COACH TIPS: REAL? FAKE? & UDERSTANDING COACH CREEDS

If you're a big Coach fan, you should know some of the basics and what to look for when buying a Coach Bag online. With the amount of fakes and replicas being mass produced, it's very important to know exactly what you're buying. Let's face it, it's a lot easier to tell if a Coach is authentic or not when you're able to hold it and thoroughly examine it yourself if you know what you're looking for. But when you're buying a Coach Bag online, you only see what the seller and pictures allow you to see which unfortunately sometimes isn't enough.

*** In this guide, I'll start with a few basic tips that everyone who buys Coach Bags should know. Then I'll go into more detail of the format and description of the serial number on the interior square leather patch... also known as the Coach Creed.

<> BASICS <>

TIP #1... Signature Coach Bags will NEVER have signature C's on the interior lining. This is the most important thing to remember and it's a DEAD GIVEAWAY that the bag is a fake. All of the newer style Coach Bags whether they are signature, leather, patchwork, among other designs will NEVER have the signature C lining. I cannot speak for all of the older bags. I've only ever seen 1 older style all leather Coach Bag that had the signature lining and it was indeed authentic.

TIP #2... Coach ALWAYS uses "YKK" zippers. These zippers are of the highest quality. So make sure you see "YKK" engraved into all zippers.

TIP #3... Coach will NEVER wrap their handles with plastic when selling them new. Once again... a DEAD GIVEAWAY.

<> COACH CREED <>

The Coach Creed refers to the interior square leather patch with the serial #. But don't be fooled... most fakes and replicas will have a patch with some combination of letters and numbers, but it's fake and most likely won't follow the correct format. Say you have a serial # that looks like this:

EXAMPLE: No. L1160-F13533

* This is the Correct Format of the Serial #... You will ALWAYS see "No." before the actual serial number and you should NEVER see any spaces... they will all have this same format. Although some of the older Coach Bags have a slightly different format (which I still have yet to figure out!). Most of my energy and interest have gone toward the newer styles. So at this time, I'm only speaking on behalf of those :)

* MONTH CODE... First is the month code: the "L" in this case stands for November, which is the month it was manufactured in (A=January; B=February; C=March; etc...). "I" is always skipped and there will never be a letter after "M" (M=December).

* YEAR CODE... Next is the year code: After the letter month code, you will always see 2 numbers. In this case "11" stands for the year 2011 (99=1999; 01=2001; 02=2002; 10=2010; etc...).

* FACTORY CODE... These next 2 numbers are the code for the factory in which the bag was manufactured in. These numbers are more for reference tham anything. Unless you work in a Coach Factory, you wouldn't need to know the code nor would it give you any advantage to trying to figure out if your Coach bag is real or not. Plus, there are just way too many to memorize!

*** NEXT WILL ALWAYS BE A DASH... After the dash you will sometimes see an "F" (See Below)

F... In this case there is an F after the dash which stands for Factory, meaning the bag was bought/sold at a Coach Factory Outlet not from a Coach Store or a Macy's, Nordstrom, etc.. but nonetheless they are still very much authentic.

NO F... If there is no F after the dash, you will just see 5 numbers (some of the older styles will only have 4 #'s). This set of numbers are considered the Style #. Meaning every Coach Bag with this number will look the same... maybe a different color, but ALWAYS the same design and style.

The easiest way to look up a style # on your own is by going to Yahoo, Google, or even eBay and do a search for "Caoch" then type in the 5 digit style # and you should see lots of the same bags come up in your search results. The Example serial/style # above refers to the Signature Stripe Framed Carryall. If you do a search on eBay for "Coach 13533" you should see some Signature Striped Framed Carryall's (I just did a search and found 20 of them). It all depends on how many are being sold at the time of your search BUT there may be more of them on eBay but many sellers don't put the style # in their title so they won't show up in this type of search when searching by the serial #.

* TOP RIGHT MARKING... Last is the marking that may be stamped in the top right corner of the patch. If you see FS it stands for Final Sale (this means it is no longer under Coach Warranty). If you see an X it means it was sold at a TJ Maxx, Marshall's, or another discounted store. If there is an ES it means it was an Emplyee Sale. There may be more markings, but these are just a sample of explanations. These bags are all Authentic and Genuine Coach Bags and there's nothing wrong with them. These markings are just to differentiate how/where they were purchased.

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So these are just some of the basics to authenticating a Coach Bag by yourself and unlocking the question of "what do those numbers mean???" without actually needing to take it to an authorized Coach dealer. By understanding the Coach Creed, I'm hoping you'll feel a little more comfortable and knowledgeable going forward when trying to decipher if the Coach Bag you're interested in buying is indeed authentic and not some poorly made replica. But if you have any doubts and feel more comfortable having an expert look at it, you should take it to an authorized Coach retailer and have them authenticate it for free :)

I really hope this helps my fellow Coach lovers and puts you in a better position when looking at a bag and trying to decide if it's a real or fake. When buying online from Craigslist or eBay, make sure you get a picture of the Coach Creed. If you don't have a clear picture of it, or any picture at all, the seller should be more than happy to send it to you if they're not trying to hide anything. There are sooo many websites that sell fake Coach Bags trying to pass them off as the real deal. If the price seems too good to be true, than it probably is! Just please be EXTREMELY CAREFUL when buying Coach Bags(or any other designer bags) online!

*** PLEASE NOTE *** I am NOT affiliated with Coach in any way (although I'd love to be!), I just love the beauty of their handbags, which is the reason why I had so much motivation to do as much research as possible could over the years so that I don't accidentally waste my money on a fake! I wanted to pass along some of my knowledge to you because I don't want those fake and replica companies make another penny!!!

I think i won't need a new laptop in at least 4 years

I bought this laptop because I needed a new one, but with great perfomance, mainly for high demanding games, high demanding programs like image editing, 3D modelling and rendering, and Video editing and converting. And it has me satisfied. 

Pros: 
The greatest thing in this laptop its their speakers, they are juest AWESOME, the best laptop speakers in the market.
The screen its great, its very shinny and the image is very sharp and vivid. 
The kerboard is good but its better with backlit, unfortunately the one I bought doesnt has it. 
At least mine, doesnt heats, even with very demanding programs and games (like GTA IV, or Rendering 3D, or Video Converting). 
Good Ports... USB 3.0 eSATA USB combo, display port, HDMI, two audio out, etc. 
Good quality image with the integrated camera. 
Cons: 
This new technology "Optimus" sucks, it does saves battery, but some programs and games didnt detected de discrete GPU (it has two, on integrated and the nVidia) at first (I needed to do some tweaks). 
Maybe one usb more could be useful. 
The charger its kinda big. 
Doesnt comes with the OS cd (you have to buy it from Dell).

Unit with all the accessories including the external DVD is a great buy

Dual core runs fasts(XP) Vista a little slow. Dual core CPU does run hot use a fan or cool pad to reduce the heat to acceptable levels. Needs a little more cooling capacity to increase longevity of the unit. Any air restriction can cause severe thermal issues. Bought a brand new keyboard under $20 installed in 5 minutes unit is used looks like new, A 12" screen netbook can't beat it. Very light easy to handle. Just keep it cool. A cool pad with fans keeps it under 50C on the CPU the hard drive is ok!

Invicta Zeus Bolt and The Invicta S1 Bracelet Watchs

Hello Again: I'm going to gives KoDo's to Invicta for the watch's I'm about to write about, now I'm no expert on watch's but I know

what I like and what fits.

First the Invicta S1 stainless steel bracelet watch. A watch that is a little heavy but not so much as to get in the way of movement when

working around the house. I'll let Invicta tell you about all the tech in the watch. a great design for a mans watch, and easy to wear.

Now we get to the watch that I saw on You Tube, I knew of the design, because I owned the first Invicta Bolt when it first come

out, I didn't like it on, it was was all wrong on my wrist- (it didn't work for me) but a great looking watch, then I saw the Invicta

Zeus Bolt, I had to try it, but price was a big concern at the time - (there was no price set) there is more to the story but I'm not

going there. I got the watch and I said wow and I said wow again, I was in aw! Now this is a BIG watch and HEAVY too.

But it fit's like a GLOVE no more like a pair of vintage Lizard shoes by STETSON. (remember them) Again I'll let Invicta tell

you about all the tech in the watch but I do know it took 18 months from start to finish for each watch. Watch the video on

u-tube, again all I can say is wow! All stainless steel with stainless steel cable on the watch and in the bracelet-wow!

The one I own is 3 tone steel - polished - matted - brushed in stainless color, the picture shows black cable design with black push

buttons with black cable in the bracelet. To me it's a great design and very modest price for a watch of this type. WOW!

Invicta does a very good job of keeping prices low and giving you would class design in a watch and I understand they are

going to add diamonds to the the next Zeus design - WOW!

Why would you tell her to cancel

I also searched for postings with my name and only the one posting came up.

Does ebay toss everything after a month or so? That would be incredibly stupid, if so. Else, what happened? Did they redo the forum system so that the old urls are no longer valid, and no forwarding mechanism is in place?

My postings were about how ebay works, what to do in certain circumstances, etc, nothing very contentious.

Surviving your rides

You riding a motorcycle, doesn’t mean you have a death wish, right? Well for those who never rode a motorcycle, that is not true. They believe that it is your own fault if when getting into a (for them) “fender bender”, you die. They do not (for most of them) understand that flesh is more fragile than their fender. Is it a lack of information? Yes, I believe it is. Is it a lack of care about others? Yes. They don’t have a death wish. They chose to ride an SUV to keep them safe from driving mishaps (theirs & others). If you chose to ride a motorcycle, that’s your problem, right? I’ll leave the answer to this one open, but here is our answer to this statement: Kill a Biker, GO to Jail.

Between 2004 and 2011, I have been a Motorcycle repair instructor at MMI in Orlando. I remember the announcements of the dead students while riding their bikes during their School years. Some of them were only 18 years old. Most of them were very young. It matters not, people died doing what they enjoyed. What mattered to me was to spend all this time with them, and see them disappear from the face of this earth. And I couldn’t help but think: “What a waste”. Sometimes, they were my direct students. I can’t remember their names, but I do remember their faces. MMI is a technical school that has over 1800 students on the motorcycle campus of Orlando. I my self taught an average of 15 different students every three weeks. You do the math, and understand why I can’t remember their names. However, I would like to take this opportunity, to ask anyone who knows the names of those young people who died in tragic motorcycle accidents, to please, with a comment, print their names in memory of their being with us at times where they had dreams and life with them. Parents who lost your children after sending them to school, please, print their names.

Now, not all lost their life in an accident, some got injured for life. I remember one day, I was teaching an electrical class, and this student, asked me to leave, as his Mom was hit by a car, and transported to the hospital. A few days later, he was back in class and told me about the accident. She was hit by car (what a shame that I don’t have the name of that criminal driver) that went through a Red light. As the his Mom was crossing the intersection, she got hit sideways. They had to amputate her leg. And I recall many others with life long injuries. If you wish to tell their stories in a comment, please go ahead.

Now, true it was not always the fault of a criminal driver (notice my strong description for them). I personally would feel criminal and responsible if I killed or injured any one by my carelessness. Sometimes, I’ve put the blame on the parents of that teenager who have allowed him to purchase too fast a bike for their riding experience. One does not let or buy his child a bike capable of doing 140MPH when it is the first bike they’ve ever ridden. Sorry parents, I am pointing the finger at you. And yes, you may comment on that one if you feel targeted.

How about a few tips on safe riding on the roads. If your intention is to ride fast to get an adrenaline rush, may I suggest going to a race track? Where I live, I am 20 minutes away from a Drag Strip, and 2 and 1/2 hours away from Road Race Track. I recall my last rush, I went to Jennings. I spent a hole day going as fast as I could, for only $140.00. I went so fast for so long, that I and my tires were spent, and quit early (around 3pm, when I still had 2 hours to go). Now some would argue, that on the roads it doesn’t cost any money. Really? From what I heard, If you get a speeding ticket going above 100MPH, the find is something like close to $1000.00. And you might just lose your license. I’ve never been to the Drag Strip near by, but a few friends of mine do. The cost is about $20.00 to run all day.

Now, to the riding tips.

1. Your first bike, should only be a little faster than most cars. Don’t buy something you can’t handle. Don’t buy something too slow, you’d be setting your self as a target.
2. Always give your ride a quick inspection before you go.
3. Learn to ride a motorcycle, know what it can do. How fast can it stop? Much faster than a car. How well can you use those brakes? How far can it lean to turn? Don’t crash because you were afraid to turn! How fast can it accelerate? You might need to learn to gauge that in emergency situations. I can’t give you a riding lesson in print. A big part of riding is how you feel your ride.
4. Helmet? Well your head is like an egg. Drop an egg on the tarmac, and make your own decision.
5. Always ride with a large safe margin off your riding ability.
6. If you can’t see, slow down, be prepared for surprises.
7. Always plan an escape path, no matter where you are. If you don’t have any, then you’re in the wrong place. Going for a ride in a field is always safer than hitting a wall. Being surrounded by dozens of cars, is like playing Russian roulette, you never know what they’ll do. So, that’s why you own a bike that is faster than the cars. Get away.
8. Never follow too close. The rule is: As the vehicle in front of you crosses a land mark (a post of a tree), start counting. If before you’ve reach 3, you pass that mark, you are too close. That method accounts for a varying speed. At 30MPH the safety distance will be shorter, than at 70MPH.
9. Constantly look around for incoming traffic. Never rest. It will allow you to appreciate your surroundings, and that is a plus. But never leave your eyes more than a second on the same spot. How to look and see. To scan effectively you must move your eyes from one spot to another. Never scan in an even motion, your eyes and your mind will not have time notice changes. And, in that organized scan, don’t forget your mirrors.
10. Don’t be afraid to signal your intentions to others. Turn signals, if you notice the car behind you not paying attention, then use your arms.
11. When you have to slow down fast, check behind you, the car or the truck will not be able to slow down that fast.
12. When you are stopped, at a light or a Stop sign, you are NOT safe. Again look around, and check your rear-view mirrors.
13. In residential areas, slow down. What if a kid crosses the road between two parked cars, to get his ball? You would then be the criminal. DON’T give us (the real riders) a bad reputation.

I am using this product, combined with a Promise SmartStor DS4600

I bought this to replace a G4 tower that was 8 years old. It has more processing speed and power at a fraction of the size of the G4. Because this was a used item, I found that the remote controller wasn't working, but I'm satisfied with using the power button. At this rate of miniaturization, I expect my next computer to be the size of a pack of cigarettes.