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September 16, 2013

Going from $100 to $1,000 Watches: The Consumer Treadmill

Jonny writes:

It's like anything in which you start caring about "quality" - it ruins stuff of lesser quality.

If you're 18 (I mean, uh, 21) then wine is wine, and there's red and white, and that's about the only distinction that can be made. Whatever does the trick is what you drink.

If you're 30 you start getting a sense of full bodied and light bodied, cheap and expensive. You should know the difference between "Two-buck Chuck" and a $30 bottle, but $10 and $20 not so much. At this stage anything under $12 or so is good enough.

After another decade or so of drinking win, you start caring more about quality. You can tell that a $20 bottle is better than a $10 bottle - your palate is awake to the subtleties of taste and texture. You probably prefer the $12-15 bottles to the ~$10 bottles.

And so on. Now of course the thing is that there are plenty of decent $10 bottles of wine. And everyone has their different levels that they settle into. I prefer beer (although am trying to veer more towards wine as it is allegedly healthier and I might have a slight beer allergy), so my beer palate is more developed. I can't stand cheap beer. If I'm in a supermarket or convenience store my go-to brand is Sierra Nevada - its widely available and is a decent beer. But if I'm in a beer store, I'll ask the owner what the freshest IPA is, because the difference between a two-week old IPA and a six-month old one is enormous, even of the same brand.

With wine, there are some I like more than others and I can generally tell if a bottle is cheap (less than $10), moderate ($10-20ish), or expensive ($20+). I once bought a $50 bottle for a special date with my wife and I honestly couldn't tell you the difference between that and a $25 bottle.

The higher the quality, the less you get in return for the money spent. A $50 bottle of wine is not twice as good as a $25 bottle; it might be 20-30% better, and to notice that you have to have a developed palate. A $100 bottle might only be 10-20% better than the $50 bottle. Etc.

You could argue that the person who is perfectly happy with an $8 bottle of wine, or thinks that Samuel Adams is the pinnacle of beer (as I did in high school), is better off than the wine or beer snob. On the other hand, once you start going down the rabbit-hole of developing a palate of anything - stereos, wines, beer, watches, etc - then there is no turning back and you can't "un-learn" what you've learned.

All of that is a long-winded way of saying this: It is a rare sub-$300 watch that interests me these days. Occasionally something of interest falls into that range on the used market, but for the most part my eye is on $300+ watches. Why $300? It just seems that's the cut-off between what could be called "affordable watches" and "semi-luxury" watches. The quality level jumps - both in terms of design, build, finishing, and movement. For better or worse, I just can't go back.

Posted at 11:19 AM in Manly Watches | Permalink | Comments (21)

September 15, 2013

Nautica NMX100 Solar Watch Looks Bold

on A Blog to Watch in which we read Nautica is part of Timex. Very nice 48mm offering with solar power. I wonder what the lume is like. Price is around $200.

Posted at 07:13 PM in Manly Watches | Permalink | Comments (5)

Redsun 803R Full Stereo Speaker Radio

Val has apprised us of this intriguing Redsun offering.

Posted at 08:14 AM in Radio Lovers Can't Be Cured | Permalink | Comments (2)

September 14, 2013

Redsun Making a SW-Capable Boombox?

RadioFlynn writes:

On the Redsun new products page there is a shortwave-capable boom-box. I haven't seen that for a while!

From Google translate:

Product Name: RS-803R
Product Features: FM / MW / SW / USB / SD card radios

Features:
Available colors: red, blue, black

Frequency range:
FM :88-108MHz
AM :530-1600kHz
Shortwave 1:5.2-13.5 MHz
Shortwave 2:14.5-23MHz

Sensitivity:
FM: Better than 10uV
MW: better than 1mV / m
Shortwave: better 30uV

Posted at 02:47 PM in Radio Lovers Can't Be Cured | Permalink | Comments (5)

September 13, 2013

Between a 23.5K Honda Accord Sport and Same Priced Mazda 6 Sport, My Mechanic Says Get the Accord

I asked my mechanic which of the above cars is better? He said both are very nice, but the suspension on the Mazdas goes out after 30K. He said get the Accord. Good to know.

Posted at 04:54 PM in Car Fury | Permalink | Comments (17)

I'll Never Lose Weight Because Life Isn't Worth Living Without Pretzels and Hummus

I can go without sweets, fast food, beer, and wine, but some thinks give life too much savor. So it looks like I'll be stuck around 220 for eternity.

Posted at 10:05 AM in Personal Chronicles | Permalink | Comments (12)

September 12, 2013

Redsun Radio News

Neil writes:

I went looking for the company's corporate web page again. The Redsun radios used to be listed under Kasung (which I've reported a couple of years ago here). They seem to have split the Redsun products into their own web site. The page on the 3100 is here:

http://www.redsunelect.com/list.asp?sid=35&rcid=27

Google translate does a pretty good job with it. I've posted a translation of the page on my blog here: http://fofio.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-long-awaited-redsun-rp3100.html

I also see that the 2100 is still listed, as well as the RP007, and the RP300. There is also what looks like a cheaper version of the RP300, the RP200. I don't see the memory-less version of the 2100 anymore (the 2000).

What I'm hoping is that we see versions from Kaito, CCrane, and or Gundig again.

Cheers!
Neil W2NDG

Posted at 04:08 PM in Radio Lovers Can't Be Cured | Permalink | Comments (6)

September 11, 2013

Not to Fan the Flames of Redsun RP-3100 Lust . . .

Not to fan the flames of RP3100 lust, but there is an ad today on tecsunradio.com announcing the arrival of the long-awaited successor to the the RP2100. the adverstised version has SSB and keypad entry, 240v power supply, and Chinese characters on the body of the radio, but not the keys. No AM sync, as expected:
http://tecsunradio.com/2013/09/11/redsun-rp3100-high-performance-wide-band-digital-fm-radio/9025

Also, a store called Orange electronics at aliexpress.com is taking pre-orders for the RP-3100, should you desire to gamble away $180 bucks:
http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Fedex-Free-shipping-REDSUN-RP3100-PLL-AM-FM-SW-DUAL-CONVERSION-Digital-RADIO-STATION-iREDSUN-RP/1199703598.html

If anyone gets one, all of us out here in radio-hobby land would surely love to hear about it.

Posted by: RadioFlynn

Posted at 05:20 PM in Radio Lovers Can't Be Cured | Permalink | Comments (6)

Watch Collecting: Less Is More

I've learned from experience that the French saying "Too much choice kills choice," is so very true in many things, including watch collecting.

As I step up my tastes in quality, the collection must decrease to the point where the collection is no longer a burden but a joy. Everyone has their own sweet spot. Mine is a collection somewhere under 20.

I have to remind myself I am not a professional watch collecter. Nor can I afford to "test" watches the way a wine person tastes wines. That is a fantasy. Looking forward, I need to be more selective about the watch packages that are delivered to my home.