3Par bidding war

Generally I don’t care much about these acquisitions.  Several times in the past though I have been disappointed with some changes such as when Site Advisor was bought by McAfee.  Luckily Web Of Trust came around so I had a replacement.  In general I like products from the “little guys” because I think they have our interests at heart?  Instead of only worrying about money like the “big boys” do.  I do understand though that is is nice to see the little guys get paid but it sucks because their product is no longer about helping people, but about money for the new company.  The recent Intel purchase of McAfee has me wondering what is wrong with them, but this “war” amused me.

Just in case you missed it, here is the basic story.  Dell had bid for a storage company named 3Par.  HP jumped in and started making counter bids.  Like I mentioned, I really don’t care about this.  However the way it went down amuses me greatly.  I have never liked Dell.  Maybe back when they were small they cared about their customers, but that is not true today.  HP isn’t some night in shining armor either, they screw us over too!  I don’t think HP screws their customers as badly as Dell does but in all honesty over the last few months I have been wondering.  I have been recommending HP laptops for years and lately I’ve been wondering if that is a good choice?  I’m not going to get into all of that though.  The focus here is the fact that HP showed their balls and kicked Dell in their face!  This had been going on for at least a week and I kept reading the headlines.  I honestly expected HP to back down and thought they were toying with Dell.  The end results though surprised me a bit and honestly makes me feel a little better about HP?  But is that right?  HP has turned into the Goliath here and is the big company in computer world and Dell (with their bad decisions and bad press) have turned into David.  Normally I go for David to win, but here I’m sticking with HP?  I don’t have any interest in 3Par but thought I would share my amusement with you all.  Your thoughts??

Our trip to Pittsburgh

I apologize that it took me almost a week to post about it, some how it slipped my mind?  We have been very busy at work and I’ve been busy at home and with the store also.

First I have to say that we as a family really suck at vacations, even mini-ones.  I will be honest with you all too even at the risk of sounding like a “girl.”  Three years ago when we went to Niagara Falls we were fine.  At the time we only had “Doo doo” so we took him with us.  We spent a few days there and had a lot of fun.  I think last summer we went down to southern Ohio and stayed in a cabin or something.  That trip was cut short the last night because at 10pm Amy decided that she missed her dogs and wanted to get home, we had “Doo doo” and “Peanut” at the time.  Now we have those two, the mamma dog “Pork Chop”, and the three puppies “Spike”, “Squirrel”, and “Marie.”  They really didn’t cut our trip short but by Saturday afternoon even I was missing them!

My Burrows Solutions store is still pretty small.  I keep trying to build inventory and purchase more of a variety of items but of course many things come into that.  I think I’m doing pretty good though?  So while I was slightly disappointed that I didn’t have any orders to deliver, I understand why.  I think the planets need to align at just the right time for someone in Pittsburgh to need something the week that I plan a trip and then manage to find my online store.  If I am able to make the two other trips I would really like to make in the next 4 months, then maybe it will happen with one of those trips?  Maybe I’ll even be lucky enough to score some Playoff tickets and make it to a few other Penguins games??  Oh boy, I hope I didn’t just jinx them.  So while I didn’t have any store deliveries, I did have one pick up.  On Tuesday of the prior week we had a laptop that needed a keyboard replaced.  The first place I looked at (because of price) was in Pittsburgh!  So I contacted them and asked if I could stop buy and pick it up.  It had free shipping but I still negotiated $5 off for the pickup.  So we saved our customer a few dollars.  That stop was pretty cool too because their “office” reminded me of my home office/store but they were a little more organized.  Seeing a real eBay store in action was kinda cool.  The two guys there were just wrapping and boxing up orders.  I chatted with them for several minutes and then continued on.

Pittsburgh was really just amazing.  The only other trip I had made was over a decade ago and at night so we really couldn’t see much, we were focused on staring at Three Rivers Stadium anyways.  Driving on the highways is normally fun for me but staring at Heinz Field, other things, and so many exit ramps to catch I was distracted quite a bit.  Driving around town was so cool.  You drive around to a different area and you can’t see anything but hills but then you come up another and there is the big beautiful city!  We did quite a bit of driving around and through a lot of streets we really wondered how the hell you could drive here in winter with snow and ice!

We didn’t plan our trip well enough.  I made the mistake of thinking that Amy would find points of interest and find out details for activities.  The only thing we were sure of was where our motel was and that the open house started at 9am the next morning.  When we finally made it to Heinz field in the early afternoon we had found that we missed the last guided tour by a few hours.  Really didn’t disappoint me much because I didn’t even really think about that.  I was happy to stand at the gates and view a little bit of the field.  It looks pretty awesome from pretty much any angle from the bridges and highways.

The next day for the open house we showed up at about the right time.  Just early enough to not be too far back in line and not too early where we were waiting in line for 1/2 hour.  Consol Energy Center was simply amazing, really.  We spent at least 2 hours in there looking around, checking out some of the open suites, and checking the view from various seats.  Amy made the comment that there is no bad seat in the place.  I disagree a little but you do have a good view from just about any seat.  The design and layout of the place was very nice and Amy made another comment that I have to get her to a game there soon.  So maybe we will plan an early trip to Pittsburgh in October just to see the Pens in action?  The technology built into the place was pretty cool too and I really do look forward to a future visit.

Like I mentioned we didn’t plan the trip well enough so we really didn’t do much.  We didn’t get a chance to visit Frick Park but maybe next time we will?  The most important thing was to see Heinz Field, Consol Energy Center, and of course the Duquesne Incline.  That incline provides an awesome view of Pittsburgh and was a fun ride.  William (our youngest, 10) was a little scared and didn’t want to ride it but that eased when we made him ride it.  Other than driving around town a bit and eating at a good restaurant, that is all we did.  By early afternoon Saturday we were all anxious to get back home to our puppies.  Kinda sucks that we have so many now because we can’t comfortably take them all with us and we can’t stay gone more than 36 hours without missing them!!  It was a great little get away and I hope to be able to afford a few more trips over the next year and to actually be able to watch a few games there.

What is the point?

Why do these companies insist on all of these marketing gimmicks??  Sure they are effective but people that spend the time researching these items to find out it means nothing then become mad and never buy a product from you!!  Now I am just going on an initial test of “Beats Audio.”  I did not have time for a full evaluation because we were busy and the customer was picking the new laptop up shortly after we received it.

I think most of you have seen the “Beats Audio” commercials for HP laptops with Dr. Dre in them.  I find the commercial very stupid and quite misleading.  The commercial left me wondering what it was and if it really was as cool as the commercial made it look.  We rarely get the chance to sell new laptops, let alone a $1300 laptop but I lucked out!  A few weeks after slightly researching “Beats Audio” I was fortunate enough to have a customer call and say he wanted a kick ass laptop.  So we picked out a nice HP with an i7 and ordered it.  We received it and checked it out a little.  Like I mentioned before, I did not have much time with it.  We had a lot of other computers to work on so honestly I only had 5 minutes to spend with it.

What is this “Beats Audio” supposed to be??  I hate to say it and apologize, but I really don’t know.  I mentioned that I researched it, but that was only for maybe 10-15 minutes and I didn’t find very much good information.  If this blog was my job and I was paid to do reviews I would be more thorough.  I apologize again for not being “professional” enough with this review.

I was expecting it to maybe be louder or something?  Better speakers and stuff?  We cranked up a few songs full blast and it didn’t impress.  My current 17″ HP laptop from 2 years ago is just as loud as that new laptop.  So yeah, loudness……that was our only test.  I guess we were “goofy” thinking that is the only thing about this “Beats Audio?”  It may have sounded a little better?  I dunno, I just expected it to be louder and have decent speakers.

So that is all it’s about I guess?  Just a gimmick that does nothing.  A way for Dr. Dre to cash another big check for doing a commercial.  Do any of you know what this is supposed to be?  Can you please help clue us in??  Please post!

I’m coming Pittsburgh, you ready for me?

The deal is set.  We have our tickets and a motel room, we are ready to roll out to Pittsburgh on Friday morning.  In all honesty I was thinking of lying to you all.  I am an honest person and you all know that but there are rare times when you have to conceal the truth a little.  A lot of people make the mistake of announcing vacations and stuff on Face Book and then come home to an empty house!!  Some criminals check out posts and stuff to find the ideal time to get you.  So basically I found someone to spend a few days and a night here at the house to watch the dogs and make sure no one breaks down my door.

I remembered that a few UBCD4Win users had told me to stop by if I ever make it to Pittsburgh, others have too but honestly the only trip I would really want to make would be to Pittsburgh.  I’m hoping a few of you read this in time because if you want me to stop by and say HI, I should be able to find the time to do that.  I also had a crazy idea for my Burrows Solutions store.  We’ve had several PA orders and maybe a couple of Pittsburgh orders in the past but I thought I could do a special promotion??  If anyone in Pittsburgh or surrounding area needs something and places an order next week……..I will personally deliver your order!  Ok, I guess it doesn’t sound that great?  What is the big deal, some dork stops by to drop off your order?  I thought maybe a few people may appreciate free shipping and that little personal touch.  I hope to be making some more trips to PA this year so if people actually like this, then maybe I will do it again?  Check out the blog at Burrows Solutions for more information.  Feel free to post any comments if you wish.  Also shoot me an email if you want me to stop by and visit.

Hello Pittsburgh!!

The Ben Burrows and Family Tour may be coming to a town near you!  OK, maybe not to a town near you?  Possibly Pittsburgh though!  The Penguins are holding an Open House for the new arena 2 Saturdays from today and I am thinking of going?  It isn’t written in stone yet because I need to make sure I can get the money around to go.  Luckily the tickets are an affordable $5 donation to one of their foundations but I don’t want to make the trip to Pittsburgh just to do that.  I want to do more!  I’m also hoping that business continues to grow so I might even be able to afford to take my mom and family to the Steelers and Raiders game (Raiders are my moms favorite team).  The Winter Classic in January looks pretty cool too because the Penguins will be in Heinz field.  There are a lot of cool things going on in Pittsburgh this year and I really hope for the chance to go!

Back to 2 weeks from now though.  Like I said, I’m not sure if I’m going but hope to.  Over the years I’ve received at least a few emails from UBCD4Win users in Pittsburgh but I can’t find them now.  A few people have wanted me to stop by their shop or something if I ever make it into town.  If you are one of those people I hope you read this before the 28th!

I am asking for some suggested stops also.  So if you can recommend something for us to do, please shoot me an email.  I’ve already noticed that there is a “Frick Park” so I’m thinking I need to stop just to catch a picture of the sign!!  Maybe hit a few bars Friday night looking for Big Ben?  Oh no, I didn’t just say that!  Sorry I couldn’t resist!  If you have a shop or something and want me to stop in to just say HI and you want to tell me how much you love UBCD4Win, shoot me an email.  I’m not sure if we are going but I would appreciate any emails from you.  Have a good weekend everyone!

Bad blogger…..bad!

I don’t know how I am supposed to make you all happy with my blog?  Evidently I can’t be consistent because it has been almost 2 weeks now since my last post.  How am I supposed to be a successful blogger if I sometimes don’t have time for it?  The past couple of weeks have been so crazy at work and at home I haven’t been able to keep up with much.  I haven’t really been able to keep up with the most recent computer news either so I have a lack of ideas in my head.  I could talk about my Burrows Solutions store but no one here seems to want to hear about it.  This blog hasn’t been getting many comments anyways so I wonder if anyone even reads this anyways?  Now I just thought of something, I need to talk about UBCD4Win?  Darn, I can’t because I’ve been so busy I haven’t had the time to do much work with that either.  I have thought that I should probably try to start doing a weekly post about a “how to do” something with UBCD4Win?  I think it is a pretty good idea but I don’t think I have the time for it?  Plus I am not sure what to cover with that?  If you want to give me some ideas on what you think would be good to post about then please shoot me an email.  Maybe I can at least find the time to do that once a week and throw in an occasional new post also?  Please shoot me an email!!

When will USB 3 take over your life?

It just finally hit me today.  The thought of all thoughts, I really do NEED USB 3!  I’ve talked about the new standard a few times and it appears that in an earlier writing my research was wrong?  I don’t know how I did it but I apologize for the misinformation.

This hit me yesterday though when I was going through items from a new Partner (I blogged about it on the Burrows Solutions Blog).  Now for a long time I loved my Cables To Go USB/SATA to IDE adapter and sell them occasionally at Burrows Solutions.  I have seen those docking stations that everyone sells and was never too impressed with them.  Maybe only eSATA made them a little exciting because you got extra speed but how many of our computers have the eSATA plug and then the mess of dealing with a power plug for the device also.  So I was looking at the new USB 3.0 docking stations and then looked at a PCIe USB 3.0 card.  Hhhhmmmmm, well if I put those together on a system at work……oh crap, I could have fast transfer rates!!

I have been wanting to put a USB 3.0 card in my computer for a while but never went through the expense because I didn’t have any need for it.  NOW I do!!  I could now use a dock and be able to get data off drives at crazy new speeds!

I will be purchasing some of their hardware very soon.  Those devices will be used at work, at my home office, and some will be for sale at Burrows Solutions.  My questions to you are:  Do you have any USB 3.0 stuff yet?  How soon do you want to go to USB 3.0?  What would you use it for?  Once I decide what I want to order from Azio, will you be interested in a new bundle I plan to sell?  Basically I want to bundle the PCIe card and Dock together in an effort to give you what you need to start using USB 3.0 at a low price.  Let me know what you think!

Sad news

Kaye Cowher, wife of Bill Cowher died over the weekend from skin cancer.  I offer my condolences for his loss.  I couldn’t imagine losing my Amy so it must be pretty horrible.  Coach Cowher was a great guy and led the Steelers to some pretty good records and games.  It took him a while though to finally win a Super Bowl with the Steelers.  I actually named my youngest after Cowher and was mad when he retired early.  I am sorry for your loss and hope the three girls are doing ok.

Luckily storm chasing sucks in NW Ohio?

There were a lot of people affected in June when NW Ohio actually saw a few tornados go through the area.  That night is a bit memorable because that is when our puppies were born.  I knew it was going to be a late night because of that but severe weather it helped keep me busy.  I of course do not wish for a tornado but if it is going to happen I would like to catch it on video.

This evening started with a Tornado Warning for a few counties to the west of us so I thought maybe I should go out.  I can’t remember what time I left but I know it was a little before 7pm.  The night didn’t end until 9:30pm, that is when I finally got home.

A went straight for the cell that generated a few warnings.  I really lucked out because the storm was no ordinary storm, this one was SLOW.  With it moving at 15mph I was able to go from the west edge of Sandusky county all the way through and then end up just out of the east border of the county.  In the end I really didn’t see anything much.  Really I think I ended up with a blooper reel because I had a few instances where some close lightning scarred the crap out of me!  I was able to kind of map my path based on it’s movement and with it moving slow I was able to keep up with for most of the county.  Driving through a few towns messed me up a bit though.  I’ve always wondered if it was possible to see a super cell or just a big thunderstorm like you see in most tornado videos.  Today I finally saw that and recorded it.  I saw a lot of rotation and cool clouds but nothing ever formed.  When I worked my way through Fremont though it was really dark and looked pretty eerie so I started to worry.

I’ve always loved storm chasing but normally I am not able to chase one like today so it was really nice.  I would share the videos with you but it would take too long to upload and the footage isn’t that good.  I did catch a few good lightning strikes and a lot of loud thunder.  In a way I am kind of glad the Burrows Solutions site was not busy tonight or I wouldn’t have been able to have a little fun.

Tech toolkit

This thought has been in my head for many years.  It is something I wanted to do at Burrows Solutions for a long time.  I’ve wanted to create “the perfect tech toolkit.”  Perfect can never really be perfect though because everyone has different needs.  If you include everything possible then it could possibly be wasteful because you may never end up using but a few of the items.  My ideas of the toolkit have changed over the years.  I like to keep my home office stocked with most tools that I think I may need when working on a computer but I can only do so much.  I do very little work at home so I can’t really afford to buy $400 worth of tools and devices that I may never need.  If I made a few hundred dollars a month at home on repairs then I would.  Heck, I’ve spent a few hundred dollars on tools, magnifying lights, solder, heat gun, soldering irons, etc. for repairing laptops and LCD monitors.  But on average I make maybe $100 a month on those repairs so I don’t mind investing money into that to make the job easier, faster, or more reliable.  My desktop tool kit does not include everything that I actually need but because I want to be prepared I continue to add items to it.  Recently I worked on a old P3 system that did not have a NIC and I found that I did not have a NIC card to install into the system anyways.  The only device I had was an old LinkSys wireless B USB device and that would not operate correctly on the system?  So I failed on many fronts there.  I should have had a PCI NIC, a USB NIC, or even a USB wireless device that actually worked.  I ended up borrowing a USB NIC from work and it helped remind me that I was still in search for the “perfect” USB NIC.  I posted here about that USB NIC and still have not found one.  I think my standards are too high for that so maybe I just need to find a reliable and cheap one that supports XP, Vista, and 7.  While a PCI NIC would be ok in some situations I feel that it should not be included in a kit.  Maybe to have one to replace for a customer but if you need a NIC temporarily on a system you are just working on then I think you should go with a USB one just so you don’t have to open the system up.

As I had mentioned this was something I wanted to do for Burrows Solutions. I want to offer a quality kit at a reasonable price and include items that you would need and want.  A few of the items are on the site already but I do not have a full offering for everything.  I kind of figure that most of you that actually read this blog would probably already have half of the items so buying the whole kit may not appeal to you?

So I ask all of you, what is in your kit or what do you expect in a kit?  Eventually I may end up selling something like this at Burrows Solutions.  For now though I would just really like your opinion on this matter.  I guess this could be split into a few categories though.  There would probably be a “home office kit” and “service call kit.”  A lot of those items could probably be moved over to each kit.  Screwdrivers, USB NIC, power supply tester, and many other items would make up the “home kit.”  Then you have specialized service calls where the situations vary.  If you have a customer that says their computer won’t turn on, then you are going to bring a power supply with you.  If they are having networking issues then you could bring a PCI NIC, CAT 5 cables, a switch, a router, a USB wireless NIC, and maybe a few other things.

So please, take the time to share you opinion on what would be a good “basic” tech kit.