The Truth About Refurbished Electronics

We all prefer to purchase new when it comes to, well, just about everything. Unfortunately, though, the luxury of buying a brand new item is something that we are simply not afforded at all times. There are a variety of reasons why, in some instances, we are resigned to purchase used rather than new; money and accessibility being the most obvious points. However, there can be a positive avenue to this, which is, of course, the ability to save money by purchasing a less than new product. And, the benefits of purchasing refurbished items are no more prevalent than they are in the field of refurbished electronics.

It is important to note, right off the bat, which refurbished when it comes to electronic goods does not mean used, old or previously enjoyed. As a matter of fact, the definition of what constitutes a refurbished electronic item has a variety of meanings. A refurbished electronic item can be, for example:

An overstock item that is no longer being produced by the manufacturer

An item whose packaging has been damaged during transport, even though the item itself has not been affected at all and remains in perfect working condition

A product that has only featured in a store for display purposes only

Items that have cosmetic defects (i.e. incorrect color scheme) only, with no issues with quality

When it comes to refurbished electronic goods, such as an iPod, Xbox, Playstation or camcorder, anything that isnt new is considered refurbished, and must be sold as such. Because of this, the shopper can easily save hundreds of dollars when purchasing a refurbished item versus buying a new item. In many cases, the refurbished electronic item in question is in just as good of working condition as a brand new electronic item. But, because of certain circumstances, that item is no longer identified as new.

Before some of you thumb your nose at the thought of purchasing a refurbished item, consider this scenario: you are purchasing a used Xbox 360 from a friend of yours. There are stains on the console, youre getting the item in a plastic bag, and your friend has a reputation of not being so delicate with his belongings.

Would you purchase that Xbox 360, or one that has never been used or opened, but one whose box has a tear in it because it caught on someones watch during handling? Or would you purchase your friends coffee stained version over one whose box was opened because someone simply wanted to see what was inside, and thats all?

And another caveat for purchasing refurbished; while your friend is a stand-up person, he probably wont offer you a manufacturer warranty on the game. Most refurbished electronics still have their warranties intact, so, as a consumer, you are protected.

More and more people, companies and retailers are capitalizing on the value of refurbished electronics. For manufacturers and retailers, its a great way of moving out excess stock and items. And for consumers, refurbished electronics are a fantastic way of getting a high-quality item at an exceptionally low cost.

As with any purchase, due diligence and research is paramount to locating a respectable retailer who can give you the best deal possible when it comes to refurbished electronics. It is no different than, say, purchasing a used car or a pre-owned home. You would never think buying a used car or home is a bad idea, and you would never do it blindly either. The same principle applies to purchasing refurbished electronics. A good idea, when, combined with research, can prove to be a great benefit to the consumer.

With video game consoles becoming more and more expensive, and with more competition to choose from, there needs to be an outlet for people to get what they want without having to exceed their financial considerations. Everyone wants the hottest video game system, MP3 player or video camera out there, but not everyone can afford to purchase them either. For those who cant, there is an option, and that is to purchase a refurbished version of the product. Again, in many cases refurbished does not mean opened, used, enjoyed, repaired or rebuilt. It just means that the item can not by law be defined and sold as a brand new product.

It also means that savvy customers, who dont mind paying a little less, will end up with an exceptional electronic item at an exceptionally low cost.

Mauro Flammini: writer, researcher, affiliate manager and all around good guy!

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Woodland Verses Links Golf Courses - Which One Wins?

Many people believe that the word 'links' refers to the way the end of one golf hole defines the beginning of the next - rather like the links of a chain. this is not so but it actually comes from the Old English word 'hlinc' meaning a stretch of flat ground along the seashore. And that is exactly what it is like. Sea on one side, land on the other (often the houses on the edge of the town form the boundary). It is a naturally occurring terrain usually on a well drained sandy soil.

The parkland course on the other hand is 'purpose built' and is often much more hilly and varied in terrain than the links course. Also, the presence of trees offers a different kind of hazard from those found on a links. Each course has its own type of problems and challenges but the links course probably calls for rather more 'invention' or 'adaptation' in the way the shots are played.

Parkland courses are usually set in an area not infrequently wooded to some degree and often with heather, gorse, sand bunkers and sometimes water in the form of ponds or lakes. However, the main difference between links and parkland is that the latter is much more obviously manufactured. this is not said by way of criticism since inland courses by definition have to be manufactured. The quality of the course though is more to do with the skill of the designer and how much this "manufactured-ness" shows. The optimum use of the space available and the incorporation of existing natural features - woods, trees, water, ups and downs - are where the architect can bring his creative powers to bear.

A links course on the other hand is usually a much more rugged proposition. It's a completely natural setting - too 'natural' for some people - where the wind from the sea plays a much more prominent part in the game. The nature of the terrain forces you to adapt your shots to the prevailing conditions and the lie of the land. one great advantage though is that being on sandy soil it does tend to drain well and very quickly so the surface remains firm and playable all year round.

Nevertheless it is no place for the complaint 'It's not fair'. Life isn't fair on a links and you have to brace yourself for that. You could hit a perfect drive straight up the fairway only to have it finish up on a hanging lie with three huge bunkers between you and the green two hundred yards away.

The distances on your scorecard will be accurate but useless. I have played at Turnberry where one of the par threes is an eight iron in the morning but a three wood in the afternoon - and it was nothing to do with the port at lunch.

playing out of the rough is a different game; the whins and other grasses can twist your clubhead and make the ball behave in quite a different way when trying to chip on to the green from the rough. Don't expect to play to your handicap on your first visit to a links course - even in sunshine and no (apparent) wind. You need to be able to 'read' the elements and this comes only from experience. Why do you think so many canny golfers chip and run from so far off the green?

Unlike the parkland course where the course is manufactured, the links course demands that the shot is manufactured.

But all in all it's a great challenge - never the same from one day to the next. one compensation however for these difficulties is that you will not encounter many trees. Which brings us back to parkland golf.

Essentially, unlike the natural design of the links, this is down to the skill of the architect. Everybody accepts that golf courses are 'constructed' but the trick is to make them look as natural as possible and, in the case of some of the great inland courses, it works! It requires a number of criteria to be fulfilled: first and foremost it must be a challenge to the world's best - and must be accepted as such. It must have variety - every hole must be individual but the 'whole' must have a personality. It must be fair and not just playable by top championship players and, lastly, it must be aesthetically pleasing. Such a course would be Sunningdale - a club blessed with two of the great courses where every hole is a world unto itself. So whether your preference is for links or parkland I hope you manage to get the round you've dreamed about on the course of your choice.

Good golfing!

Peter makes playing golf more interesting by enlightening his readers with little known facts about the history of the game of golf. He also provides a feast of valuable golfing tips and online golf lessons all learnt from playing golf for five decades!

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Disney Vacations are the Ultimate in Family Vacation Fun

disney vacations are the ultimate in family vacation fun and Disney vacation rental homes offer the best of both worlds. Disney Vacation Club membership is based on a "vacation point" system and offers unique flexibility in choosing among a vast array of vacation experiences: Your length of stay is up to you; stay for night, weekend, a week or longer. You can enjoy the premium disney vacation experience complete with dining, recreation and Walt disney world theme park Tours. Even years later when you are all grown up the thought puts a smile on your face and if you want that same experience for your kids stay a while and see just look at what disney vacations has to offer.

You don't have to stay in a disney resort, you can choose from the many vacation rentals Orlando has to offer including condos, cottages and large, luxury villas which are usually privately owned and are rented out directly by their owner or the owner's agent. live your Dreams within your means, you can rest assured that you will be able to find the perfect Orlando vacation villa rental accommodation to meet your families' wishes. You worked hard to save for your vacation to Orlando and an Orlando vacation isn't inexpensive after you add in travel costs, attraction tickets, dining out and your accommodation expense. More and more vacation travelers planning a vacation to the Orlando area are seeking out disney Vacation Rental homes that are close to Walt disney world & the other major attractions such as Universal Studios & sea world. With four theme parks, two fun filled water parks, two of the best entertainment, shopping and dining districts in Orlando plus golf courses, spas and sports arenas, you really are spoilt for choice.

Many travel counselors have specialized knowledge of Disney Destinations that they can use to custom tailor your disney vacation & make it truly memorable.

Peter Whelan is a well travelled freelance writer. visit his site at http://www.disney-direct.org

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How IP-based Video Surveillance Works -- Way Beyond Analog

When youre shopping around for an IP-based video surveillance system, you will need to be particularly cautious about what exactly youre looking at and what the individual terms mean. How IP-based video surveillance works is open to interpretation as far as some video surveillance and security salespeople are concerned -- not because they are trying to confuse the issues, but because there is no genuine consensus on what the term IP-based or related ones such as networked or web-based means.

Originally video surveillance was done based on analog technology -- closed circuit television (CCTV) and recording on video tapes. This was fine for recording what was going on, but it didnt broadcast actual live information, so it wasnt practical for monitoring stores, for instance, from a remote location. It simply provided what happened after the fact. The picture quality wasnt great and it relied on human reliability as well -- someone had to remember to change the tapes regularly, etc.

Digital revolutionizes video surveillance

With the internet revolution and the ever-increasing presence of local Area networks, technology took great strides in video surveillance in the 1990s. Analog camera tubes were replaced with CCD (Charged Coupled Devices) and digital cameras became affordable for most people.

This combination meant that video surveillance could do two things: go live over the internet or a closed network for surveillance and provide clearer, crisper images that could be tracked and manipulated easily. For law enforcement, digital surveillance meant it was much easier to zoom in on images, track particular scenes and enhance features.

The basics of IP-based surveillance

A digital camera views the scene in front of it, broadcasts the video images as a digitized signal over a lan line (Local Area Network) where its then transmitted to a computer or server. The server in turn manages all of this information. Depending upon the software used to manage the digital images, it can record, display or retransmit the images to anywhere in the world.

The software package can easily be upgraded to allow for analyzing data, selecting specific flagged items to watch for and a host of other functions, making it a truly customizable security tool.

True IP-based digital surveillance uses CCD cameras that use signal processing that send packetized video streams over the lan through a Cat 5 cable rather than a coax cable network, utilizing greater bandwidth and standard TCP/IP communication.

It also provides more intelligent data mining and information retrieval. If security is an issue, full digital surveillance also offers the added advantage of data encryption opportunities to protect against image tampering -- something not possible with analog recording.

Recently, a few companies such as D-Link and Linksys have also developed fully digital cameras that actually have completely integrated, built-in web servers so that no external computers are needed for operating them. The signal is transmitted directly to the terminal location for storage or play-back.

Halfway there

The middle of the road of video surveillance is upgrading video surveillance by utilizing a Digital Video Recorder (DVR). A DVR system is not really fully IP-based, but is step toward the more advanced IP technology. In actuality, a DVR system uses the same camera and structures for cabling as the older CCTV analog systems, but the old VCRs have been replaced with DVR for storage of the data. The data is converted to digital so that it can be stored on hard disks, but the quality of the images captured remains analog since this is how it originated.

When shopping for a system, be sure to ask if the system is digital based on the recording (DVR) or on the camera, since many manufacturers consider a system digital by virtue of the DVR storage system even if the camera recording the images is still analog.

Going all the way

Some people will move to the hybrid models of a CCTV/DVR system when they first move beyond an analog system because it seems like the next practical evolutionary step in video surveillance. However, shifting to this method largely ignores how IP-based video surveillance works.

With CCTV/DVR surveillance you have actually simply delayed the inevitable by adding on a relatively new technology (hard disk, digital storage) to an old technology (analog video over coaxial transmission lines). Rather than moving forward into something new, you have prolonged the demise of the old.

Advantages of IP-based video surveillance

The leap into completely IP-based technology is the best bang for your buck both monetarily and in terms of security by far. Digital surveillance can be done over a LAN network, of course, but TCP/IP transmittal of surveillance makes sense for remote monitoring of multiple locations and for remote recording of data onto back-up servers and hard disks for long-term storage.

With IP-based video surveillance, you can connect your surveillance camera or cameras to any network or wireless adapter, and you are extremely flexible in your placement of the camera itself. A typical PC-attached video camera, while providing digital picture image quality, still has to be within approximately ten feet of the computer itself.

Set-up of an IP-based video system is easy -- once youve set up an IP address, youre up and running and its extremely stable and reliable. Because this is the technology of the future, it is also upgradeable. You wont be outgrowing an IP-based video surveillance system any time soon because new developments are based on improving this market. Therefore, you will be able to add on and improve this system for years to come while older, CCTV+DVR hybrids will dead-end and become obsolete.

Comparing analog and IP-based video surveillance

A better way to understand the differences between analog and IP-based video surveillance may be to compare the two and how they work:

Analog or CCTV+DVR video surveillance

Easy to use -- operates like a VCR

Changing cassettes and rewinding regularly means human error frequently interferes with effectiveness

Image quality is poor

Storage tapes wear out over time

Broadcasting images live isnt practical

Storage is bulky

Uses analog recording, recording in low-grade picture quality and inability to search and track easily

Adding DVR systems must be done in blocks of 16 channels

IP-based video surveillance

IP-based recording means instant transmittal of images anywhere in the world

Can monitor multiple cameras from one remote location

No decrease in recording quality over time or with repeated replays

Digital picture quality far superior to analog

IP-base recording is highly compressed for easier storage and can be transported over a variety of media

Digital images can be encrypted for security purposes

Updates and add-ons are relatively inexpensive through software packages and internet computer networking

Adjustable frame rates

Remote or shared viewing may be done over the internet or a wireless connection

Standard IP video compression techniques are used

IP surveillance cameras may be added individually or in groups according to your needs

If you are contemplating increased or upgrading video surveillance for your company or home, understanding how IP-based video surveillance works will make your decision easier. It is the future of video surveillance and, although in the short term may be a bit more expensive, is obviously an investment in superior quality and flexibility.

This article on "How IP-based Video Surveillance Works" reprinted with permission.

Copyright 2004-2005 Evaluseek Publishing.

About the Author
Lucy P. Roberts is a successful freelance writer providing practical information and advice about everything related to digital video surveillance and related topics. Her numerous articles include tips for saving both time and money when shopping for video security products; equipment reviews and reports; and other valuable insights. Find important information about how to use a night vision security camera or infrared camera when you visit Video-Surveillance-Guide.com today!

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