No more Microsoft branded hardware for me

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George Kaplan":qfoz75dc said:
That's about the only way to break up Dark Star Flake.
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No kidding. :lol: The name "Dark Star" alone should clue in as to the relative density.

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He used it for ultra high-octane ropes & such.

TJ had a pair, he did. Competitive mountain biking in his younger years.

:king: di tutti :king: :king: :king: !!!!!!!!!!!!!

:face:
 
build a PC yourself, the games look way better, and you can fix it if anything goes wrong. a lot of $ to get set up, but you don't need to upgrade much these days. it's not like a few years ago when you needed a new something every week or you couldn't play X game. plus you can plug your Xbox controller into your PC and play the games.
 
I've been verry happy with my playstation, going on three years with not issues. The thing has been through 5 moves and has not missed a beat.
 
Maytag virus shield in your KitchenAid laptop. Works best in the presence of latakia smoke.
 
Kyle Weiss":4b8oiytl said:
Vita Mix. If you're gonna do it, do it right. :mrgreen:

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Not any more, Kyle, I'm sorry to say.

We had a Vitamix that we bought in 1983...with the great stainless steel container on top. Alas, nothing lasts forever, and the motor finally died. So we asked Vitamix about a replacement motor. Nope...can't buy one for that model. OK...so we bought a new Vitamix.

What an unbelievable piece of shit. The doggone motor overheated within the first week of use...and it was just making a fruit smoothie, not some heavy-duty job that would put a heavy strain on the motor.

Before we bought it, we had read all kinds of reviews by long-time Vitamix users who were pissed off about what they perceived as a serious decline in quality. The stainless steel container has been replaced by a plastic one; the motor sucks; the variable speed drive requires very careful use to keep from burning out the motor — those are the complaints I remember.

We bought a new one anyway, only to find that all the complaints are on target. They square 100% with my experience with the "new" Vitamix. It's just not the serious machine it used to be. We ended up taking it back to the store where we bought it and getting our money back. After a lot of searching, we found this:

Ninja<img class="emojione" alt="®️" title=":registered:" title=":registered:" src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/emojione/assets/png/00ae.png?v=2.2.7"/> Kitchen System 1100

It kicks the Vitamix's ass. I never thought I'd say such a thing, and I'm not pleased that the Vitamix — which was once a great piece of gear — has gone to hell, but I can't argue with facts. If you have an old one, count yourself lucky. When it dies, you won't be able to replace it with a new Vitamix and get the same quality.

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Got one of the ninja's , those blades are sharp as shit. I think thats half the magic and if the blades get dull it might burn out. Had mine for 3 years but then again I don't make smoothies that much. Used it alot the first year to make baby food. Its definitely powerful , will turn a steak to baby food in a matter of seconds.
 
A guy with your chops should be able to rig a replacement motor from somewhere up for the old one ?

:face:
 
Unless Vita Mix took a shit in the last five years, which is possible with the way things are going, it's the first time I've ever heard anything negative about them. What model crapped out on you, Veet?

What I've always used is used commercial gear, not stuff from Amazon.com. You can get a real commercial-use used piece of gear for about 1/4 the price at restaurant supply stores. S'what I did, anyhow, wanted similar if not the same stuff I worked with on the job. Until I had to hock the blender to pay rent few years back (got $100 for it, why the hell not). All I have is a stick blender, now, so I can't talk trash anymore. That's fine, KitchenAid stuff is still crap... :lol: ...their home mixers are somewhat okay, but meh. I don't bake.

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I looked up, very briefly, some warranty specs on your Ninja, Veet, versus the Vita Mix... Ninja: two year warranty. Vita Mix: seven year warranty. Not talkin' crap, generally speaking there's folks that are probably smarter (by that, I mean shrewd and informed from the inside) than us that tested the crap out of these things, drew up some paperwork, gave themselves a buffer, and poof, some-kind-of-guarantee.

*shrug* I still wouldn't get a "home use" model considering I can plop $300 - $400 on a gently-used consignment piece of pro equipment that'll likely outlive me, but...that's just my preference. Good blender, good stove, good knives. That's all one really needs in the kitchen. The rest is details.
 
I don't recall which of the new Vitamix models we had, but it was their heaviest dutiest one. I don't buy crap. I don't mind spending the bux on quality stuff, but then I expect it to last. When I did the math on the cost of a Vitamix and the hassle of screwing around with frequent warranty repairs, and then looked at the cost of a Ninja, I figured, "Hey...even if I get only two or three years of trouble-free performance outa this thing and then it dies completely, I'm still better off just replacing it every few years than I would be with Vitamix."

But it wasn't just that. In a side by side comparison, the Ninja is easily as good as the Vitamix in quality of construction, and it's actually better in some respects, especially as regards the functionality. The Vitamix blades are of inferior design; stuff can get caught under them, and depending on the contents you're mixing, there are "dead spots" where stuff accumulates and doesn't get mixed. Then you have to stop the unit, go in there and move the stuff around, and then restart it. It's a PITA. There are no dead spots in the Ninja.

Everything about the Ninja is heavy duty. There has never been any hint that the motor can't handle every task we've thrown at it. I can't say that about the new Vitamix, which moaned and groaned and grunted from Day One. Add to that the rather disappointing cheapification of everything about the unit (in comparison to the 1983 model), and I figured the Ninja was the winner, for my purposes. And frankly, if its performance thus far is any indication, I expect it to last much longer than just a few years. It's built like a shick brithouse.

But hey...I'm just sharing my experience. I wouldn't presume to say what others should do. If your strategy is working for you, good on ya, bro'. Go with it.

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Totally fair, as per usual Veet. :cheers:

I guess years of Vita Mix use as a paid kitchen slave made me a believer, then again, which is why I chose a commercial version. :lol: You know the marketing buzzwords like "Heavy Duty" mean squat these days, with the masterminds realizing that if it feels heavy (jar, housing, cord, buttons) that means what is INSIDE is worth it...yea right. :lol: It's why I only thrift-shop old pepper grinders for people (or myself) that may need one, the mill works on the inside the Chinese ones at the home store are all hardened plastic, including the "drive shaft." They break in less than a year of honest use...yet they chrome it all to look like metal, and throw cost at brushed stainless facade to impress the unsuspecting. Sad state of affairs.

A pricey uber-blender is something I'll have to research fully (Ninja in strong consideration, now that I know they exist) when the time comes. I miss the "heirloom-quality" of things of yesteryear. A lot.

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Kyle Weiss":ygtu2mfr said:
...I miss the "heirloom-quality" of things of yesteryear. A lot.

8)
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Yep...ditto on that, amigo. There was a time when you bought stuff "for life"...or at least with the expectation that if it broke you'd fix it and go on. But the disposable society we are increasingly becoming eschews that paradigm.

And it seems that the same mentality is now being applied to people, judging by the triage provisions of the New Health Kare under Obamunism. But I'll prolly get myself flamed for saying that, considering the outcome of the last national popularity contest in November. (...and for the record, I didn't think the opposition was any better. It was the same old choice..."Whaddya want — a broken arm or a broken leg?" We're gonna get buggered one way or the other; the only question is how and by whom.)

Anyhow, yeah...pepper grinders. Most I've seen are disappointing. But check this out:
I've exclusively used the combination of whole black, white, green, and pink peppercorns, whole allspice, and whole coriander in place of boring old black peppercorns for years. I just bought them in bulk and refilled my wimpy peppermills. Along came this McCormick package, and lo and behold...the grinder mechanism is kick-ass! It even has fine/medium/coarse adjustments. "If only these bottles were refillable...", said I.

Well, as it turns out, they are refillable, despite the manufacturer's insistence to the contrary. It's a bit tricky to wangle the grinder mechanism off the bottle, but it's doable. Then I just refill those bad boys with my own mix, wangle the grinder/cap back onto the jar, and..."Viola!", as they say. Or possibly "Cello!" — a surprisingly good grinder at yo' service, monsieur. It won't win any glamor awards, but it's better than any other grinder I own. Go figure. 8)

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deepbass9":v8hctgm8 said:
Yeah....Microsoft still sucks, in case anyone was wondering...
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deepbass:

...er, thanks for refocusing the discussion, but there's no need to sugar-coat your comments. We're all friends here. Just come right out and tell us what you really think. :lol:

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Yak":pqenbrd9 said:
A guy with your chops should be able to rig a replacement motor from somewhere up for the old one ?

:face:
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Yeah, I prolly could have done that, Yakster, but I didn't want to screw around with it at the time. My backlog of "projects" was already big enough...and, alas, still is. :roll:

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If I get a red ring of death on my pepper grinder I'm gonna be pretty pissed.

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Kyle Weiss":c8iodv80 said:
If I get a red ring of death on my pepper grinder I'm gonna be pretty pissed.

8)
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Depends on how much pepper you eat, but the ring's not gonna be where you want to find one. :affraid:
 
You know, GK, when I saw it was you who responded just now, I took pause and said,"Ten bucks to myself it's a butthole comment." I gave myself ten bucks, and decided to write this.

:lol:

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