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Archive for February, 2009
A while back I was contacted by a representative for JavaFit Coffee, who offered to send me a few samples of their coffee for review. I gladly accepted the offer, and a few weeks later I received a duffel bag full of Coffee sample packs. I don’t drink a lot of coffee, but I do enjoy a cup every few days, so in addition to sharing with family and friends, I slowly tried each of the different “flavors” I received. JavaFit has a concept on coffee that is somewhat unique and a bit odd - they have added supplements, vitamins, and other useful additives to regular coffee, and they promote their coffees as companions to a fit and healthy lifestyle.
I was sent five different flavors or “functions”as JavaFit likes to call them - original, energy extreme, diet plus, focus plus multi-vitamin, and immune plus multi-vitamin. Each of the non-original flavors/functions contains a variety of supplements geared toward a specific goal: increased energy, appetite suppressant, mental clarity, or an immune system boost (you can read about the specific additives on their website). I am far from a coffee aficionado, but I would describe their coffee as average. It tasted very similiar to other mid-range pre-ground coffees I’ve had in the past. I generally add a decent amount of sugar and milk to my coffee, but for this review I tried each of the coffees without sugar/coffee, and with, to gauge the flavor. Here are my thoughts on each flavor:
Extreme Energy: this one has a slightly odd flavor, maybe it’s the green tea extract? It also has an unfortunate slight aftertaste. Extreme Energy tastes decent with enough sugar and cream. This flavor/function gave me a definite energy boost for a few hours - I drank two cups in a row one day, and it gave me jitters. This might be a good alternative for people who use energy drinks to get them through the day, or if you prescribe to the marketting materials, a good way to jumpstart a workout.
Diet Plus: I didn’t detect and weird flavors in diet plus, and it tasted pretty much the same as the original. I didn’t really follow the scientific process, but I don’t think this flavor/function supressed my appetite for very long. I am not sure if any of the other additives had any beneficial effects on me, but they very well may have.
Mental Clarity: It is very hard to determine whether the additives in this coffee had any effect on my mental clarity, so I have to evaluate it based on taste alone. I thought it was odd, that after opening the package, this flavor/function didn’t really smell enough like coffee. Despite the weird lack of aroma, this flavor tasted pretty decent, and had no aftertaste. I was pleased that it didn’t taste like vitamins - although it did taste slightly different than the original.
Immune Support: This flavor was basically the same as mental clarity as far as taste, and once again, it is very hard to tell whether it had a real impact on my immune system health.
I don’t generally associate coffee with exercise or fitness, especially given that coffee dehydrates me, but I do find that JavaFit has a good angle on the supplement market. By selling to offices, workout centers, and other places that want to promote coffee with benefits, JavaFit is finding it’s target market, and gaining customers who enjoy coffee with the added health benefits. Since I generally take a multivitamin every morning, and I only drink coffee every few days, I don’t really see a need to drink coffee with vitamin additives, especially if they alter the flavor. Also, I don’t find that I enjoy the high/low cycle of energy supplements, and I don’t have a need for an appetite suppressant, so I am really not one of JavaFit’s “target” customers. Despite that, their product has the potential to provide real benefits for people who are willing to pay the slightly higher price tag (about $1 per pot of coffee, if buying at their online store). I probably won’t ever buy their coffee again, but I enjoyed it for what it was, as did the people I gave samples to. I didn’t derive any specific benefit from the special blends, but I can see how they would be enticing to some. Assuming the cost isn’t prohibitive, you may want to try it.
JavaFit Brewed Coffee from JavaFit.com: 
Thanks to JavaFit for sending me these coffee samples for review, if you have a product that you would like me to review, please check out the ‘Get Reviewed‘ page for details on how to contact me. Have you ever tried JavaFit coffee? What do you think of the supplemented coffee concept? Is $1/pot too high of a price?
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A few months ago, I realized that I had quite a few old/broken/used laptops piled up around my office, and I went on a quest to get rid of them. I have heard quite a bit about recycling old computer equipment in the past, so I knew that was an option, but being the thrifty/cheap/profiteering person that I am, I first looked for ways to cash in. I quickly found that there is indeed a market for old and used laptops, even the incredibly old or incredibly broken. In my search, I found a number of brokers online that promised to send me a check for my laptop computers, based on my evaluation of the laptop’s quality.
I decided after a quick overview of the available brokers that LaptopsIntoCash.com looked like my best option (despite the annoying sounds on their website). They quoted me a higher price than some others, as well as offered to send me a pre-paid shipping box for the laptop, so I decided to try them out. As a test, I first sent them my oldest and most broken laptop - for a promised price of $10. That may sound like a horrible deal for me, but this was a very old computer with few working components, so it was better than giving it away at a recycling drive (or allowing it to continue to gather dust in the corner of my office). The pre-paid box showed up on my doorstep within two days of submitting my shipping address and laptop specs on their website, and I had my $10 check within a few weeks of dropping off the box at a FedEx/Kinkos location. The first successful transaction gave me the confidence to send them 2 more laptops over the past few months. Each of those two transactions was successful, with LaptopsIntoCash.com sending me the quoted amount for each computer, without any delay or argument. All communications I’ve had with the people at LaptopsIntoCash.com were courteous and friendly.
I have one more laptop to send them, and their service has been perfect so far. I recommend them to anyone holding onto an old laptop that’s taking up space. I can attest that they do in fact send out checks, and they haven’t yet tried to lower their bid once they have my equipment (a common problem people often run into when trying to sell old electronics to brokers online).
LaptopsIntoCash.com Laptop Buying Service: 5/5
Have you ever sold a laptop or other electronics to an online brokerage? What was your experience?
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The first destination on our recent cruise was Oranjestad, Aruba. Based on recommendations of past cruisers we decided to book the Jolly Pirates snorkel tour available in Oranjestad. Unfortunately, a private tour was not available on the day we were in port, so we ended up booking the same tour through Royal Caribbean excursions (Jolly Pirates provides the service for RCI’s ‘Sail, Snorkel, Swim, and Swing!’ excursion) . The tour included a few snorkel locations, a place for guests to swing off of the ship’s rope swing into the water, and alcohol bar service on the way back to port.
In short, the tour did not live up to it’s reputation. Things started out badly when the transportation bus to the pier was over-filled, forcing me and my companions to stand during the entire drive through the city. We were unable to see any of the countryside or sites that the driver pointed out during the ride. It also did not help that the bus-line was touted as a “party bus” service, and the driver was a bit crazy - making it even harder to stand in the narrow bus aisle through 10-15 minutes of his erratic driving.
Once at the pier, we met the Jolly Pirate ship’s lackluster crew. While some may describe them as laid back, I think it is fair to say that the crew of the ship didn’t really put any energy into their jobs, and they didn’t try to create the atmosphere described by many pasts guests of fun and excitement. Instead, I felt more like one of the herd, shuffled onboard, issued equipment, and transported to each snorkel location with no visible enjoyment from the crew. Even after they opened the bar and started serving drinks, things didn’t really pick up. Also, part of the tour description was that the crew would give us a mini-show by doing tricks off of the rope swing - which they didn’t. Given their overall attitude I didn’t really expect the rope tricks, but it would have been nice to see, and would have increased the entertainment value of the trip.
Being out on the open ocean was nice - as was most of the ship - it was a large ship, with plenty of space for everyone. The one part of the ship that was not enjoyable was the bathroom. I wasn’t expecting anything wonderful, but the bathroom was disgusting. If you go on a Jolly Pirates tour, try as best as you can to avoid the bathroom, and focus on the rest of the ship instead.
The snorkeling locations weren’t incredibly exciting. We were looking forward to snorkeling at the shipwreck of the Antilla, a World War II ship sunk off of the coast of Aruba - but the water was very rough, and the shipwreck turned out to be hard to see, and not a fun place to snorkel. The other locations we stopped at were picturesque, but also were not good places to snorkel. There was very little ocean life available for us to see, and venturing far from the ship looking for interesting snorkeling sites wasn’t really an option, because we spent a minimal amount of time at each location. I didn’t try the rope swing, but the guests who did said it was fun.
The snorkeling equipment worked well and fit nicely, and the bar service on the way back to port was good. The excursion did have good qualities, but overall, I can’t recommend it. There were too many negative qualities for the price, and I won’t go on a Jolly Pirate’s trip in the future.
Aruba Jolly Pirates, Sail, Snorkel, Swim, and Swing! (RCI Shore Excursion): 2/5
Have you been on a Jolly Pirates trip? What did you think? What other trips would you recommend in Aruba?
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