If you have been to our store of late - you would have seen the new displays that we have at our store. Yes ! and it made a huge difference - to our customers - they all love our point of purchase displays because they think it makes the store a lot neater and gives an illusion of a lot more space. I like our new look too - and it was a good investment because all our displays were old ones and it was time for a revamping. Plus they were made of cardboard - so it was easy to set up - we didn’t need extra help for setting the displays up - we did it ourselves.
No parents want to fork out $50 for a new controller - that’s for sure - and we sell used ones at our store for $35 - which is not cheap either - but we pay $20 for a used one when they come in - so one has gotta eat too right? But thanks to Apartment Therapy - we can maybe - buy bad controllers for lesser - fix it on our own - and re-sell the for less too. But of course - it can be time-consuming if you don’t know what to do. But here are some tips you too can follow - all credits goes to Apartment Therapy though.
With a T8 torx screwdriver and some how-to knowledge (ifixit put together a handy tutorial), you can revive that beat up controller on the cheap.
Worn down thumbsticks are a pretty common reason for purchasing a new controller. In order to replace them you’ll need some new thumbsticks (which can be purchased for just a few bucks on eBay) and a T8 torx screwdriver ($4.99 on Amazon). You can even swap out your standard gray thumbsticks for some all white or black ones.
If you’re looking for a new controller shell, replacing it is pretty straight forward. There are a number of cases out there, but you probably want to opt for OEM (original equipment manufacturer) shells for their quality. With a quick ebay search you can snag a new OEM case for around $10. Although third-party shells are available in a variety of colors, they can be pricier and a bit rough around the edges. There are however some inexpensive options on Amazon (and eBay if you just look around).
Always be aware of what controller parts you’re buying! Some cases come with thumbsticks/d-pad/buttons, while others don’t, so it really all depends on what parts you’re looking to replace. There’s money to be saved as long as you know what you’re looking for.
Trying to get the best of the last summer sun - we sent our RV for some motorhome repairs and upkeeps and headed up to Ellenwood Park with some friends for the weekend. The park was surprisingly clean and had lots for the kids to do - from a playground to biking and swimming and canoeing - we had a really good time. The washroom was really clean too - and that was a plus - although our motorhome has a bathroom too - but it was nice that we didn’t have to use it. We loved that our motorhome is covered by insurance and they even covered the repair of our leaking refrigerator. Pretty awesome right?
Not only that - if our Motorhome breaks down during our vacation - we are also covered up to $100 a day for up to 10 days. So if you use your motor homes as much as we do during the summer - I figured you would get your coverage too by now. It had been an awesome summer for us - what about yours?
So i read it looks like a netbook, costs the same as a netbook but it’s got an honest to goodness Pentium Processor from a PC magazine - therefore I had to take a look at it - afterall - I’m a techy chick right? the T115 will cost $480 in the market - and i’m guessing i will be paying as much as such with a local supplier - since I can’t beat Staples prices or even Walmart if they do carry it.
The T115 is different from netbooks in one very significant way. It houses a traditional notebook processor. It has a single core, single thread, 45mn, 1.3 GHz Pentium M. But hang on a minute - it doesn’t mean that this model will be good enough for gaming - in fact it’s not for gaming i heard because the graphics on it - is not as good as some. But one thing I have to mentioned is - the battery life - it is said to run 5 hrs more than most on a full charge. But if you are like me and types a lot - then you won’t like the keyboard feel - because it’s small - but overall - i would buy this - and not a netbook for its size.
The store just brought in a Asus Maximus III Formula for a customer and a closer look at it - I think it definitely is better than some I’ve come across. I hear it overclocks higher on its own and tweaking the RAM to its fullest potential while keeping the system stable is also made far easier with the MIIIF’s Memperfect utility. The best part i find is the remote monitory and the overclocking of the system via a USB connected machine. For now one can monitor POST codes using USB but maybe in the future , one can use a remote function to run diagnostics if you have an issue with the card. Pretty cool right? So the question now is - i’m sure you are going to ask me is how much is it? $235 - was the best price we got. So for those who are thinking of it - you know where to get them.
Old games and old consoles are very sellable at our store - we have quite a group of collectors - or should i say - some people who just never gave up on the older consoles. Some they are just fascinated that the old consoles work just as good although the games can be a wee bit limited. Plus we got some online coupons and bought a bulk of them on ebay and online - therefore, we were able to buy this much stock. We continue to look out for these coupons - in order to save money on our products so that the savings can go back to our customers. Plus who doesn’t like a discount right? Ever since I found out about online coupons - i search for them whenever i shop online. Any savings is good - whether they are for shipping or just 10% coupons - i’ll take them all.
A customer of ours had happily bought a new video card the other day - only to write back to us in the middle of the night to say that he wasn’t do real great with his game - Starcraft 2. We were a bit taken aback - because even though his video card wasn’t a high end one - it still would have run Starcraft 2 with no hitches as far as we can see. The spouse has a crappy video card that is 3 years old and it ran Starcraft 2 with no problems.
But what makes it even more amusing was - his computer was new - not bought from us - we found out later today. Apparently, it was gotten from Aliant - poor customer! then it just dawned on us that perhaps his power supply wasn’t powerful enough - so he came in today and gotten a new power supply. We are keeping our fingers crossed - so far we haven’t heard back from him. So folks having a new computer doesn’t mean you have the top of the line stuff - check and make sure your power supply is good enough to run your games too - especially if you are a gamer.
We brought this in for a customer - who wanted something cheap for his kid’s schoolwork. Like everyone said - it wasn’t an expensive board to begin with and it was pretty decent when it got installed, we didn’t have to mess around too much. We did overclock it to see how it would run - and it was not as good as we wanted it to go. The board was pretty quiet too - and didn’t heat up too much when we let it run for 24hrs. Amazingly, it had a floppy connector - haha! What I don’t like about it was it didn’t have too many RAM options. Overall, can’t complain too, too much - because of the pricing and if you are looking for a entry level board that is stable - this is it. We retailed it for $79.98.
The inside of the box
The board !
I do like google - although they can be quite the Nazis at times - like the g/f who had adsense on her websites/blogs and then got banned for no reason she knows at all. Of course, we all know how google can be - they are not called the Lord Google for nothing eh. Anyhow, the spouse does advertise with google - so every once in a while we get this freebie - that he never uses - why? because his company has a huge account with google and they never use them. But lately - google had been sending quite a few of this - and it had been lying around his office desk for a long time - so i had asked him - how come he never take advantage of it - in which he replied - they already have a budget for google and don’t make sense not to use that budget at the office. Plus he said with every freebie - there is sure to be some catch to it. hahah!! cautious or being paranoid?
BlogHer is even a bigger community than I had thought. I have a few blogging friends who went to the recent BlogHer 10 and returned with full of zest and excited. I wanna go every year but never made it - you see I want to do some networking too -for BlogHer has been around for a long time now. They are something like FoodBuzz and they create opportunities for women who blog to gain exposure, educated them and connect them with advertisers and likewise. But in order to join BlogHer - they are quite strict with their requirements too - so for those who are already in BlogHer - i don’t know how they do it - because they do sponsored posts and all too, well - except the few that i know. But i know of some who had returned with less than they had expected? I read some blogger posts - while they all enjoyed it - not all came back with the exposure they hoped to get. Maybe - too many participants - and only the important ones - got noticed? Will i attend? sure - just to experience it first hand - maybe next year eh? but do you need to already be in BlogHer to join? i have to find out.
