We may have mentioned once or twice that in addition to Life Intervening(tm), there have been other obstacles to updating this report on a regular basis.
Namely, what has been the Official OMW Computer, an aging Windows XP box that we’re pretty sure is powered by steam and held together by bailing wire, string and gum.
On occasion, its screen would turn blue and it would stop working.
Not anymore.
Thanks to a long-time OMW reader, we’re outfitted with a decent laptop of much more recent vintage…which frankly seems like we’re flying the Space Shuttle compared to our old system.
And that reader’s business, Stark Laptops, has become the first official advertiser of Ohio Media Watch.
Oh, but stick around, as there’s a great story behind how this all happened.
John Amrhein’s name should be familiar to long-time OMW readers.
He was operations manager of Melodynamic talk/brokered WCER/900 Canton when we first encountered him…of course, after a brief run as a gospel station under an LMA by WINW/1520’s Curtis A. Perry III, the FCC turned it into “DWCER”. and it’s been silent ever since.
But well before that point, John had moved over to Clear Channel talk WHLO/640 Akron as its news anchor.
Until, well, we’ll let John tell the story.
“I have picked up troubleshooting and repair skills both in my personal life and in radio, and have figured out how to turn that into a successful business.
We all know radio doesn’t pay well, so it started off as a way to make a little extra money.
About a year ago that ‘extra money’ was starting to match my radio salary, so I decided to take the plunge this year, and I have to say I am enjoying not waking up at 3:30 in the morning!”
John’s business, Stark Laptops, serves a unique niche…and should hit a sweet spot for those in media who, well, don’t exactly rake in the cash.
He tells us he sells “quality used laptops at an affordable price – $100 and up.”
Stark Laptops specializes in Dell business-class Latitude models that John says “are sturdier than the consumer-class Inspiron models.”
Specifically, he says that “you can get a 5-year-old Windows 7 machine with similar specs to the new $275 bargain laptop at the big box store for only $200.”
That’s where OMW comes in, as that perfectly describes our own laptop that came from John’s stock. (The laptop pictured here is very similar to the machine now powering OMW.)
We’re thrilled with its performance and that ol’ Blue Screen of Death hasn’t shown up even once. (We’re not even tempted to turn on our old Windows XP box just to see that screen again.)
And now that we’re cruising along technically, we’re able to update this blog much more easily, and more frequently.
If you’re interested in Mac equipment, Stark Laptops sells “3-6 year-old Macbooks at a fraction of what a new Apple costs – $200 and up”.
Throw in a 90 day guarantee, and laptop repair services at “a fraction of what the big box stores charge”, and well, yes, this is a “Sponsored Post”.
But we’ve known John Amrhein for some time.
In addition to John being a long-time OMW reader and a former broadcaster, we’ve can say that we’ve always been treated well by him.
When long-time friend and colleague Scott Fybush (“NorthEast Radio Watch”) came to Northeast Ohio when John was at WCER, John was very gracious and gave us a nice tour.
We can wholeheartely recommend him and his business, and not just because we’ve entered into an advertising deal with him here at OMW.
Since we’ve gone into this deal, John has been attentive to even the most minor question we’ve had about the laptop that now “powers” OMW.
And even if we were approaching this from the outside, we’d say that John’s Stark Laptops offers a lot of value for budget-conscious media types who read this blog on a daily basis.
OK, “end commercial”, if you will, but we do believe in the product and in John and his business…and he has been very helpful in getting our technical side running smoothly…
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