You guys must have forgotten to get your Advertising Immunisation Jabs. Don't blow a load of money on a so called top of the range PC, in 6 months to a year it will be out of date and going for half that price. Hunt around for the equivalent of last years top of the range model and spend the other $500 on something that will actually make a real difference.
I bought top of the range once, I still have it, its a pentium1 90mhz, It still works but I have not been able to use it since I loaded win xp on it...
Always aim down a bit, then you can afford to buy an even better one sooner and it wont feel like you got conned just 6 months later.
I agree. However, some like to set a budget or ceiling in their purchase to allow push and pull on the categories of advancement. For the most part, Jamsh's choices look to be reasonable and a nice value for what he's looking at. I've never seen the keyboard he wants to purchase, and am curious how it will increase productivity if he indeed uses it for its purpose.
Last edited by Psychedelic Rhino on Wed Feb 29, 2012 1:03 am, edited 2 times in total.
Nielk1 wrote:........... though I went for a good mouse....................
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Cyborg R.A.T.7 Gaming Mouse (Laser, not optical)
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how is it? I was eyeballing it a few days ago, and wondered if it's really all it's cracked up to be...
I like it, the fact it is very adjustable let me get it fitting well for my hand and the thumb wheel is fun. Gets dirty though and if a dust grain gets in the way of the laser it can lock an axis.
Thumb wheel is effectively a fast macro repeater. The precision button can be bound to macros too other than just a DPI change. DPI rocker is nice when I need a quick mouse speed change. All the hex wrench adjusters can get junk in them though so keeping it clean is important. I have not had occasion to yet but it has 3 macro-sets per profile. Right now I mainly use the thumb wheel to shoot across Firefox tabs.
Psychedelic Rhino wrote:I agree. However, some like to set a budget or ceiling in their purchase to allowing to push and pull on the categories of advancement. For the most part, Jamsh's choices look to be reasonable and a nice value for what he's looking at. I've never seen the keyboard he wants to purchase, and am curious how it will increase productivity if he indeed uses it for its purpose.
I concur. I went high end for the purpose of not needing a new PC for a good long while. My old PC was probably suckier than everyone else's here. I set a budget too but mine was probably 2 or 3 times TJ's. It also took me like 3 years to finally get a new PC and the set up I have it still highly expandable.
TJ's selections should be good fot his profession, I had forgotten he did that.
I'd rather have good peripherals than a powerful machine, actually. A good monitor/keyboard/mouse/speaker system is often worth the investment even if a newer technology comes out in a few years that offers a better price/performance ratio, you will still benefit from such good peripherals in the meantime and even past that point, and these make using a computer a much more pleasant experience than getting today's hottest PC components.
I recall when I was a poor student and spent like $250 on a videocard (A GeForce Ti4200) which at that time was a fairly cheap 'high' end card, only for it to be relegated to a mere medium-end card a year later, whereas that money probably couldve went to something better (although it was good for Battlefield 1942 when it came out, as well as a slight improvement for BZ2). Probably not worth the money as the thing melted a couple of years later when the fan assembly became too clogged with dust.
OTOH, I also got a very good Logitech speaker system (w/ subwoofer) and an MS Natural Multimedia keyboard at the time and those were excellent things to have even when my computer was well into the 'well aged' category.
Wireless laser mouse is a must have.
Keyboards I consider to be disposable items, just use em till they malfunction as they always do and then get a new cheap one.
My speakers and screens are all second hand...
£30-40 for a video card, I don't buy new games so performance is not an issue.
MrTwosheds wrote:Wireless laser mouse is a must have.
Keyboards I consider to be disposable items, just use em till they malfunction as they always do and then get a new cheap one.
My speakers and screens are all second hand...
£30-40 for a video card, I don't buy new games so performance is not an issue.
Well, you could use keyboards disposably. You can occassionally find an extremely decent one at a shop that sells used computers and used computer parts -- but even the cheapies aren't that bad. If you spend as much time as I do at a keyboard though, you can really appreciate the craftsmanship of a really good one. It makes a difference.
Mice are good too. I just threw down $45 for an MS mouse with 'bluetrack' technology, some shoulder buttons (that I actually use) and a 'tilt wheel allows side scrolling' features. Much more useful than a $20 cheapie with a normal optical sensor, a mousewheel, and two buttons. Before that, I spent $70 on a really excellent Logitech VX Nano that only lasted a year and a half, but had excellent performance and battery life.
My job isn't all that great I work in a large-chain supermarket at the moment. The main reason I can afford this right now is due to the 12 months finance scheme that the site offered, otherwise I would have had to hold off 2-3 months and wait for my student loan to be paid to me. I do still live at home though and don't drive, which means 80% of the money I DO earn I can afford to save/spend on things like this. Most of my money has been going into my home studio at the moment, to get it off the ground. Won't last forever though, I've got to be able to drive this year...
I went for the case, mainly because of how it looks. I'm quite partial to the white/black scheme, and it's had some great reviews over cooling and whatnot. I'm not sure what possessed me to go for the liquid CPU cooler, although if I do end up OC'ing in the future it'll come in quite handy, and might reduce the amount of dust sucked into the case.
I also find the mice that don't have a cradle charger to be better, every mouse I have ever bought with its own charger has eventually failed because of the charger. Get one that uses a removable rechargable battery, a spare battery and charger. The charge in them lasts for ages (hasn't run out yet) and when it does Ill just swap batteries and carry on working.
Don't blow a load of money on a so called top of the range PC, in 6 months to a year it will be out of date and going for half that price. Hunt around for the equivalent of last years top of the range model and spend the other $500 on something that will actually make a real difference.
I work in a large-chain supermarket at the moment. The main reason I can afford this right now is due to the 12 months finance scheme that the site offered, otherwise I would have had to hold off 2-3 months and wait for my student loan to be paid to me. I do still live at home though and don't drive, which means 80% of the money I DO earn I can afford to save/spend on things like this. Most of my money has been going into my home studio at the moment, to get it off the ground. Won't last forever though, I've got to be able to drive this year...