T-Shirt review from #VMworld 2017 US

So I didn’t find the time to do this during VMworld US this year, so hoping to get this out there before VMworld EU kicks off for real on Tuesday.
I didn’t get as many T-shirts as I use to, a lot of the vendors wanted you to watch a demo of their product before getting a T-shirt, which made it a somewhat slower gathering 🙂

One thing that really bugs me is that a lot of them don’t have XXL or run out of them very fast. And these are NOT US sizes. Meaning after 1 or 2 washes the XL ones don’t fit me anymore. Yes I could loose weight, but I like bacon so….

Anyways here goes.

First off I got a vExpert T-shirt from Micron, who gave out T-shirts to the first 50 vExperts who came by their stand. Unfortunately they only had XL ones. However it was Nike Golf Polo Shirt which is the ones I really prefer to wear, so hats off for that.

Name : Micron
Model: Nike Golf Polo Dri-fit
Size: XL (why oh why no XXL ???)
Quality: The well known Nike Golf polo, seems to be the best fabric for shirts, I still have my first 2014 vExpert shirt and eventhough it has been washed numerous times its still in the same shape.
Print: A very subtle Micron logo on the front is the only thing adorning this shirt.
Score:  9/10
Conclusion: If only they had had these in XXL this would have been a 10 out of 10, by far the best quality shirt there is.

 

 

 

 

 

Name :  Veeam
Model: Gildan Softstyle Ring spun.
Size: XXL
Quality: Nice and soft fabric as Gildan has been known for
Print: A simple, big Veeam logo on the front and a catchphrase on the back.
Score:  7/10
Conclusion: A very nice quality shirt, however the green Veeam color doesn’t really want to make me wear this shirt any other places than at home 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name : Dell EMC
Model: Gildan Heavy Cotton
Size: XL (why oh why no XXL ?)
Quality: A bit thicker material than the Veeam one, but still very nice and soft.
Print: A big REALIZE logo on top, and some scattered hexagons on the bottom, this actually looks pretty cool, nothing on the back
Score:  7/10
Conclusion: This would have scored higher if they had had any XXL shirts, good quality and a print thats subtle enough so you could wear this one publically 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name : New Horizons
Model: Jerzees Dri-PowerActive
Size:  XXXL
Quality:  A bit less soft than the Gildan ones, this is the first tee I’ve seen from this company. It kinda feels like this will stretch in width and creep in length though.
Print: A StarWars inspired New Horizons logo on the front, and again a StarWars inspired text on the back.
Score:  6/10
Conclusion: A reasonably fine print and a somewhat (yet to be seen) questionably quality of shirt, brings this down to 6. I could be wrong and this washes just nicely 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

Name : Unitrends
Model: Gildan Softstyle Ring spun
Size: XXL
Quality: Again the good and soft quality from Gildan that we’ve come to know, these washes fine, but will fade to gray after a dozen washes or so.
Print: A city background landscape and a person that stands in the foreground. This might be a movie or TV-show that runs in America, it doesn’t really ring a bell for me at least. But it looks pretty cool.
Score:  8/10
Conclusion: A good quality, right size and an ok print that could easily be worn in public brings this one up to 8 points.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope this was at least a bit helpful for you, if you’re going T-shirt hunting at VMworld Europe in Barcelona next week. A surprising number of people asked me if I was going to Barcelona as well. I doubt many costumers do that, that’s more partners and vendors I guess.

#VMworld T-shirts Review 2016 – Part 2

So here’s the second and last part of this T-Shirt review for this years VMworld. And as before I hope you can find this useful for Barcelona.

 

Name : Platform 9
Model: Next Level Apparel 60% Cotton 40% Polyester
Size: XL (why oh why no XXL ???)
Quality: Feels really nice and soft and guessing the 40% polyester will help it stay better in shape than 100% Cotton.
Print: A city landscape with a Platform 9 blimp on it and a few different technologies that they support I guess, pretty low-key and thus usable elsewhere than home.
Score:  6(8)/10
Conclusion: I would have given this shirt an 8, but by not having XXL sizes I have to drop them down a few points. I mean why not bring XXL and since this was the US XXXL as well. I was almost tiny compared to some of the people there, and XL wont last more than 1 or 2 washes then they shrink 😦

 

Name : Nimble Storage
Model: C Port and Company 100% Cotton – Ring Spun
Size:  XL (Why do you only have XL in the US ????) and these are not US sizes
Quality:  Somewhat stiff version of this shirt, again have to wait and see whether or not this Ring Spun cotton does anything for shrinkage when washing these T-shirts.
Print: The Nimble Logo and then an kinda ugly red version of the vExpert logo both on the front and back. That would have been better with the normal White on Black.
Score:  5/10
Conclusion: Both the vExpert and only size XL drags this shirt down.

Name :  Cortado
Model:  C Port and Company – 100% Cotton
Size:  XXL
Quality:  A bit thicker than the other T-shirts from C Port, but otherwise seems quite ok. Guessing it will warp some when washed.
Print: A superman like version of the Cortado logo, but very stiff and you can feel that on the inside of the shirt.
Score:   6/10
Conclusion: What brings this shirt down is the Stiffness of the logo, which you can feel like plastic on the inside of the shirt.

 

Name : Dell Software
Model: The Concert Tee – District 100% Pre-shrunk Cotton
Size: XXL
Quality:  First T-Shirt I’ve seen from this company, but being pre-shrunk it should hold up good when washed. Very soft and thin T-shirt
Print: A print that’s supposed to make it look like you have a clock on a gold chain around your neck. and a message that’s continue on the back.
Score:  6/10
Conclusion: The shirt is nice and soft and pre-shrunk should help a lot. But the print makes this another shirt I wouldn’t wear in public, but can be used around the house 🙂

 

That’s it for this year. As I wrote in the first post, I haven’t had much time in the Solutions Exchange and therefore didn’t get to grab that many T-Shirts this year.

I hope you still found this funny/useful/whatever 🙂

 

#VMworld T-shirts Review 2016 – Part 1

I have to start by apologizing, that this review comes after VMworld, but I’ve actually had a really busy schedule at VMworld this year, and didn’t get much time to spend at the Solutions Exchange to find all the T-shirts or evenings free to actually write a few posts about the T-shirts. I do hope that most of the Vendors I list here will be represented at VMworld Europe in Barcelona, so people can still use this review for something useful 🙂

Name : Official VMworld T-Shirt
Model: C Port and Company 100% Cotton
Size: XXL
Quality: Seems like VMware has degraded the quality of their T-shirt this year. Last years pre-shrunked cotton was really good after washes, this one seems a bit too stiff.  It however is still alot better than some of the else T-shirts I’ve collected the other years.
Print: A few variations of the be_TOMORROW message that was all over the conference. Not too excessive, but still a bit bigger than I would have liked it, if I should wear this shirt anywhere but at VMUG’s and the like.
Score: 7/10 
Conclusion: An ok Shirt that doesn’t feel all that soft, but still quite ok.

 

Name : Veeam
Model: Gildan Softstyle – Ring Spun 100%  Cotton
Size:  XXL
Quality:  Feels really soft to the touch and hope that it feels this soft after a few washes. Not sure what the Ring Spun means but I hope that it’s somewhat like the Pre-shrunk thing that some of the other T-shirts have, that really keeps the shape of the T-shirt after you wash it a few times.
Print: As always Veeam has some big lettering on the front, which makes you notice this shirt when people walk around with it. Not sure I would wear this one anywhere at home though (or at a Veeam convention)
Score:  6/10
Conclusion:  Nice shirt, but the big print drags it down, to get a high score I want a shirt that I could actually wear in public too.

 

Name : Docker
Model: Canvas – 100% Cotton
Size: XXL
Quality:  A nice soft and thin T-shirt that’s from a new T-shirt Vendor that I don’t think I’ve seen before. Hope this stays in shape after washes.
Print:  Just the well-known Docker logo on the front and a simple ” Build Ship and Run Any App Anywhere” message on the back. Not too brazen.
Score: 7/10
Conclusion:  A nice quality and not too big a logo, I think i could wear this one once in a while 🙂

 

Name : Turbonomic (former VMturbo)
Model: Canvas – 100% Cotton
Size: XXL
Quality: The same company and same quality of T-shirt that Docker use.
Print: A big brain on the front where one half is the normal brain and the other half is a computer circuit version
Score:  7/10
Conclusion: Like Docker a very soft and nice T-shirt with an ok print, and not too brazen company logo. Actually surprised that the earlier VMturbo company has this understated company logo 🙂

 

VMworld T-shirts Giveback – What to do!

Again this year after collecting a ton of T-shirts many of which I don’t want to wear, I’ve decided to give them away to the homeless people in San Francisco. Same goes for the big amount of Drinking Canteens I’ve collected.

And I must say, its somewhat harder to actually get them to accept gifts if you approach them instead of the other way around.But once you do get them to accept the T-shirts they are very grateful for the help. So instead of just throwing away T-shirts or drinking Canteens do think of the people who could use it.

But don’t be surprised if you see homeless people in T-shirts from your or another company.

#VMWorld T-shirts Part 2

The Second part of this series is up with T-shirts from New Horizons, Springpath, Zert0, OneNeck and Thinprint.

Name : New Horizons
Model: C-port 100% Preshrunk Cotton
Size: CL
Quality: The Quality of this shirt feels good too, a bit too thick but that ensures durability. I like the Pre-shrunk ones, as they don’t warp as much when washed.
Print: The Front has a big I’m all about that upgrade amidst a list of a bunch of technologies they offer courses on. And the back has a bit oversized company Logo
Score: 5/10
Conclusion: The two things that are dragging this shirt down is the fact that they only have XL, and even though they claim its US sizes, it really isn’t. The other is the colour is a weird faded burgundy that I really don’t like.

Name: OneNeck
Model: District Made 50% Cotton 50% Polyester
Size: XL
Quality: Eventhough this isn’t 100% cotton it feels really soft and nice to the touch
Print: The print on the front is the company logo weirdly placed on the left of the shirt, and the back has a nice smaller sized version of the logo.
Score: 6/10
Conclusion: Again a company that doesn’t make sized bigger than XL. Please have your marketing people change this for next year.

Name: Springpath
Model: Next Level 60% Cotton 40% Polyester
Size: XXL
Quality: The quality of this one is a bit like the PernixData one, a bit too thin, and it feels like it will very likely warp out of space after a few washes.
Print: A Donkey SmartASS on the front, with actually no company logo at all. But tied to their Solution Exchange theme. Not a shirt I would plan on using after the show
Score: 4/10
Conclusion: The quality and the print are what drags this one down. 

Name: Thinprint
Model: C-Port & Company 100% Cotton
Size: XXL
Quality: A bit heavy on the fabric, which will make it somewhat warm to wear, but otherwise a nice one
Print: A “Spoof” of all the Keep Calm and … shirts, where they put Hug a Printer at the bottom instead. Kinda funny once, but I don’t see myself wearing that shirt outside the convention. Will bring it back for my Printerguy at home though.
Score: 6/10
Conclusion: An ok shirt from Marketing, but not sure what the idea really is. Might of course be hard to create anything really nice with something as boring as printers 🙂

Name: Zert0
Model: Next Level 100% Cotton
Size: XXL
Quality: Again a Next Level one, that I don’t really feel will hold up to many washings
Print: A somewhat Simple white drawing of a Dragon being fought off by two Zerto Knights, and the back a list of all the conventions which they will attend
Score: 5/10
Conclusion:  Zert0 was the first shirt I rated really bad, and they did improve for 2014, and had promised me that this year would be better. So somewhat disappointed in this T-Shirt. You can do better!