West Florida Components

Great deal alert! We’re parting with some of our static dissipative stacking bins – taking them out of service in our warehouse. There’s still plenty of life available in these bins so grab them while you can at 60% off the price of new bins.

The bins are perfect for storing all your sensitive electronic components and supplies. Also ideal for a warehouse environment where you need some ESD protection.

Here are the larger size bins: Large Anti-Static Stacking Bin

And here are the medium size bins: Medium Anti-Static Stacking Bin

The price on these bins when new are $26 for the medium size and over $30 for the large size. Both sizes are stackable with an open hopper on the front side for easy access to the contents of the storage bin. Limited availability – only about 200 left.

By popular request we’ve added an additional radial electrolytic capacitor assortment to our lineup of available products. Like our other capacitor kits, this assortment has a big range of capacitances and voltages supported. And like our other assortments, every value is individually bagged and labeled.

But here’s where this kit differs from our other previous kits – we are now able to provide a list of manufacturers and temperature ratings for this assortment so you can be sure that the capacitors in this assortment meet your needs. We’ve designed this assortment to be perfect for anyone’s workbench or ideal in a classroom setting.

Capacitor values range from 0.22uF 50V to 6800uF 10V. There are about 245 radial electrolytic capacitors included spanning 27 different values. Some of the included manufacturers are Taicon, Paccom, Sprague, NIC, Nippon, Marcon and Panasonic.

We have been anxiously awaiting the release of the newest Chromebook.  After reading about the larger Chromebook 550 last year, we wondered if this smaller version might be the answer to our ‘bigger than a tablet and netbook’ and ‘better for travel than a laptop’ needs.

With it’s smaller memory (16GB – not expandable), you most certainly will be relying on the cloud (100GB free for 2 years from Google) to store your documents, music and images. This is not necessarily a drawback as you can then access those same files from other computers as needed.

The battery life is estimated to be about 6.5 hours which is plenty for travelers on long flights or extended car rides and the weight is under 2.5 pounds – ideal for slipping into a backpack or large purse. Total thickness is under an inch (0.7″ to be exact) yet the screen size is just under 12″ and it has a full size keyboard (no full numeric keyboard but I guess that would just make it TOO perfect).

So what are the drawbacks to the new Chromebook? Other than the lack of storage space on the device (although it does accept memory sticks and SD cards), you will have to get used to web based applications such as Google Docs or Microsoft Live Documents for productivity and office type programs. Again – not necessarily a bad thing – just a shift in the programs that most businesses and people currently use.

Another benefit is the built-in virus protection which stays updated as well as the start-up speed of around 10 seconds (how long did your Windows based machine take to load this morning?). For the all-important internet access, you can count on 802.11 dual band WIFI access (a/b/g/n enabled). It is also Bluetooth enabled, has 2 USB ports and a built-in VGA camera for Skyping. Honestly, this has just about everything most folks would need – especially if used as a spare or travel computer.

Google will also be releasing another version that is 3G enabled so that like your smartphone or tablet computer, you can have access to the internet without relying on a network or WIFI. This adds another $70 to the price but in addition, you will have to pay monthly access charges to use the 3G. I think the WIFI is enough for us for now.

Ready to purchase a Google Chromebook? They are currently available at Amazon (short delays right now for orders) and some Best Buy stores (call before heading down there).

We are sure that the Chromebook will be a hot seller for the holiday season at $250.

We love finding products that make great use of solar electricity and our electronic components. How about a solar powered LED light in a mason jar? Perfect for your backyard porch or for mood lighting at a party – or even as a night light in your bathroom, bedroom or kitchen!

The ones we found at MyGrillfriend.com give you a choice – it can be a soft deep orange colored light (referred to as a ‘sun jar’) or a beautiful shade of blue (called a ‘moon jar’) just by flipping a switch. The solar panel inside the jar collects the sun’s rays during the day, and automatically turns on when the lights go down. So easy to use and the LEDS will burn for years! Can I just tell you how much we love this product?!

Of course we had to take our Sun & Moon light apart to see how they made it. Nestled inside the neck of the jar is a highly efficient solar cell which is attached to a rechargeable battery and two low power LEDS – one blue and one orange. On the bottom of the insert is a diffuser which spreads the light throughout the frosted glass container. The switch, which is located on the solar cell, can be switched to blue, orange or even ‘off’ for conserving more energy. Go get one – or two – or ten! They are great!

We’ve added over 100 new products in May, but this one is a company favorite: Extension Cord Safety Seal – Water Resistant Extension Cord Cover.

Here’s how it works…you plug your (indoor or outdoor) equipment into an extension cord and place the connections into the water resistant cord cover. Snap the cover into the closed position and your connections are secure. The patented seals keep moisture out and your plugs safely connected. Also great for keeping extension cord connections away from children and pets, too! We have had customers come back for more of these already as they have figured out so many uses for them.

The orange safety seal is great for marine and boating applications as the color makes it easy to find. The green safety seal is perfect for outdoor applications like water features, lawn equipment, outdoor lighting and more when you want the cord cover to blend in with it’s surroundings. We can imagine how useful these will be during the holidays as the safety seal extension cord cover will be a great way to keep Christmas lights connected together and protected from the elements.

Ready to do some circuit work? Have any new projects that you need perf boards for? We received a shipment of copper plated circuit boards that are ‘nearly perfect’ – that is to say that they are identical to the regular perf boards that we normally stock except that they were poorly scored and separated by the manufacturer resulting in some unusable mounting holes.

We’re selling them in batches of 10 for $5.00. That’s only $0.50 for each perf board. It’s a great deal and they won’t last at that price.

We know there are tons of great deals out there today on Cyber Monday but we wanted to pass this one on to all our customers:

Get 8GB 204 Pin DDR3 1333 RAM Laptop Memory by G.SKILL for $24.99 including shipping!

If you have a laptop running 2 – 4GB of RAM right now, you can really give your notebook computer a major boost in performance.

Important: This will work only if you are currently running the 64-bit OS version of Windows – don’t waste your time if you are only running a 32-bit version. It won’t help you at all.

So how do you get this amazing deal? Go to newegg.com and search for F3-10600CL9D-8GBSQ. The item also qualifies for free shipping so the total is $24.99. This is a great deal!

We always need thumb drives – they are indispensable at our workplace and at home. Here’s a great deal on a plug and play 16GB flash drive with the latest technology for super fast data transfers. You can purchase this Corsair brand flash drive at NewEgg for $26.99 but by using coupon code EMCKCHH22 at checkout, and combined with free shipping and a $10 VISA rebate card, the bottom line price for this 16GB USB 3.0 flash drive comes in at $14.29.

Besides being plug and play, this USB flash drive is shockproof and water resistant. It has a durable rubber outer casing.

If you don’t own a computer with USB 3.0 technology, this drive will still work fine in your USB 2.0 ports. However if you are lucky enough to have a newer machine with USB 3.0 ports, you will be amazed at the speed of data transfer.

At West Florida Components, we use flash drives for many different applications including storing and transferring data. Here are some of our favorites uses (and why we need so many!):
- Connect to a wireless network using the “Windows Connect Now” feature in Vista and Windows 7.
- Run portable applications
- As an MP3 player using Windows Media Player to build a library of songs found on your drive
- Boot an operating system – Windows or Linux

Grab this deal before it’s gone!

Need a small and thin laptop for travel? How about a larger 15.6″ dual core for the home office? You can buy either right now for $349.

The lighter and smaller notebook computer is currently available from Dell is a Vostro V13. Some of the features and specifications are:

2.0GB, DDR3-1066MHz SDRAM, 1 DIMM320GB 7200RPM SATA Hard Drive
Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, with Media, 32-bit, English
Microsoft® Office Starter
Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor ULV SU7300 (3M Cache, 1.30 GHz, 800 MHz FSB)
13.3 inch Wide Display HD (1366 x 768) with Anti-glare
6-cell 30WHr internal battery
Intel Pro/Wireless 5100 802.11b/g/n
Mobile Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 4500MHD
Dell Wireless 365 Bluetooth Module
1.3MP Webcam with Digital Mic for Win 7
Intel ® Centrino® 2 Processor
US 65W AC Adapter

If you want a larger screen, you can opt to purchase a Gateway from Best Buy. Here are some of the features on the Gateway notebook computer:

3.0GB, DDR3.0MHz SDRAM, 320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive
Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
AMD Phenom™
15.6 inch High-definition widescreen TFT-LCD with Ultrabright technology (1366 x 768)
6-cell lithium-ion
Built-in 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet (RJ-45 connector) Wireless-B+G+N
ATI Radeon HD 4250 Graphics
Webcam

Priced at just over $349 (plus shipping and sales tax) both are excellent deals for either home or small business use!

Every once in a while a great piece of software comes across our desks here at West Florida Components….and today we found an excellent way to recover your Macbook or iMac should it ever be stolen. It is an ingenious piece of software.

Download Hidden, and it can track your Macbook or iMac, show you where it is and who has it. When you activate the tracking, Hidden will locate your stolen computer anywhere in the world, take pictures of the thief using the computer (via webcam!) and also provide screen shots of what the thief is doing on the computer.

In addition, you will also get help from the Hidden team on working with the police to recover your stolen computer.

Think about how many Macbooks disappear every day at college campuses across the US. This software should be a ‘must buy’ for all Macbook owners.

How much do you think that this amazing software costs? The cost is $20 normally for one year BUT the Hidden team is giving away this software for FREE until 12/31/10. The software doesn’t expire on 12/31/10….the chance to get it for free for one year expires. Think of it as a holiday gift from the Hidden team. One full year of tracking protection for your iMac or Macbook, courtesy of Hidden.