[Question] Expensive high-tech toys we'd want to buy but most definitely not need.

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Chad Sexington

Chad Sexington

If I had more money and less self discipline, my apartment would just a sea of computers, laptops, tablets, phones... I guess it's not so much a specific electronic as my insane and impossible desire to have all of the electronics.
 
Cheesy1

Cheesy1

Actually, I get a "three-wheeled version of a light cycle from Tron" vibe when I see it. But that's because I'm old! :p
 
figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
I want just about anything remote controlled. RC toys are so much cheaper now than they were when I was a kid... at least at the low end, the high-end that are controlled y smart phones, however:

Sphero


Parrot AR Drone:
 
Chad Sexington

Chad Sexington

Yoshimickster said:
I've always wanted to build my own computer, is it expensive?
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Doesn't have to be, and in fact it should save you money. The advice I have is: you will screw something up your first time. It might be something expensive. Learn from it. It is a valuable skill/experience. I ruined my $1500 processor the first time I did it. Not thrilled, but I sure won't do that again.
 
figmentPez

figmentPez

Staff member
Yoshimickster said:
I've always wanted to build my own computer, is it expensive?
Click to expand...
If you want to build a mid-range gaming computer, then you'll probably save money compared to buying pre-built. If you just want the cheapest computer to do web surfing, then you'll probably be able to get something cheaper pre-built, and if you want to go insanely high-end you might be able to get a comparable price from a builder (unless things have changed). But for most gaming PCs from $800 - $2,000+ you'll be able to get more bang for your buck assembling it yourself.
 
bhamv3

bhamv3

figmentPez said:
I've heard good things about Doghouse Systems, but it doesn't appear that Taiwan is on their list of countries.
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I'm sure there's a Taiwanese equivalent if I dig hard enough. Otherwise I might just bite the bullet and pay out the nose for a high-end rig. Or I could go completely crazy and actually try to build my own rig.
 
T

The_Khan

bhamv3 said:
I'd really like to, but stuff like this:



makes me nervous. I actually posted a thread about building my own computer a while back, but then I chickened out.
Click to expand...
The first time I built my computer I damaged the stock cooling fan. I thought I fried my CPU and everything else because after plugging it in then pressing the power button nothing happend.

I spent a day trying to figure out what was broken until I noticed the switch for the power supply inside the case hadn't been flipped.

When I tried to turn it on again, it wouldn't power on and I was scratching my head trying to figure out why. I spent a couple of days pulling my hair out because I didn't have the money to buy any replacement parts.

I looked it up online and found out my computer should be beeping at me with some code to tell me what was wrong. I plugged my headphones into the jack and looked up the beep pattern. The first website I looked at told me the pattern I was hearing was that my CPU was dead. The second website I looked at said there was a problem with the memory.

So I dismantled my computer and took out the memory and discovered... I hadn't pushed it in all the way.

Put it back together, hit the button and it worked like a charm for several days.

I felt like I was going to have a heart attack a couple of times but I gained a better understanding about computers from doing it.

It's a great thing to do if you are willing to take a small risk. just remember a couple of things when you are putting your computer together.

!) Ground yourself often, if you are feeling really afraid get an anti static wrist band or even more an anti static floor mat.
2) read the instruction manual for your mother board and other parts before you try to install them. Have a plan for attack and then execute it.
3) don't panic!
 
Ravenpoe

Ravenpoe

If you want to go an easy route with your first self built computer, most hardware sites will sell a "bare bones" system. This is a motherboard, cpu and case packaged together and already assembled. From there, it's just a matter of mounting drives, plugging in ram, and any other cards (video, sound, etc) and connecting the power supply cables. The only real problem I can see a novice having is damaging the cpu by installing it incorrectly, and this solves that possibility.
 
Covar

Covar

bhamv3 said:
I'd really like to, but stuff like this:



makes me nervous. I actually posted a thread about building my own computer a while back, but then I chickened out.
Click to expand...
Don't wear socks, ground yourself/screwdriver before starting, don't do anything stupid (like forcing RAM sticks in backwards) and you'll be fine. Building a PC is far easier than some people want to believe.

Also if you go with an intel cpu, don't worry it's supposed to sound like that.
 
Yoshimickster

Yoshimickster

I remember seeing the prototypes of those in Game Informer those are AWESOME! Oh cartridges, you were beaten by a product worse than you. Yeah I said it- FUCK COMPACT DISCS!
 
Bowielee

Bowielee

Segway[DOUBLEPOST=1361225311][/DOUBLEPOST]
The_Khan said:
The first time I built my computer I damaged the stock cooling fan. I thought I fried my CPU and everything else because after plugging it in then pressing the power button nothing happend.

I spent a day trying to figure out what was broken until I noticed the switch for the power supply inside the case hadn't been flipped.

When I tried to turn it on again, it wouldn't power on and I was scratching my head trying to figure out why. I spent a couple of days pulling my hair out because I didn't have the money to buy any replacement parts.

I looked it up online and found out my computer should be beeping at me with some code to tell me what was wrong. I plugged my headphones into the jack and looked up the beep pattern. The first website I looked at told me the pattern I was hearing was that my CPU was dead. The second website I looked at said there was a problem with the memory.

So I dismantled my computer and took out the memory and discovered... I hadn't pushed it in all the way.

Put it back together, hit the button and it worked like a charm for several days.

I felt like I was going to have a heart attack a couple of times but I gained a better understanding about computers from doing it.

It's a great thing to do if you are willing to take a small risk. just remember a couple of things when you are putting your computer together.

!) Ground yourself often, if you are feeling really afraid get an anti static wrist band or even more an anti static floor mat.
2) read the instruction manual for your mother board and other parts before you try to install them. Have a plan for attack and then execute it.
3) don't panic!
Click to expand...
One of the main things I can't stress enough. Your computer isn't made out of glass. Some components have to be forced into place (memory sticks in particular). Some people are so dainty when trying to fit components together that they end up not having firm contacts, though, it's not as much of an issue now that most of those ports have lock latches.
 
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