CES Trip Report 2013 - That’s the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. I know you all want to hear about the Brother booth at the Venetian so I will start there (see the ceiling picture). I went straight to the Dreamweaver but was quickly ushered over to the Quattro 2 6700 D after I told them that I have the ULT 2003D. They assumed I wanted and could afford the top of the line. MRSP for the Quattro is $9,000 but I was told it’s been seen for $7,500. Isn’t that about the same cost of a quarter of college tuition? I guess I have some hard decisions to make. I liked the large 12x8 hoop since I often put designs in 8x10 frames and could use those extra couple of inches in width. I was also impressed with the camera that scans your current image so that you can align your designs easily. The color shuffling is handy but not necessary. You enter the color pallet you would like to use and it shuffles the colors around to the different parts of the design so you can see how it would look, stop shuffling when you like the colors. Very useful when, for example, you want to do a 6 color flower but don’t want to use the suggested colors and you’re not sure how your colors will look. The colors on the screen have improved in the last 10 years too. Apparently you can sew with the embroidery unit attached but that was not demonstrated for me. It also resized designs directly on the machine up 200% or down 60%. I took a picture of the sample. It looks pretty good but the 200% made very large satin stitches that wouldn’t be good unless the design was under glass so you would have to change those stitches manually. I also took pictures of the photo stitch samples that were quite impressive (see the horses). I had my eye on the 10 needle Entrepreneur® Pro PR1000e which was stitching through a hat like butter. I was enthralled! “Only a few thousand more $” she said, “if I’m going to buy a machine a little more would be worth it.” It didn’t matter, they weren’t actually selling them there and I wasn’t buying. Nothing at the booth was new. You can see all of this at your local dealer so I admit I was a little disappointed that I couldn’t tell you all about something brand new.

Brother was the only sewing company at the show as far as I could tell so I’ll tell you about some of the other things I saw.

Most Impressive: The LG 3D TV. Yes, you need the 3D glasses but it was so brilliant and realistic! I saw a 3D TV that didn’t need glasses too. I’m sorry I didn’t write down the company name but I did take note that it looked terrible, made my eyes hurt and I got a bit nauseous.

The Buzz: Everyone was talking about the bendable phones by Samsung. I didn’t get to see one, they were shown only at the press conference a couple days before I went. They are paper thin and look like they would be a lot more comfortable to put into your back pocket than our current models.

I want one! The new washing machines will text you when the load is done and I’m tired of the annoying beep from mine. Besides, it’s old and my next project is redoing the laundry room. Many other home electronics like scales, refrigerators, and ovens will be online and WiFi enabled too.

Not sure if I want one: The Multi Directional Iron. It has a point on both ends. I can see the advantage to sliding backwards and letting the point in the back open up a wrinkle or gather instead of accidentally ironing over it. I saw 2 sizes, one would make my ironing area smaller but the other was the same size as mine with extra coverage where the back point is.

Samsung Galaxy Note II – A smart phone for artists. It has drawing capabilities that are very precise. Work on your designs for digitizting on your mobile!

We also saw Mommy Loves Tech being filmed. I had to Google it and it looks like someone found a niche to fill. I will be exploring that site and her Facebook page soon.
http://www.mommylovestech.com/

Fun item: A phone cover that works with Lego Blocks called SmallWorks Brickcase. My kids are too old for this. Or are they?

And now for a few personal notes: The business party I went to with my DH was in one of the Mirage Villas. A very exclusive area of the Mirage that has only been open to the general public for a couple of years. For privacy the entrances are not signed. You have to know how to get there and a butler lets you in (see the hallway picture). We felt like celebrities. I read that there is no paint or wallpaper in the suites, the walls are upholstered in silk. Wish I had read that before the trip, I would have looked more closely.

Next year I will do more research before I go to the show. There were over 3000 exhibitors, way too many to just wander around and look at. It was overwhelming! It was great to be on a business trip with my delightful husband. He earned lots of PHPs (perfect husband points) on this trip!