be used mostly to communicate with others I am traveling with, call ahead for hotel reservations, etc. I'd be unlikely to use a lot of minutes.

1) Do they have prepaid phones over there,like they do here?

2)  Call your provider and tell them you need your phone unlocked because you're going overseas.  If you can get it unlocked, it should work across the pond without any problems (depending on the phone).

Whenever my parents have traveled overseas, my dad always just gets a sim chip for his Razr and calls it a day.  If you have any trouble finding one that will work overseas, let me know, I can find out where to get one.  I have no idea if this means that your phone has to be *unlocked* or if this is what ADC is talking about and I'm just being redundant.

[PTanner]

I want to get a site up and running. Text and messageboard.

Who is happy/unhappy with their hosting companies?

[Thrillho]

I want to get a site up and running. Text and messageboard.

Who is happy/unhappy with their hosting companies?

Kind of ironic that you'd post this query in a thread devoted to Desipio being the only site you'll ever need, but I'll offer my two cents.

I've had a relatively low-traffic art fag blog hosted on ICDSoft since 2004.

I'm not running anything in the realm of a MySQL-powered messageboard or anything, so can't totally vouch for reliability on that count, just a Movable Type installation with static pages and a MySQL back end, and a probably average-sized comment spam load that put it through enough paces.

I've only ever had 2 or 3 rather minor problems crop up over that time. Each time support responded to my initial ticket in under an hour and the issues were completely resolved within the same day.

I've been happy enough that I set my brother up with hosting there as well.

http://www.icdsoft.com/

When should we expect the official launch of www.man-dance.com, Fork?

[CT II]

I want to get a site up and running. Text and messageboard.

Who is happy/unhappy with their hosting companies?

Kind of ironic that you'd post this query in a thread devoted to Desipio being the only site you'll ever need, but I'll offer my two cents.

I've had a relatively low-traffic art fag blog hosted on ICDSoft since 2004.

I'm not running anything in the realm of a MySQL-powered messageboard or anything, so can't totally vouch for reliability on that count, just a Movable Type installation with static pages and a MySQL back end, and a probably average-sized comment spam load that put it through enough paces.

I've only ever had 2 or 3 rather minor problems crop up over that time. Each time support responded to my initial ticket in under an hour and the issues were completely resolved within the same day.

I've been happy enough that I set my brother up with hosting there as well.

http://www.icdsoft.com/

When should we expect the official launch of www.man-dance.com, Fork?

I don't know what half this shit means, but you better watch it with that back sass, mister.

Fuck, this helloworld makes this drunken posting seem so easy...

[J Rod]

This thing is kind of like a Magic 8 Ball, ask a question and get an answer...

So I've come into possession of a 61" Toshiba HDTV that I am looking to sell.  It's about 6-7 years old, so calling it an HDTV is probably a joke, but I was told by the purchaser that it is an HDTV.  Either way, I'm looking to unload it and was curious if anyone here would know what a fair price would be to request for it.  Unfortunately I won't have access to a model # until this weekend (it's in Rockford), but if anyone has a ball park figure I'd appreciate it.

It's one of those 'old school' rear projection type big screens.  The thing is a beast, standing over 5' tall.

[TDubbs]

This thing is kind of like a Magic 8 Ball, ask a question and get an answer...

So I've come into possession of a 61" Toshiba HDTV that I am looking to sell.  It's about 6-7 years old, so calling it an HDTV is probably a joke, but I was told by the purchaser that it is an HDTV.  Either way, I'm looking to unload it and was curious if anyone here would know what a fair price would be to request for it.  Unfortunately I won't have access to a model # until this weekend (it's in Rockford), but if anyone has a ball park figure I'd appreciate it.

It's one of those 'old school' rear projection type big screens.  The thing is a beast, standing over 5' tall.

It is worth at least one dollar.  At the VERY least.

[numbersman2]

So where you gonna find used parts for it? 

[Al Yellon]

This thing is kind of like a Magic 8 Ball, ask a question and get an answer...

So I've come into possession of a 61" Toshiba HDTV that I am looking to sell.  It's about 6-7 years old, so calling it an HDTV is probably a joke, but I was told by the purchaser that it is an HDTV.  Either way, I'm looking to unload it and was curious if anyone here would know what a fair price would be to request for it.  Unfortunately I won't have access to a model # until this weekend (it's in Rockford), but if anyone has a ball park figure I'd appreciate it.

It's one of those 'old school' rear projection type big screens.  The thing is a beast, standing over 5' tall.

I don't know how accurate this method of price estimation is, but what the hell. I searched completed ebay auctions for 61" rear projection sets. They don't have a very wide marketplace because shipping makes them cost prohibitive, so I set it to sellers who lived within 200 miles of New York (as large of a local market as possible).

One model is a Samsung HL-P6163W. It sold for $395 this year after 33 bids. It's MSRP was about $3500 when released in 2004. Price is declining by 32% per year.

Another model is a Sony KP-61XBR200. It sold for $180 this year after 30 bids. Its MSRP was about $5900 when released in 1998. Price is declining by 42% per year.

So, let's say rear projection sets decline in value by 35% per year. Take some 61" Toshiba models from the time period:

61A62 - MSRP $1500, 6 years old = Estimated Present Value of about $110
61H70 - MSRP $3500, 7 years old = Estimated Present Value of about $170

I could be way off though.