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Archive for the ‘flashlights’ Category

Put Some Power In Your Clicks

Wednesday, September 30th, 2009

Google news alerts served up this article today about a new Duracell program to distribute flashlights and batteries to fire departments.

Duracell’s “Hours of Power” program will make donations to fire departments in New York, Chicago, Knoxville Tenn., Springfield Mo. and Wichita Ks. These local fire department will then distribute Duracell flashlights and batteries to city residents at no cost.

Best of all, you can participate and help maximize the value of Duracell’s program. Every time you visit Duracell’s Hours o f Power web site and click on the 100 Hours Button Duracell will increase the value of their contribution. To date, 49,600 “Hours of Power” have been donated. Their goal is 10 million hours which will convert to lots of flashlights, batteries and chargers donated to first responders and local citizens.

We live in a community that is regularly hard hit by weather-related power problems caused by hurricanes and ice storms. It would be great if theis program was so successful that Duracell extended it to some cities in North Carolina.

This program continues through Nov. 15.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape,Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Hosa and Entertainment One extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. Click here to sign up for our newsletter. Here’s a link to our new “How To” animation series.

Posted in batteries, customer service, flashlights, good business ideas | No Comments »

I Doubt If This Is Going To Solve The Energy Crisis

Friday, December 5th, 2008

Duracell is getting lots of press for their promotional stunt of using a bunch of bicycle-powered generators to power the 2009 sign that will appear in Times Square on New Years Eve.

While this may get Duracell lots of notice for their batteries, it has to be the most inefficient method of generating electricity ever invented.

In order to light the four numbers in the 2009 sign for 10-15 minutes, visitors to Duracell’s Power Lodge in Times Square will have to pedal at least 230 hours to store enough battery power for this stunt.

Even at the minimum wage, that puts the cost of producing this power at over $1500.00 ($100.00 per minute), and that doesn’t include the cost of the custom “snowbikes”, the batteries (not Duracell) that will store power, and the cost of operating the Power Lodge for the month leading up to New Year’s Eve.

Before you invest in Duracell’s idea of how to generate green power, you probably ought to take a look at this video .

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Enterainment 1 extension cords , OnStage Stand mic stands and quality speaker cables.

Posted in audio visual, batteries, flashlights, good business ideas | No Comments »

Don’t Forget To Water Your Par Cans

Wednesday, October 22nd, 2008

There are lots of very exciting things happening in the development of new lighting technologies. The desire to save energy and use fewer natural resources in lighting manufacturing means that big changes are right around the corner.

General Electric is developing LED lighting technology that makes use of organic compounds that are incorporated into light emitting diodes or OLEDs. This technology still has lots of problems to solve, but it actually works in the lab.

Sheets of plastic film containing OLEDs emit a blue-white glow when an electric current is applied. Because these sheets are flexible, it may be possible someday to have your wallpaper or ceiling also be your light source.

The OLED panels provide a diffuse lighting source that doesn’t need lamp shades or frosting like a conventional tungsten filament light bulb. GE and Siemens are already working with manufacturers of devices like cell phones and televisions, even though the cost is still far too great to be practical. That, no doubt, will surely change.

Meanwhile, anybody who has watched their electrical meter spin at dizzying speeds when all the lights are on, has better days to look forward to.

Want to know more? Click here!

Posted in Pro lighting, audio visual, extension cords, flashlights, good business ideas | No Comments »

This Experiment Didn’t Take Long

Tuesday, November 27th, 2007

As the raw material in batteries continues to increase in price, we feel real pressure to try and save customers some money. We’ve steadily watched the cost of alkaline batteries increase, so I like to test non-name brand competition whenever I can.

I’m sitting and staring at two glowing flashlights on my desk as I write this blog-one flashlight is using a couple of Duracell Procell AA batteries and an identical light contains a fresh pair of AA from a company called Permalife.

Unfortunately,it looks like the “Permalife” is going to be considerably less than “Permanent”. It’s already starting to dim.

We were excited when we got pricing information about the Permalife brand, as these batteries had real potential to save our customers some money. The savings evaporate in a hurry if it takes three or four batteries to match the performance of one ProCell.

It’s bad when a flashlight fails in use, but you usually get some warning. It gradually fades out rather than failing all at once. A wireless microphone is very different. Once its voltage in the transmitter falls below a certain point, the receiver becomes vulnerable to all sorts of outside interference. This can be disasterous or funny. Usually the former. Rarely the latter.

As the sun sets on this blog, the Permalife-equpped flashlight fades to black and our quest for a good no name battery continues. If we ever find one, I’ll let you know.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. We’re your source for honest battery information.

Posted in Pro Sound, Pro lighting, batteries, flashlights | No Comments »

Duracell Continues Move Towards A Sale

Wednesday, October 3rd, 2007

Proctor and Gamble has made a major move towards confirming rumors about the sale of its Duracell division with the announcement that The Blackstone Group has been retained to advise it on finding a buyer. The Duracell brand generates over $2 billion in annual battery sales, so this is a very big deal. The sale price may reach as high as $7 billion dollars.

While Duracell remains healthy, it apparently is not generating the sort of growth numbers that P&G expects to see. It has been clear from the point of view of distributors that P&G did not meet the same standards for dealer support that had been provided by Gillette when they owned the brand. It will be interesting to see if a new owner can improve product delivery.

P&G has owned the ProCell brand for well over a year, yet there is still no reference to the product on their own web site. Not even a link directly to the duracell.com/procell web site. A “brand” search at the P&G website doesn’t even acknowledge the Procell brand.

The Blackstone Group is an international leader in the area of mergers and acquisitions, so the public announcement that they are involved in this project means that a change is inevitable. Check back here regularly for updates.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. We’re a great source for entertainment industry news too!

Posted in Other News, Pro Sound, batteries, flashlights | No Comments »

A Real Problem

Wednesday, August 29th, 2007

I have written before about counterfeit Duracell batteries, but I had no idea how big the problem really was.

Gillette, the division of Proctor & Gamble that makes Duracell Procell batteries is involved in a daily struggle around the world to try and keep these products off the market. It’s a daunting task. Gillette reported recently that in a span of only one week they seized 1,000,000 counterfeit batteries in two provinces of China. In addition, they also found hundreds of thousands of razors and tooth brushes made with their brand names.

The problem with batteries is particularly vexing, as the problem of lost revenue is just the beginning. The safety concerns over unstable battery chemistry and the potential damage that can be done to the device in which the battery is used make it difficult to know the real cost of this problem.

The blog posting that referenced Gillette’s battle against counterfeit batteries made an interesting point that I had never considered. That is that the international sale of counerfeit goods is at least partially run by organized crime and terrorist organizations that are able to raise money through these sales. Apparently there have been seized Al Qaeda training manuals that recommend the sale of counterfeit merchandise as a funding source.

Our Duracell Procell products come directly from the manufacturer and we stand behind them with a “Satisfaction Guaranteed” promise.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. Look to us first to meet your microphone accessory and battery needs.

Posted in Pro Sound, batteries, flashlights | No Comments »

Why Can’t We Sell MagLites?

Thursday, July 12th, 2007

After working on it for almost a year, last summer we were finally able to get a dealership for MagLites. I have enjoyed using these flashlights for years (every stagehand has one) and I was confident that the would be a big seller. I assumed (obviously incorrectly) that lots of our customers would be familiar with this line of flashlights and if our prices were competitive and our selection was good, they would sell.

We registered the web site, buymaglite.com, built a good e-commerce and information site, linked to goodbuyguys.com and waited for the orders to roll in.

Nothing!

We can’t give them away. Our offer on flashlights is always “batteries included“, we were never “out of stock” (I wish!), and the other sites affiliated with goodbuyguys.com were generating lots of traffic and lots of sales.

The quality of a Maglite has never been in dispute and the company does lots of national advertising to support the brand. These flashlights are durable, bright, and have a great warranty.

After several months of working on the web site, it scores well with major search engines, so it seems that buymaglite.com should be easy to find if someone actually wanted to “buy a Maglite”.

We’ll keep working on the site, but this problem is a real mystery to me.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Shurtape gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords and OnStage Stand mic stands. Look to us first to meet your flashlight and battery needs.

Posted in Pro Sound, Pro lighting, batteries, flashlights | No Comments »

Maybe We Should Sell Car Batteries

Thursday, March 15th, 2007

You don’t usually think of car batteries as expendables, but it looks like that is changing. An interesting article in this weeks Wall Street Journal talks about how the demands of today’s electronic-laden cars are taking a real toll on their batteries. A car battery has traditionally lasted 3-5 years but the addition of power sapping devices like DVD players, GPS systems, heated cup holders and security systems has radically altered the life of these batteries.

The design of the auto battery is little changed in decades and what we ask these batteries to do was never imagined 10 years ago. It used to be that about the only thing that used power when the car was shut off was the clock. Now all sorts of items from the cooling fan to your cell phone charger continue to use power long after the car has been parked.

Experts in battery maintenance recommend that the battery be disconnected when the vehicle is parked for more than a couple of weeks. Better yet, use a device called a “trickle charger” to keep the battery charged up even when the car is not being used. These same experts warn that the biggest threats to battery life, extreme weather and harsh vibtration,can’t be avoided.

With the cost of a replacement battery sometimes exceeding $200.oo a little thought given to battery mainteance can go a long way.

GoodBuyGuys.com is your online source for Permacel gaffers tape, Duracell Procell batteries, MagLite flashlights, Nashua duct tape, Bay State wire ties, Electratrac and Coast Wire extension cords, OnStage Stand mic stands, and lots of other useful maintenance supplies

Posted in Other News, batteries, extension cords, flashlights | No Comments »

Time To Change That Smoke Detector Battery

Thursday, March 8th, 2007

Daylight savings time starts this weekend. The clock is being set forward three weeks earlier this year and some confusion is probably in order.

One thing you don’t want to be confused about is the need to change your smoke detector battery. Using the time change as a reminder to change these batteries twice a year is a great idea, and the date change doesn’t diminish the need to attend to this important task. It takes just a minute and its easy to do.

Lots of new residential construction uses hard wired smoke detectors and some homeowners don’t realize that these detectors need battery changes too! The battery provides a backup in case there is a power failure. Quite often an electrical fire can lead to a quick shutdown of your electrical service, leaving the smoke detector without a fresh battery useless. Just because the LED indicator on the smoke detector is glowing doesn’t mean that the battery is good.

A battery that is no longer adequate for your smoke detector may still have enough power to use in other non-critical applications. Try it in some other device before throwing it away.

Goodbuyguys.com is a collection of web sites (including buytape.com, buybattery.com, buymicstand.com, buyextensioncord.com, buyaflashlight.com and buywireties.com) designed to deliver a great selection of hard to find products.

Posted in batteries, extension cords, flashlights | No Comments »

How Do We Get Rid of These Things?

Tuesday, February 27th, 2007

One of the unfortunate aspects of expendable sales, is they create a lot of waste. Batteries are an important part of modern day life, but it does present a waste issue. Even recycleable batteries must be disposed of once they have expired.

The Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC) is in the business of recycling recharageable batteries and cell phones. Rechargeable batteries are commonly found in cordless power tools, cellular and cordless phones, laptop computers, camcorders, digital cameras, and remote control toys. The mission of the RBRC is to keep these batteries out of the solid waste stream while preserving natural resources. When you see a battery recycling bin in a retailer like Radio Shack or Circuit City, it is probably a part of the RBRC network. Participating retailers display this seal.

The rechargeable batteries that RBRC collects are sent to a state-of-the-art facility where they are recycled to reclaim reusable materials that are used in stainless steel production (nickel and iron) and to make new batteries (cadmium). This organization collects cell phones as well, and refurbishes them or recycles the material in an environmentally sound manner.

If you would like to sign up your organization to participate in the RBRC recycling network, here’s a link to the sign up page.