Note to self: The Alumni Card & Discounts page has a boatload of useful discounts alumni of the university can take advantage of, including 20% – 30% off admission to the ROM and 10% off at SoftMoc.
I’m giving serious thought to a purchase of the watch in the centre (click to enlarge):
So with help from the fine folks at the WatchUseek Forums, it turns out the the watch I’m looking at is is an Omega Electric Constellation Chronometer, model number ST 3980803, priced at 117.50 pounds back in 1973 (the latter info care of Old-Omegas.com). It contains a Bulova patent tuning fork module and is commonly referenced to by “f300″, referring to the 300 oscillations per second the resonator within the watch vibrates at.
Now let’s see if the watch store I spotted this fine piece at will make a deal. $450, take it or leave it…
Update: My bargaining couldn’t net me a deal better than $690 final as their best offer; I walked.
Update II: I returned to the scene of the crime on November 19, 2007. After some yet further bickering I made the purchase for a significant amount less than the number quoted above. It truly is in incredible condition and is slowly becoming my daily wearer (the Kenneth Cole’s battery keeps dying prematurely).
I’ve included an expanded writeup on this particular watch below. There’s also a fantastic article about the Omega f300 series of watches over at DeskDivers.com that’s worth reading.
According to Omega, the accuracy of the watch is “within 60 seconds per month, or an average of two seconds per day.”
Some further research indicates that in 1971, 1 U.S. dollar equaled 4.373 Swiss francs, or $162.31 in American dollars. Adjusted for inflation, what cost $162.31 USD in 1971 would cost $814.10 USD in 2006.
A warning before we begin: The definition of “cheap” is relative – expect to end up near $1000 CDN after accessories and taxes are counted up. Then begins the hunt for bigger and better lenses. As always, caveat emptor.
The ‘prosumer’ digital SLR market is entering a more mature phase as of late. The first blockbuster SLR cameras aimed for beginners came out in August 2003 (the Canon EOS Digital Rebel) and January 2004 (Nikon D70). Since then, various worthy successors of the two heavyweights of the prosumer digital SLR market have been released, as well as a number of lesser-known but extremely viable competitor models (the Pentax *ist D springs to mind). As we all know, increased competition means bigger bargains for our hard-earned dollar.
What really tweaked the noses of bargain digital SLR shoppers this month was an offer by Canon Canada to take another $100 off the purchase price of the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT via mail-in rebate. Slightly complicating the reception of the rebate was the stipulation that the camera be purchased from an authorized Canon reseller. The following is what I consider to be the best cobbling together of low pricing and rebate eligibility.
1. Enter the eBay store for Canadian camera dealer Robinson’s Camera Centre.
2. Depending on your preference, bid on their offering of the Canon EOS Digital Rebel XT (350D) with or without the 18-55 EFS kit lens. With lens, expect a purchase price of $799.00 USD. Without lens, $680.00 USD. That translates into a Canadian purchase price of $910.86 CDN with the kit lens, or $775.20 CDN without. Add 7% for GST (no PST, as Robinson’s is located in Alberta) and a flat rate shipping fee of $30 for expedited delivery for the final purchase price of $1004.62 CDN, or $859.46 CDN.
Refrain from getting into a bidding war on the item. If you can’t win it at the initial offering prices listed above, wait for the next auction on the same item.
3. After winning and receiving the Digital Rebel XT, mail away for the $100 cash back rebate from Canon. This will drop your final purchase price to $904.62 CDN, or $759.46 CDN without the kit lens.
That’s everything – save for the memory card(s), carrying case and other lenses you will inevitably end up purchasing. The mail-in rebate’s final expiry date is the end of June 2006, so it might even be worth your while to stay on the lookout for even better deals on the Digital Rebel XT – but ensure that your place of purchase is an authorized Canon dealer to maintain eligibility on that rebate. Good luck!
Mail-in rebate will be in the XBOX Live Packaging.
The game everyone’s raving about on the Xbox 360 and 12 months of Live for $10 more than you’d pay for purchasing Ghost Recon by itself? You can’t lose!
For better or for worse, I tend buck the trends when it comes to consumer gadgets to try and be a little different from the rest of the crowd. When everybody was going with the Apple iPod, or Dell DJ or Creative Zens, I went with industry pioneer Rio and bought a Rio Carbon 5GB in Pearl. Since I try not to base my buying decisions solely on being different, I did come to love the enormous battery life (20 hours), driverless USB operation and tiny size.
That spate of happiness lasted until a four foot fall broke the jog dial on the side that controls volume. And then Rio’s owners decided to close down shop. Though after some careful surgery my Carbon remained functional, I was back in the market for an MP3 player.
So now I find myself a happy Apple iPod Nano owner. Can’t complain about the player – sound quality is terrific and the battery will last me long enough for my purposes. But what to do about that easily scratchable surface? My answer, after careful research at the iLounge Forums (previously known as the iPodLounge Forums) came in the form of the CoreCases Black Nano Case: “The ultimate screen protector for your iPod Nano. Two piece anodized aluminum case with built-in clear screen protector.” User reviews for the case are all around positive, and at $19.95 USD (+ $10 USD shipping to Canada via USPS) the price isn’t that bad either.
So if you’re looking for an iPod Nano case, give CoreCases products a glance. In fact, check out my own media folder Miscellaneous for proper pictures – the one the official site provides isn’t enough to base a decision upon.