In strange turn of events, I was contacted by the son of the previous owner of a large sugar mill where I worked as a Comptroller for three years when it was under the control of Bank of America. His father had passed away and he was head hunting for a business consultant to help him in organizing several of his companies.
His father had recommended me, so he started searching for my whereabouts for several months unsuccessfully, until one day his secretary found my name on Facebook and contact was made.
We met, exchanged ideas, and finally agreed on a consulting agreement for a short period. I’m feeling better from my dizzy spells and thought it would be nice to be useful again, plus extra pocket-money is always good news. For about a month, I’ve met with his staff, setting up working schedules, and organizing investment projects. It reminded me when I was 33 years old, full of life and dreams.
Since I had donated all my suits and ties to the church after I retired, my wife is helping me buying new business clothes. In Panama people are very conscious of wearing formal clothes for business meetings—suit and tie. I also needed a laptop for my follow-up meetings and keeping all my information in one place, without having to store hundreds of papers in my home office.
After researching on the Internet for zillion of options, I finally decided on a Sony Vaio 14″ laptop of the Series E14P, Model 14A15FLB. It’s a powerful and aesthetic electronic device. I unpacked it yesterday afternoon, and took several pictures during the process to share with you guys. If you’re a techie, you might want to take a look at the following specs and pictures.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
- Weight: 5 pounds. (A bit heavy for my taste.)
- Screen: 14 inches (1,366 x 768 pixels), Backlight LED technology
- Battery: Up to six hours of use with standard battery
- Processor: Intel Core i5-2450M, 2.50 GHz with Turbo Boost up to 3.10 GHz, Intel HM76 Express
- Operating System: Windows 7 Home Premium Original, 64 bits
- Hard Disk Drive: 640 GB (speed 5,400 rpm)
- Internal Memory: 4 GB DDR3 SDRAM expandable up to 16 GB (speed 1,600 MT/s)
- Video Card: Intel HD Graphics 3000, External: AMD Radeon HD 7570M, 512 MB.
- Optical Unit: Player & Recorder DVD
- Audio: Dolby Home Theater V4
- Wireless Network: Bluetooth standard version 4.0 IEEE 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi
- Webcam: HD, resolution 1,290 x 1,024 1.31 MP
- Dimensions: Width: 13.4 inches, Thick: 0.88-1.31 inches, Height: 9.6 inches
- Color: Black with red borders
- Guarantee: One year
- Inside the Box: One notebook sleeve with pockets, one keyboard skin, one lithium rechargeable battery, one power cable with adapter.
TOTAL COSTS:
- Cost of Sony Vaio laptop: $899.97
- Cost of wireless Logitec mouse: $29.97
- Sales Tax (ITBMS – 7%): $65.10
- Total Costs: $995.04
PHOTO GALLERY:
Snapshot of the Sony Vaio unopened box storing the portable computer. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of the partially open box containing the recently acquired Sony Vaio laptop. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of the laptop’s notebook sleeve with pockets. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of the cover of the Sony Vaio laptop. The red shade is a reflection of my sweater. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of the open laptop with it’s jet black color with thin red borders. The screen has aluminum frames. Very stylish piece of equipment. I liked as soon as I saw it. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of the attractive backlit keyboard with the aesthetic red linings which glow in the dark. I love it.
Snapshot of the input for the power supply cable indicating a voltage of 19.5 volts. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Photograph of the USB ports. It has four of them; two on each side. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of one of the two speakers of the portable computer. I want to try its fidelity as soon as possible. It has a Dolby home theater audio system. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Labels indicating the laptop runs on Windows 7 Home Premium and has a powerful Intel Core i5 processor inside. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of a special Web button to activate the Internet without turning on the computer. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of the arrow keys, (e.g., Up, Down, Right and Left). Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of an attractive red keyboard skin that perfectly molds to the Vaio isolation keyboard. The backlit function of the keyboard is not available when the keyboard skin is attached to the device. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
Snapshot of the enticing red wireless mouse which matches with the color of the laptop. Photo by ©Omar Upegui R.
With this baby I’m ready to return to work like the “good ole days”, plus I have a backup computer when the main one goes sour. It has happened before several times. After all it’s seven years old and the wear and tear is showing its ugly face. Good Day.
