WOT: I had xxxxxx week, what do I buy?

[Guest Anonymous]

URL: http://www.starbucks.com/ourcoffees/product.asp?category%5Fname=Machine+Matcher&product%5Fid=Bar101

I'm buying either a Xbox or a PS2. I am not up to speed on either..what are the pros and cons? I would end up playing either racing games or sports games (actually, sports means hockey, thats it . But mostly racing games. I don't know if I would do the online thing, but probably eventually.

So all you gamers out there...whadya say?

To throw the dark horse in, I'm also thinking maybe an Expresso maker. Starbucks has one on sale, which is apparantly a Saeco but resold under their name. Thats probably the 'wisest' choice, as I would have it for quite a long time. Plus it comes in a cool candy apple red, that looks killer in person.

see link for hella coffee

Matt

[Guest Anonymous]

GT4 ownz all racing games... all of them... if you want authentic racing though you need a PC with a thrustmaster ferrari force feedback wheel... everything else is a toy... xbox has some nice racing games but you're mostly gonna be looking for EA nascar 200x, ea f1 200x, etc etc.. the rest is arcade crapo.. ps2 has much more development.. but xbox has better graphics... I don't know about GT4 (PS2 only) it looks so damn hot... massive ownage.. yeah and around 800+ cars to drive...

[Guest Anonymous]

(nt)

[Guest Anonymous]

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[Guest Anonymous]

URL: http://www.zeebuck.com/02bc/index.htm

It is almost as good as having your own crystal meth lab.

I have owned two of those exact machines, though about 10 years old and labeled as Saeco and Rio Vapore. They will make a nice shot of espresso and have lots of steam power for making great foam (FYI, it's all about technique). I have also seen various versions of them on eBay, brand new and pretty cheap, in the past. If you ever do get one, e-mail me for *my* version of the operating instructions.

Don't forget that the critical "other half" of the espresso machine equation is to have a good burr-type coffee grinder. There is no substitiute for freshly ground coffee, and you need to be able to experiment with and adjust the grind to get that 20-25 second extraction time. Braun makes a decent one for not too much dough and there is a heavier-duty Saeco-made one probably also available from Starbucks (that's my recommendation if you can swing it), but, as with espresso machines the sky's the limit there, too.

BTW, as far as I know, the X-Box is still the gaming system horsepower leader, but I have kinda lost interest in video games since the tech bubble burst. ;-)

best regards,

Zenon

(with a 2 to 4 cappucino a day habit)

[Guest Anonymous]

It has the Grand Tourismo games, which are some of the best race simulators ever. Honestly, the physics in them are so correct that I bet you could improve lap times. For instance when I watch pro racers go around Laguna Seca these days I seem to make the same critiques as the announcers. But this is only tooting my own horn, sorry.

A lot of people like the Xbox becuase it has the better processor and graphics, yet it is more problematic. I have seen a few that fried themselves, especially when doing multiplayer. But the greatest advantage to the PS2 is amount of games for it. Not only does it have tons of PS2 games, but you can actually use the old PS1 games as well. Not to mention that it can double as a DVD player (the Xbox does also).

Improve your longevity, buy a PS2.

[Guest Anonymous]

I want to upgrade, but the damn thing won't brake. Why do I want to upgrade? Dunno, just bored. WOrks great. Everyday. And I mean EVERYday.

[Guest Anonymous]

SPeaking of PS2, it's about time to scoot my new m-roaster seats around in front of the tv and fire up the ol' ps2 for some gt3! :-D

[Guest Anonymous]

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[Guest Anonymous]

(nt)

[Guest Anonymous]

-as and changed his mind within a week, and one of the first

games he got was Gran Turismo. It may be that he doesn't like

GT, but he had lots of other games and still wishes he had asked

for Xbox. I like neither equally, and Xbox is just a better system

all around, from construction features, to actual performance.

Trust me. (only drawback would be if they have that game you

want on the Xbox.)

[Guest Anonymous]

X box, especially for hockey. Your eyeballs will thank you. who cares about being able to play first generation ps2 games or even ps1 games? most new games are available for both systems and many xbox games have updates available online or on disk. And you definitly need a good coffee machine so you can stay up all night playing ESPN Hockey or Halo 2. Think about getting one that is easy to clean, and brews and steams at different temps. You want to be able to steam continously, some cheaper machines cant.

[Guest Anonymous]

(nt)

[Guest Anonymous]

URL: http://www.zeebuck.com/02bc/index.htm

we serious '02 drivers prefer a manual transmission. ;-)

The results are totally operator-dependent and more variable, but the potential quality of espresso is much higher with a manual machine, IMO. It is simple enough to make great espresso, once you have been enlightened to proper barista (baristo?) technique.

My folks do have an older SuperAutomatica that grinds the beans, doses, tamps, and extracts the espresso shot automatically. On that one you still have to froth the milk manually, though (manually comes out much better, anyway). For my folks, who are not espresso machine geeks like me, it is perfect and much better than no espresso at all! It is also less messy than a manual machine, but of course there's much more to go wrong and it's more work to clean the machine itself. Then there is paying for one in the first place. They are not cheap and the new more affordable superautomaticas are very plasticky in construction compared to the manual machine you were originally looking at.

regards,

Zenon

[Guest Anonymous]

(nt)