Recent posts by BobFromCanada | Debbie's Caribbean Resort Reviews Forums

It’s comforting to know that I’m not the only one to hold this opinion regarding our attachment to our technology. The only electronics I bring is this tiny, transistor radio – no speaker, just earphone, because I like to experience the local pop culture as transmitted through radio. …..
Take good care of that radio. I just tried to purchase one to replace mine which just died. It appears that no one makes these things any more …..

[quote author=sharonann board=cubageneral thread=18895 post=98372 time=1292501645…… [/quote]Wal-Mart is now selling the Kobo for $128.00. [/quote]

Yep. I just got the flyer. Now if they can just get some in stock ….

	Oh well. Personal visit. None at *either* price. Such is life ….

Interesting. Their website could be wrong …. Not like that’s ever happened before. Our flyers went out with the recycle this morning, so I guess I’ll have to pay them a visit in person.

edit: oh, Dec 17-24, that’s next weeks sale ….. Thanks for the heads up.

I just saw a London Drugs flyer posting a great sale price on the Sony models. $99 for the regular ereader, $149 for the touch screen. One major plus for me on the KOBO list was the low $149 price. Hmmm.. Sony touch for the same?? Great. Back to the drawing board! Wal-Mart is now selling the Kobo for $128.00. I’m not so sure about that price. I googled ‘Walmart Canada’ and clicked on ‘electronics’. I found that price (actually $129), then realized that I’d been redirected to Walmart.com and not Walmart.ca

When I went in the right way, I got the more normal price of $149 at my local Walmart store.

Yeah, that’s typically the way they do it. Bring a load down, get ’em off the plane, load up the returnees and head back north.

You’ll have to leave your room, but the good thing is they don’t take your AI band until you leave for the airport.

There’s two completely different objectives here. All you want to do is check out of the hotel, get on the bus, check your luggage, go through security, get on the plane and go home. In a perfect world it would work that way.The tour company on the other hand has several hundred guests spread out over various resorts, some of which are an appreciable distance from the airport. All those people have to be picked up and delivered to the airport to catch that plane. To do this there’s a fleet of buses with prearranged schedules. And those buses likely have other commitments later in the day. Oh, and the hotel also want those people out since there’s new people coming from difference places for their vacation.Unless there’s a major storm and the airport is closed, yes, they know there will be a weather delay (or equipment delay) but they have no idea how long that delay will be. It’s a major undertaking to change the ground arrangements. They won’t do this unless it’s absolutely necessary. Not what you want to hear, especially when you have an active child.

As someone suggested, you could arrange your own transport to the airport, but if the delay is shorter than expected, the plane may arrive, get loaded and leave without you. They won’t wait ….

	I’ll try through Toronto any reviews anywhere about it yet Not likely since it just opened this month. Your review may be the first. ;D

The original post in the thread was removed by the original poster. Here is what she said to me via PM. As a courtesy, I asked for permission to post the response.

Thanks Bob! I haven’t any plans outside Cuba, but I must talk up this foundation with others I know heading there.I removed my initial post because it wasn’t in Cuba, but now I regret that, as it was a good topic.Well, there is good that I can do in my own way, and I get great ideas from this site.Thanks for all you do!!Judith

	I wouldn’t mind checking this out but I don’t seem to find it on the itravel2000 web site any help would be great I can’t see it for your Ottawa departures (based on your IP), but it does show up on Toronto departures. I don’t know why. You might have to deal with a bricks&mortar TA. You could also try to book through iTravel by phone.

Found it. See response #17 in this thread for the link. Funny that one didn’t show up in the list of alternates. It looks like a good solution for taking an eReader to the beach, at least for the Sony. It ‘might’ fit other brands. Note that it’s on sale right now. At that price I’d consider it, but at the regular price I’d think twice about spending $40 to protect a device that only costs $150.

I’m probably not a candidate for an eReader yet, but I can sure see the advantage of having one when you get hit with a series of rainy days. Normally I just pick up some piece of light reading from the admittedly meager selection of material at the hotel book exchange. I might end up reading one or two books since I find there’s too many interruptions and things going on at the beach. I guess I’m easily amused; I could watch the waves for hours …..

I googled "m edge sony cover" and the first link I found took me to www.medgestore.com/products/sonyprs505-executive.pspwhich was listed as no longer available.The cover you describe sounds perfect for the beach, but I don’t think any of the suggested alternates will do anything except protect from bumps, dents and scratching. That darn blowing sand in the afternoons goes everywhere.

Is the one you bought still listed? As I said, that sounds perfect for beach use. Best take good care of the one you have …. ;D

The jacket you refer to may no longer be available. I went to the M-edge website and got a statement about that. They offered some alternates, but it looked to me that none of them had a clear cover that could be used while reading. Most of the alternates appeared to be covers that flipped open (one way or another) to allow use. One of the alternates looked like it would provide great protection while you were carrying it around, but you have to take the reader out to use it. See
www.medgestore.com/products/prs600-touring.psp
Any are better than nothing. The message here is that you can’t just buy the device and throw it in your beach bag and expect it to survive.

With the exception of the automated response saying they received my query, no response yet …..
I did spend a fair bit of time rummaging through the user manual and it didn’t appear to address that issue either.
It’s been almost three days now so I suspect they won’t be responding to my query. I’m pretty sure I know what the answer is anyway.

All I have to do is think about that white salt film that shows up on my sunglasses after a day on the beach. I’d treat the ereader the same way I treat my camera when it goes to the beach. When not actually in use, it lives in one of those zipper lock food storage bags and only comes out when necessary.

On another note, I caught the following in a user review. My beef is with that fact that every single ebook that I have tried to download from the Sony Reader site (or any other site for that matter) has been "Unavailable in Canada due to copyright restrictions." I definitely wouldn’t have bought it if I had know the selection would be so limited. Anyone run into this situation?

yeah there was a spark for sure..lol nothing happened when we plugged in the adapter, it was when we plugged in the surge pr . A second or so later it went BANG and then a bit of smoke came out of the first outlet on it and as I said the power to the bldg went out :o.But I just tried the surge protecter here and it works fine ???………
If it went bang and smoked it’s likely that there are no active components left in it. It may no longer be a surge suppressor ….

	With the exception of the automated response saying they received my query, no response yet ….. I did spend a fair bit of time rummaging through the user manual and it didn’t appear to address that issue either.

…..I also talked with someone else who had plugged a hair straightener in that was rated for both andshe told me it fried it.
Some of those devices are rated for both, but don’t switch automatically. Quite often there’s a mechanical switch inside that the user has to set to tell the device what it’s connected to. Most of the newer battery charger/laptop power supplies switch automatically, but not all.

I had almost forgotten about this… we plugged the adapter into the wall then plugged a surge protecter into it and…bang!!!! all the power to the bldg went out!!

kinda glad i didn’t just plug the netbook into it!So i got wondering.. the adapter was only rated at 125v(like the one spunky linked to) do you think that was the problem?

The surge protector was rated up to 330 volts

No, it was likely something else. The adapter presents zero load on the circuit. It’s nothing but contacts encased in a plastic holder (insulator). The contacts and plastic are rated to be safe and handle that kind of voltage. The surge protector should not present any load either. It shouldn’t do anything unless the system voltage spikes, and even then it should conduct momentarily to suppress that voltage spike (normally a fraction of a second)I’ve seen many wiring setups in the Caribbean that would give a hydro inspector nightmares. In this case it was likely a coincidence (something else tripped the fuse/breaker) or one of those two devices was defective.

edit: and as stated by cubavisitor, the surge protector wouldn’t work properly in a two wire circuit. But it shouldn’t short out either. All its trying to do is shunt the excess voltage to the safety ground. That’s the third wire that’s missing, so that circuitry is essentially floating in the air and can’t do anything.

edit2: See www.howstuffworks.com/surge-protector.htm
read section 2, surge protection.

I….. Not sure if it would be a concern, but could sand damage the reader? …… I suspect you would want to treat the device like a camera or other electronic device. I don’t think it would take kindly to sand and the salty atmosphere.

I sent an email to the company about this and will post any reply I receive on this thread.

	A six string guitar with only three strings would be interesting to play (to say the least). Sorry, but it’s hard to imagine …. ;D

Oh man, the foggy lense! Nothing worse than seeing something awesome on your way to breakfast, and your camera is Fog City. I’ll try to remember to put the camera on the balcony for a few minutes while I get ready for the day. Thanks for bringing this up! For that very reason, if (and unless it’s stinking hot and I’m using the AC in the room), I’ll try to keep my camera in the warmest spot for an hour or two prior to leaving. Usually the closet or the bathroom escape the AC …..

edit: For that very reason, any underwater camera should be able to cope with the salt atmosphere and the sand. Proactive temperature control should cope with the rest ….

I was asked if I wanted to move this post from ‘Cuba General’ to ‘General Caribbean’.Beyond The Beach doesn’t do Cuba, so yes.They’re pretty well Dominican Republic oriented.Good group, but not Cuba for sure.I’m proud to be associated with them.There’s lots of info on our DR forums.

Thanks for thinking of the kids. ;D

I see people on the beach all the time with expensive DSLR cameras, clicking away close to the water. Even if they don’t get the camera drenched by an unexpected wave, I have to wonder what all that salt laced sea air and blowing sand does to these cameras! I’ve ruined more cameras this way than I care to count. The salt laden air is not good for them. Interestingly, a few years ago we had some electronic equipment and a sea view room. The stuff spent two weeks on the balcony and frankly, didn’t work worth a darn when we left for home. I couldn’t believe the corrosion on the switch contacts when I disassembled the equipment. I managed to clean it up, but it still doesn’t work right …..

Oh, and another thing that kills cameras. Taking them out of that cold air conditioned room and into the hot humid atmosphere outside. Just like the outside of your drink glass, you’ll get lots of condensation on the internal components.

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