Ethan

The aftermath... It's 11:00EST, my wife's gone to bed, and here I am in my den typing up the end of my first Panerai day. I did in fact spend the rest of the day answering the phone as Jason Statham, and almost everyone (my Senior Programmer WOULD NOT play along - so he got hung up on a lot) obliged me with the required, "I need a Transporter". I cruised the hallways lopsided from the sheer weight of the watch, and entered every meeting I had, watch-first. I used the phrase, "check it out" more times in two hours than I have my whole life. If anyone in my meetings did not immediately notice what I now call, "The Rock", I made sure I singled them out in the meeting when I was positive they weren't paying attention, demanded immediate statistics that they couldn't possibly come up with on the spot, and then while they stammered out their pathetic half-answer to the entire group, I amused myself by catching the lens-bleed from the lite-pro projection system in the 196's massive face, and blinding them with it. On my way past reception from the client lounge, I overheard some kid say, "...I mean, it's just a watch". I immediately turned and chased him up the stairs, but with The Rock hanging off my arm like a full-sized, ornamental Submariner anchor, I couldn't catch him. I had to stop on the landing to catch my breath (and I run four days a week), and have a cookie from the snack trolley on the landing. Only, I couldn't fit my hand through the opening in the cookie jar with The Rock on my wrist, and my brain was by that point so depleted of oxygen from my weighted run up the stairs, that I didn't think to use my other hand until it was too late... I have since ordered both the 199 Riviera and the 092 Arktos. So, let this be a lesson to all of those who are today where I was yesterday: Sometimes, ignorance is bliss.

Please help me. I have fourteen watches. Some are gens, and some are reps. I don't have a specific 'brand'; I collect watches because I like the individual piece. I collect reps based on how accurate the reproduction is, and how much I like both the functionality, and the... 'form-factor', if you will. It's a mixed bag: Rollies, PP, Cartier, Breitling, Breguet, VC, Maurice Lacroix - you name it. So: My first PAM arrived today... Now, I've been here a while, and I've read all your 'PAM-Fever' posts. I have regarded these with the same cool scepticism that I regard 'golf-fever'. I play golf. I am good at golf. I enjoy golf. But I don't give a rat's ass who wins what tournament, who's at the top of the board at any given time, or whether Tiger or Vijay is 'off'. I never caught the fever; I just like the game. But this is different... From the moment my new 196 7753 slid heavily out of it's comfortable bubble wrap and into my sweaty outstretched hand, to it's final, intimidating positioning on my left wrist, I have been mesmerised. THIS is not a watch. THIS is a friggin' steeple clock. Now, my administrative office is on the 61st floor, and I'm pretty sure that if I dropped this baby out the window, it wouldn't just kill somebody - it would impact into the earth with such tremendous force that the resultant dust-cloud sent into the atmosphere would be massive enough to blot out all light and send us into another F*CKING ICE AGE. For the last hour-and-a-half, I have answered my telephone with the phrase, "I'm listening", and have hung up the phone on any of my staff who have not immediately replied with, "I need a Transporter". I have emailed the Magnificent Joshua with an immediate, rush order for two more RIGHT NOW. I mean, RIGHT NOW. YESTERDAY. They cannot possibly arrive fast enough. The 199 Joe posted about this morning. The 092 Arktos. I am so impatient I make Nais look like the freakin' Emperor Hadrian. Aaron's already got a desperate order for a jet-black stingray strap blinking menacingly in his hotmail inbox. Somebody help me. I wasn't ready. I should have listened. The Horror... The Horror...

Awesome post Joe. Whenever I read your posts I add a little 'country' to them in my head, and the odd "sh*t" thrown in here and there for good measure! GREAT watch; be picking this up for myself!

That's just ridiculous. I've ordered 10 watches with leather straps in the past three months, and NONE have been held by customs or returned to the sender. Mad Cow affects LIVE cows, not chemically treated leather goods... Customs does have a 'self clear' process now that I had to use once to get my Plasma TV in from the States. I had to go out to Pearson, answer a bunch of questions on a computer (which kicks out a form you hand in), pay some GST and PST, and then my TV was released. Seems a bit weird for two watches, but you might as well call CBSA and ask. Here's the contact website: http://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/contact/rco-e.html As always, it depends who you get, but after ten days it's not going to clear itself. Hope that helps.

Hit up Nanuq; he knows.

I've got to show my guys that tomorrow. Too funny!

That's funny Richard! You and I seem to be crossing paths on a regular basis these days... Did you try the HP or Lenovo tablets? I evaluated both, and there was just no comparison to the Fujitsu with it's Wacom screen. Plus, on a qualitative note, it just 'feels' better. For me it came down to the T4020, and the Sony VGN TX670P. In the end, my workflow just favoured the tablet. Like rongoms, I often sketch and take my notes on paper (my first degree was an undergrad in Lit). Ultimately, I don't think that touch-screen will replace keyboard in the immediate future, but I do think that both will become available in the same form-factor. After all, you still have the choice to copy using CTRL+C or the right-click menu. Most power users don't use the right-click menu at all, but it's still there because different people like to work differently. Same goes for the tablet technology; write if you want, type if you want - it's all good.

Well, at least it's not Intel... You should try two Opteron 875s; now THAT is power.

Does it have an Intel chip in it?

I just picked up a new Fujitsu T4020; fantastic. And I'm about as heavy a notebook user as you're going to get. For me it is a question of workflow. I travel frequently, use my notebook frequently, but also prefer to take notes using a physical pad of paper. This is really annoying when I have to (on a semi-regular basis) go through my notes and distil the useful points and information from the crap and doodles. I get an average of 70 phone calls a day and over 300 emails, so I don't have a lot of time for that kind of work (you'd think I'd spend less time on this forum, but right now I'm ignoring someone on conference call while I type this). I used to give my notes to my assistant, but she could never decipher my terrible, hurried printing, and it took me longer to translate the stuff here and there than if I just did it myself. For me, the tablet PC is a no-brainer. And the power is now competitive. I use OneNote in meetings, Photoshop for creative, and DVRack on set to digitize footage straight from camera to the laptop. My LifeBook has a 2.2GHz Pentium M, 2GB fast 533MHz DDR RAM, a dual-layer DVD re-writable, 80GB drive, a/b/g/bluetooth, firewire and USB; more than enough to tackle whatever I need to. I have a docking station at home and at work, both connected to Dell 2405fpw lcds (which the advanced graphics version of the T4020 can drive). As far as touch-technology goes, I'm afraid that it simply is the way of the future. There is currently a company (no, I cannot say which) that is going to market with a new technology which can touch-enable any lcd (either full-sized or PDA-sized), or plasma in-factory for an overall cost to the manufacturer of 35 cents... The technology uses ambient light and shadow, and can judge the distance an object is to the display. So, if you move your thumb towards your Treo, for example, while trying to dial a number using the touch-screen, the number you were aiming at would increase in size as the others became smaller. It's really quite amazing. Whether or not the tablet swivel-screen form factor is a long-term hit is hard to say, but make no doubt about it, touch-technology is here to stay.

Personally, I prefer the 'energy' that this new board has... Although RWGI is relaxing... If you like tumbleweeds...

Apologies for the thread hijack, alwyn; bad nettiquette... Richard, I wasn't there for the early days of RWGI. What did you propose, and how/why was it received poorly? I have always found you to be an intelligent and proactive member; did we miss out on an opportunity here? Perhaps this belongs in a different thread, or a PM, but I'm intrigued...

I like Josh's smooth bezel datejust. It's not 100% accurate, but it's a very pretty watch with Swiss movement. I'm picking this up for Mrs. Ethan Joe's pick is nice as well, but the Mrs. isn't a fan of the President-style linkset...

That's a good boy.

Send the dealer a pic and ask them if they can get it for you. Sometimes they can, even if it's not listed on their site.

You can always just hit 'Fast Reply' instead. But I suspect you knew that.

Fantastic post, Hanswurst! Always liked the sub / NATO strap combo...

Yes Chronus, I know; I own a 7753 196. My point (in reference to the comment I was responding to) was that even if it were $500.00, it would be worth it to have the 7753. Vlaletom seemed to be indicating that the extra money was not justified.

How's it goin', eh? Oops! Not the Canadian thread...

Welcome, wanmadtim! Be careful though; it's hard to stop once you get started!

Cannot go wrong with Josh.

I don't think this guy is of any benefit, but I agree with Ken. He's been 'officially' warned on this board, so what have we got to lose? If he freaks out again, it'll be a brief blip of ridiculous, grammatically disastrous amusement, followed by his sweet, satisfying banishment. I'm good with that.

No idea. Most I've paid to date (not including upgrades or mods) on a single rep was for my 196 Daylight with the 7753; ~$700.00. And it's worth every damned cent.

$500 more for a 7753 in a PAM, instead of the Asian 7750 is worth it... As to the earlier question of value, I think it depends on personal taste and how close you are trying to get to the original. I have a 5039 J rep that is near impossible to tell from the gen, so to spend an extra couple of hundred dollars for a better strap and a clean from Joe is worth it to me. I also have a PP fantasy which is not close at all to any PP gens I've seen, however it does have day-of-the-week, month, 24hr time, and moon-phase complications that all work automatically, so again, the extra investment in a better strap and a trip to Joe's is merited by the fact that it's an interesting watch. But I wouldn't drop the cash on a crappy rep with frozen subdials, or one that is so inaccurately copied (like the TT blue sub) that it's impossible to get it close in the first place; unlike the PP fantasy (which most people will not be familiar with), the TT sub is immediately recognizable.

Just delete the whole topic. Then ban him.