Your Guide to L.E.T.S. (Leisure, Entertainment, Travel, and Savings)
I hope everyone out there is staying safe. We have been working behind the scenes on our long run testing of the items I talked about earlier. The problem is that by doing so we don’t have a lot of weekly content.
If you our readers can give us some insight into what you are interested in or want us to look into for you. We will try to fill the silence.
I have my towel and I am ready for your challenge.
We added another computer to our test for you fine readers. We added an Asus ROG Zephyrus GX701 laptop. The system came with a 1 TB M.2 NVMe SSD with 16 GB RAM and an RTX2070 with 144hz screen and Optimus or G-Sync.
Unit is packaged by Asus with WINDOWS 10 and its external 1080p webcam in box – Micro-USB
Display – 17+” of Smooth 144hz refresh rate. Back lid made of aluminum, really thin bezels with a 1” chin filled with NVIDIA’s stickers on the left. Unfortunately, this laptop a FINGERPRINT MAGNET.
Cooling vs Typing for GAMERS – I personally prefer the front keyboard layout rather than the traditional laptop ergonomics, as the purpose of the machine is extreme gaming with the able to transport to any location for a gaming session.
The perforated top is warm while gaming but did its job in keeping things cool. Asus aura RGB keyboard looks wonderful, although the software is lacking in customization and compatibility with other RGB devices. Chassis RGB lights can be optionally turned off as well. Keyboard feels good for typing, once you get use to its position. Track\Num pad took a short time for me to get acquainted with using it to navigate Window. Unfortunately, the deck and keypad is another fingerprint magnet.
Noise – The GX701 uses the CPU fan mainly, while doing little tasks. Making the Zephyrus sounds and looks like any other Zen design ASUS. However, the two GPU fans kicks in when a game loads up and this thing comes alive. In comparison, this Zephyrus is much quieter than “classical” gaming laptops of early 2017.
Interface – Lacking Thunderbolt and RJ45 port. At least there are two u.s.b gen-1 and one u.s.b gen-2. Hopefully on future models the missing thunderbolt will be addressed.
Speakers – There laptop speaker. They are better than the Zenbook speakers and are actually not bad for their class.
Battery – Power brick is 19.5v barrel plug. 3.2 A . Supports USB PD. Disabling the Geforce and using the intel graphics, I could use the Zephyrus to watch YOUTUBE for a bit over 3 hours. However, with GeForce enabled the battery life from a full charge was less than 45 mins of G-SYNC, surfing the web.
GAMING –On this 17” (1920 X 1080) I was able to play multiple games on the highest settings and FPS were high and the G-Sync eliminated all the tearing. Great performer.
We are going to continue to use this laptop as a daily driver to see how if it still impresses after a couple months.
If you want us to test anything out leave a comment, and I will try to get to it.
A fundamental part of our site was to provide an average person’s view of travel and possible how to enjoy the finer parts of travel without spending a lot. However due to world events that part of the mission is slightly on hold.
Instead we will focus on our reviews of items. We are still committed to bring you real world experiences so please stay tuned.
Thank you all for reading and please stay safe.
For those of you not aware Lucky 32 has been around a long time. It provides a unique twist on southern food, which is always a treat to go too.
Recently I had the opportunity to go to the Lucky 32 in Cary, NC. I thought this was great as it would give me an opportunity to give everyone here some feed back on a great eatery.
The night we were there was a busy but they were able to fit my party of 2 in without waiting. The service was good. The server was engaging and shared information about the specials and some of there favorites. I ended up going to with one of the specials sea scallops and a side. This was great because I always get a fried grit cake when I go there. I would suggest going to Lucky 32 just for the fried grit cake and red eye grave if you ever want a snack.
The meal came out quickly and was very tasty. I was extremely pleased. In fact I was so happy with the meal I had to order desert, bread pudding with caramel souse.
Yes, that is ice cream you see in the picture, and it was an excellent addition to the warm bread pudding.
So if you are in the area drop in and give Lucky 32 a try. They have great food and a menu that changes with the season.
LG gram 17 (2020) review: The best big Ultrabook around just got even better
We recently obtained a LG Gram 17 (2020) for a long-term review due to the excellent buzz that is going around about the topic. As it turns out this is one of the smallest 17-inch Ultrabook you can get. Basically, you get a 16:10 17-inch display in effectively a 15-inch notebook that weighs just 2.95lbs (1.35kg).
This first post is going to be short as we have not had much time to actually use the device, but I wanted to post a few pictures of the packaging and what comes in the box.
More info to come as we gain experience and try to answer the question on should we buy this for our travels?
Today, we went to Burger 21 for lunch and everyone really enjoyed it. I had the Black & Bleu burger with a Red Velvet Cake milkshake. The burger, which comes with bacon, bleu cheese, lettuce and tomato on a brioche bun was cooked to the desired temperature and tasted great. The milkshake was beautifully presented with a square of red velvet cake and a healthy dose of whipped cream on top. It tasted as good as it looked. My wife had a turkey burger on a wheat bun; the turkey patty was flavorful, unlike others she has ordered elsewhere, and she said would definitely order it again. We shared a family-sized basket of the delicious shoestring fries which was enough for about three people to share.
The rest of our party had the Cheesy burger and cheese fries with American cheese and the chicken Parmesan sandwich with a side salad. Unlike other restaurants, the cheese, bacon and scallion toppings were not on top of the fries but instead came in a bowl on the side. The flavor of the American cheese dip was not a hit with the one who ordered it, but I thought it was interesting and my wife thought it was good and would be a nice toppings on a sandwich. The side salad was a very generous portion and pretty much a full-sized salad, and the chicken Parmesan sandwich seemed to be a hit. This wasn’t our first trip to Burger 21, and it won’t be our last. The food and milkshakes are always fresh, delicious and plentiful, and the service and cleanliness of the restaurant above par. Burger 21 even has a hand-washing station in the restaurant so you don’t have to make a trip to the restroom to wash your hands before touching your food. And if you have picky eaters who can not agree on a what to eat, Burger 21 has something for pretty much everyone in your party.
Happy Valentines Day to everyone. I hope that each of you has the ability to spend time with that special someone in you life.
Over the past few months I have taken the opportunity to drive our family Prius. I have found it to be very similar to the other hybrids that we have. The Prius comes with three different power modes: EV, ECO and Power. The EV is electric, ECO is a hybrid between EV and gas that maximizes fuel economy and Power is akin to a “sport” mode in the Volt. It allows you to tailor the cars performance to the type of driving you need. If you don’t need quick acceleration, then the car lets you use the ECO mode to improve your gas mileage. The best part is if you need those rabbit starts or quick passing ability the car can be shifted on the fly between modes.
Driving the Prius, it does a great job of being nimble. I never problems navigating into parking spots, parallel parking or changing lanes. The challenge of trying to keep it in EV mode became a fun game while driving the car.
So after a few months, we still love the Prius and would suggest anyone who is looking for a low maintenance, great gas mileage car to take a look at the Prius. It will not disappoint.
Hello again. I would like to thank you for reading my blog. It has been a fund and challenging experience starting to get it off the ground. But I am happy to bring to you the first real travel post.
I just recently got back from a trip to El Paso TX, and it was a remarkably interesting place. El Paso is located on the border of Texas, New Mexico and Mexico. Within 20 minutes you can see two states and another country. This leads to a very divers and interesting culture. On advice from some local friends I did not venture into Juarez, Mexico but I did go to New Mexico. I did go to the Mexican border. Where I saw the boarder wall (let’s be honest, it’s a fence) and the mass of people moving back and forth between the two cities. It was like something I saw in history class of the checkpoints in Berlin during the Cold War.
Anyway, it is a sight but do not go during rush hour. Big mistake on my part. It will take you forever to get away from people trying to get home after a long day at work. I would suggest that if you want to drive down the interstate that follows the boarder wall do it during the middle of the day. There is significantly less traffic.
Before I go to far let me address the elephant in the room, “Is El Paso Safe?”. I would have to say unequivocally, YES. El Paso on a whole has a very low crime rate for a city it’s size. You need to remember that El Paso is the home to many local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies. That gives a medium size city a disproportionate police presence to its size. So, go visit El Paso. See the people and experience the culture of Texas westernmost city.
What is there to do in El Paso? If you enjoy the outdoors there are tones of hiking trails in the Franklin Mountains State park, which is less than an hour outside of town. The Wyler Aerial Tramway which takes visitors up 4,692 feet for a view of the city was highly recommended as a must do activity. If you want something a little low key. The oldest continually operating parish in the State of Texas can be found there along with two other Spanish Missions. This is a great chance to see authentic Spanish mission construction in person.
While in El Paso I had the pleasure of staying that the Hotel Indigo: El Paso Downtown. This hotel provided good accommodations as well as excellent views. The downtown location provided numerous eateries within walking distance. So after a day of sightseeing you will not have to take the car out again to get dinner.
Speaking of food I should really mention some of the different place that I tried while there.
This was my first dining experience of the El Paso week and to be honest I did not anticipate much out of a hotel restaurant. I wish I could say that the restaurant made me want to eat every meal here, but it did not.
Let us start with the décor. I think they are going with an art’s, eclectic feel. Or they furnished the restaurant on a very tight budget. The table had mis-matched chairs, or the chairs were so low to the ground you more reclined in them than sat. The service was not the greatest. We had excessively long waits to have our order taken, which was followed by another long wait to get our food. (Later in the week we found out the restaurant waiters were also responsible for taking up room services so that might have contributed to the long wait times) One last note on the service. I really do not think it is acceptable not to be able to tell the customer what beer you are trying to sell them. I asked two different staff members, and neither could tell me the names of the beers they had on tap. They could tell me the styles but that was it.
Now we come to my real problem with the restaurant, the food. It was good. I would even go as far as to say it was really good. If the food had been bad, I could have written this place off and never looked back, but the quality and flavors of the food they served sort of made the experience a wash. Maybe on another night the service would have been good as the food and I would be writing a glowing review but as it is, I can only suggest it as a fallback to other places.
The next night tried the Park Tavern. The food was a little on the pricy side, but of excellent quality. The restaurant is designed to give semiprivate booths to allow for conversations without obstructing views of the entire restaurant. The decor is done up well with tastefully done furniture that is comfortable to sit in. It was a pleasant change from the day before. As for the food, I went with the Chicken Piccata followed by the Peach & Blackberry Tart. This meal was great. The food was wonderful. The server was helpful and friendly, while not being annoying. I would highly recommend this restaurant.
The next place I would like to mention is the State Line Restaurant. The restaurant is in New Mexico which is about 15 minutes from downtown El Paso. This barbecue restaurant came highly recommend and for good reason. The food is reasonably priced and is full of flavor. I selected the ribs and brisket plate for my meal. I was not disappointed. Now let me interject something here. I am a self-proclaimed banana pudding snob. I prefer the traditional custard approach to banana pudding as opposed to the Jell-O or non-cook style. As the State Line does not cook their banana pudding and uses only whip cream as a topping I passed. Memphis I will be back. Sorry flash back. Anyway, I grabbed some of their excellent apple cobbler which came with a scoop of ice cream and caramel drizzle. Let us say I ate to much that meal but did not regret it at all.
Ok if you can eat in only one place in El Paso make it L and J Café. It is a hole in the wall located next to a cemetery. I was told do not be afraid it looks like a dive, but the food is great. They were so right. This is the kid of place you would not find if you were not a local. The food is authentic, reasonably priced, and very tasty. I got their chicken enchiladas. I have to say their approach to enchiladas is different than what I am us to. Instead of putting the chicken in the enchiladas. You are given two cheese enchiladas with shredded chicken piled on top. I though it was a great idea. If I every get back to El Paso I will be going back to eat here.
There were other stops on my trip that I might get around to posting about. We will see. Anyway, I’ll be back soon till then don’t forget to bring your towel.
Hello everyone one and welcome to my first report on the 2017 Chevy Volt. Over the first month of ownership I’ve been formulating my opinion of the Volt. I should add some information of other cars I have been driving recently. I am coming off of a 2013 Nissan Leaf. The family has a 2013 Chevy Volt plus the 2013 Toyota Prius that is also part of this long term review. To start off, the Volt is definitely different from the Leaf that I was driving but after a couple of days of use it has become extremely comfortable car to drive.
Overwhelmingly, the 2017 Volt is a fantastic car that will fit into many people’s lives and probably was one of the most functional mass-market electric cars a US manufacturer has produced in recent years.. It is a shame the 2019 was the last year for this car. It’s mix of electric and gasoline make it a great option or ares of the country where the electric car infrastructure has not matured.
I think we are still a few years away from having good electric infrastructure in the US to be as convenient as gas – at which point it will become more convenient to use all electric. Sure, almost every house, building and structure has an electrical outlet which can charge on level 1 or 2 (and the 2017 Volt does both levels of AC charging), meaning you wake up every morning with a full 53 mile “tank” of electricity. But to finally close the convenience gap of gasoline and frankly beyond, pure electric cars need to be outfitted with high power DC chargers and long range batteries which are not here yet.
As a former pure electric car owner, there were a lot of times I had to modify my plans to go everywhere I needed to go on my Leaf’s 50 mile range. It was virtually impossible to travel to my parents’ house and back in a single day. They did not have a level 2 charger so I could only use level 1 charging which would have required an overnight stay to have enough charge to get home. The Leaf was suffering from substantial battery degradation and the battery replacement cost more than the value of the car. Which eventually culminated in the purchase of the Volt.
Speaking of the Volt, every morning when you wake up with the 2017 Chevy Volt can be ready to go with a 53 real miles of EV usage, which is a significantly more accurate estimation than the Leaf provided. If you have a huge commute (over 25 miles), you can opt to charge at work and drive 53 miles of pure electric back. Some people will never finish the tank of gas that comes with their Volt. In fact that is what I have been doing for this first month. I have a charging station at work which allows me to charge for free. As such I charge there most of the time with only occasionally charging at home on the weekends.
The best part of the Volt is when you need to take the “off the beaten path” and switch into gas, the Volt does so elegantly and seamlessly. The internal combustion engine kicks in and you get a very respectable 42 miles per gallon and over 400 miles of total range. Chevy should be applauded for their efforts in building a car that makes the transition to electricity 100% totally painless for just about anyone.
Chevy has somehow fit two separate powertrains into a mid-sized car and still has respectable room in the trunk and back seat. The car also performs as well as any sudan. The EV acceleration will get you to highway speeds in under 7 seconds while lugging a dormant ICE powertrain along for the ride. The acceleration will surprise and delight you if you’ve never driven electric and the sports mode make the car more responsive and fun to drive.
Chevy has also toned down the “look at me, I’m a weird EV” factor in the 2017 Volt design. The 2017 Chevy Volt looks a lot like other sporty mid-sized cars The interior is also extremely nice, highlighted by the captive touch center console display which works great with Android Auto. The seats are comfortable, there are cup holders where they need and the inside experience is fantastic. I would also like to point out that the internal cabin space for the rear seat has improved over the 2013 model.
So far the Volt has performed better than anticipated. There are a few bells and whistles that I miss from the Leaf but that is to be expected since I moved from the top of the line to the middle range entry but where it counts there has been only improvements. The improved range, comfort, and handling out way the gimmicky 360 camera views that were only used in rare occasions.
Finally, what has it cost to operate the Volt for the first month? NOTHING. That’s right I have not had to send any money on the Volt in the first month of ownership. All the electricity I have used has come from free charging stations. Additionally, I still have about nearly a full tank of gas which the dealership provided when I bought the car. As ongoing cost go this is great.
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