Techies, unite yesterday! [Computer Talk & Tech Help Thread]

[individualzero]

Good lord I missed that post, doom. Still looking for a new lappy or did you settle on something?



TL;DR tech-rave. Probably moon-runes to those who aren't gamers or enthusiasts. lol

So I'm saving up a ton of money to make a massive thousand dollar order for Christmas to upgrade my computer to BEAST MODE. Right now I've got $300 on me, plus whatever I make when I land my job in September, plus whatever I save between now and then

The total with shipping comes to...
$1,027.57
....though I'm pretty sure things will be cheaper around/by December thanks to prices going down, Black Friday, Christmas sales etc. so I'm anticipating it being about $900-ish total when I get all the components between November-January, but I won't be piecing the finished build together until the last parts arrive in December (plus the 2nd GPU and monitor in January or later).

FINISHED BUILD:
Windows 7 Home Premium (same OS)
Silverstone RAVEN Computer Case (from Cooler Master Storm Scout)
8GB Samsung DDR3 1600 (from 4GB DDR3 1600)
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 (from Gigabyte 890GX AM3)
Intel i5-3570K Ivy Bridge (from AMD Phenom II X2 555BE @ 3.8GHz OC)
EVGA GTX 670 2GB (from GTX 460 768MB)
Cooler Master Hyper 212+ CPU Cooler (from No CPU Cooler)
SeaSonic X650 Power Supply (same PSU)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 500GB HDD for Data (same HDD)
Crucial M4 64GB SSD for Boot Drive (same SSD)
Sony Optiarc CD-DVD Drive (same Optical Drive)
1080p HD 24" ASUS Widescreen LCD + 19" Dell LCD (same Monitors)

Eventually going to throw out that 19" Dell for a matching 24" ASUS LCD or touchscreen monitor, plus a second EVGA GTX 670 2GB for double GPU goodness (SLI 670s!), which would put the accumulated worth of my computer at about or over $2000 with everything inside and connected to it. In other words, I'm a huge fucking nerd and my computer's the most expensive thing I own. lul

[Static]

If you ever plan on doing SLi, I'd go for a bigger PSU.

[individualzero]

I ought to be okay, though it IS something I'm considering (maybe upping my X650 to an X750). I'm not sure yet; 600-series cards (especially the 670s) use a lot less power than previous generations, plus the power supply I own is amazingly efficient. There are people who are running around with dual 670s on quality 600w PSUs, and mine's a very high-quality 650w.

[Aaron]

My computer is starting to show its age...(It's 4years almost five. And while It can play all the new games. I have to turn the settings WAY way way down.) I need to start saving up for it... I want to drop at lest 1000+ (I need a new keyboard and I want to have two monitors.) but I want the box to be at lest one 1k. If not a bit more...

[individualzero]

So.

Kindles.

I don't know shit about them and I want to buy two (one for my mom, one for my dad) for Christmas. Can anyone recommend me a nice version of the Kindle between $50-$150ish? They have poor eyesight so built-in lights (maybe with adjustable brightness), the ability to increase or decrease font size, and a simple interface are a plus. It doesn't need to be fancy--no need for music, videos, touchscreen capabilities etc. They literally want it JUST for the simplicity of reading.

[Aaron]

I have one of the older new model kindles the kind with a full keyboard. It's pretty much perfect for what you want. Check to see if they sell them refurbished. I'm pretty sure they are cheapish. Eh, they only have the one with wifi and 3g. It's like 140, but its damn good. they have a touch screen one for 70...

They don't have backlights. Or at lest mine doesn't. but they sell lights for cheap. And you can make the text size huge...

[Goose]

The newest Kindle that's available now for $89 is probably the best e-reader ever made.  I'd go for the one that actually operates on buttons rather than a touchscreen one myself, simply because e-paper screens still refresh a little slow for a touch screen to feel natural.  That, and having the page-turning buttons on the side of the device is just awesome.   The battery life is also way better than any Kobos I've ever seen.  My parents have to recharge their Kobo every few days, even with the Wifi radio turned off, but my two-year-old Kindle will last about a month on a single charge (and we read at similar paces).

The only downside is getting books onto the Kindle that weren't bought from Amazon can be a pain in the ass, simply because every other eBook store in existence will sell books in the ePub format, and the Kindle won't read them.  For the vast majority of users, this isn't a problem, and I doubt it would be for your parents either.

Hope this helps.

[individualzero]

@Aaron and Goose: I think I found the exact model you guys are talking about, if I'm not mistaken?

This looks to be at a perfect price point since I can easily buy two for the price that I was anticipating to pay for one. For that price I might actually buy one for my brother. lol Anyway, since it seems that model has backlighting and adjustable font and it doesn't have those stupid fucking touch interfaces that make me paranoid that my parents will hate the thing, I think this should be perfect.

I don't think the non-Amazon bookstore purchases won't be a problem, since really that's the only place they like to shop online. They will literally only buy from Amazon or Newegg with few exceptions.

[Goose]

That's the one.  Be aware of the difference between the "with special offers" one and the one without.  "Special offers" means you save $20 on your device, but it replaces the normal selection of wallpapers it has for when its off with advertisements.  I think ads can also show up in the menus while browsing, but I'm not sure.  Is $20 worth saving to be bombarded with ads for the entire lifetime of the device (which could easily be 5 years, if not 10 if its kept well)?  Your call.

Also, Kindles don't come with power adapters any more, just a USB cable.  Without a USB wall plug, the only way to charge it is with a computer.  USB wall plugs are pretty cheap, but its something else to be aware of.  Amazon will sell you one for $9.99 on the right side of that page.  Monoprice or Newegg could probably sell you one for $4.

[individualzero]

Whoa, thanks for the advice--I didn't even realize THAT was the difference. To be honest, I think the ads would end up frustrating the 'rents, so I'm going to slap an extra $20 in there just to prevent them from going through the hassle. It's twenty bucks, ya know?

As for the power adapter issue: My parents found out about Monoprice through my brother and I and they make exceptions for that site since cables are ridiculously, hilariously cheap there. My dad does own a netbook with a USB interface and I can always let them charge it through my PC if they really need, but I think they'd prefer the ease of a wall charger.

[TPD]

i'm trying to build a robot sexbot. all i got are 2 old PCs, a broken iBook4, 2 broken iPods, and a broken apple 2c.

if that's not enough do i have enough for a robotic monkey (sexbot capabilities optional)?

[individualzero]

Gonna give it to you straight: I don't know if you've got enough robotits to assemble your virtual hoohah, or at least you won't have enough jiggywatts to power it at any satisfactory levels of mechalovin'.

[Aaron]

Also if you have old smart phones the power usb thing is the same (Or at lest for my two phones.) So while I do charge through my pc you can also find cheap wall usb chargers to. (Or at lest just the part that plugs in and then goes to usb...)

And naw, mine is even more old school it has a full button keyboard. But ya, spend more and get the one with out the ads, like you said 20 bucks... And the screen savers are really pretty.

[r00]

i'm trying to build a robot sexbot. all i got are 2 old PCs, a broken iBook4, 2 broken iPods, and a broken apple 2c.

if that's not enough do i have enough for a robotic monkey (sexbot capabilities optional)?

I saw the plans for one somewhere.  Just google image search lemonparty and you should find it.

[TPD]

okay, i'm on lemon party and those old guys are blowing into something... which makes sense since i used to blow into my nes cartridges to fix 'em back in the day... i'm going to try this and post my results.