Useless updates

[winterkoninkje]

So it looks like getting the fully stocked top-of-the-line laptop I want is 2,660$ after educational discount. I could reduce that if I got a slower harddrive[1], less memory[2], or a slower proc[3] but I don't think I'd want to do any of those. I might consider the slower harddrive; the faster version will prolly drain the battery quicker, but the cost difference is so small and I think the performance difference'll be significant enough; but if someone gave me a better idea on energy cost and performance rates I might reconsider.

Getting such a laptop also comes with a free 2GB iPod Nano (after rebate) which I could probably sell to help finance the laptop (sale price est 180$) since I don't really have need of it. I could get a larger iPod which I could use, but that'd just be spending more money. Once I get Fuchi back from the shop, I figure I can probably canibalize many of the parts and sell them too. For right now I'm waiting a bit longer to figure out all my financing options before I order it, but I'll probably get it in the next few days or so. Sigh. So much money just to maintain a computer.

[1] Downgrading from 100GB @ 7,200rpm to 5,400rpm, est 90$

[2] Downgrading from 2x1GB 667MHz DDR2 SO-DIMMs to 1GB or 2x512MB, est 270$/360$ respectively.

[3] Downgrading from 2.16GHz dual-core to 2.0GHz dual-core also includes downgrade from 256MB GDDR3 (video ram) to 128MB, est 230$. Would also allow for downgrades to 80GB @ 5,400rpm (180$) and 512MB ram (450$) all of which together would bring it down to 1,800$. But downgrading the video card is not a good idea if I want to play games, also with that little memory the thing's going to crawl, and all together it'll go obsolete pretty quickly. If I were looking to downgrade as much as possible to keep the cost down I might as well start looking at the regular MacBooks.

Comments

[theotherjay.livejournal.com]

I obviously don't know nearly as much about computers as you do, but I do have the general idea that, if you're going to buy something really expensive (cars, computers, and houses are the main examples of this), it makes sense to get the best one that you can, with all the options available, even the stupid frivolous ones. The better your new thing, the longer it will take for you to become disillusioned with it, the more you'll be willing to keep it working, and the longer it will last, forestalling the need to buy another one (and shell out another $2,000).

That said, $2,600 seems like a lot. My laptop was about $1,800 after educational discounts - it was an older generation of technology, but the top of the line for that generation, with everything. So the question is, not just how much stuff do you want, but how new do you want it..

[winterkoninkje.livejournal.com]

My general philosophy is generally that, especially with laptops where there's a certain flat overhead charge just for getting a laptop-- it's nice to spread that out over as long of a span as possible. Yeah 2.6k$ does sound a lot. Was yours a mac? That would explain the differences.

In truth I probably don't need the absolute top of the line possible since I don't do video editing, but at the same time, as mentioned, I'd like it to last as long as possible. Fuchikoma for example was four years old and still running perfectly fine, I figure there was another couple years in him. So if 800$ makes the difference between two years and four, or four and six, then it seems worth it. (Of course now that I think of it mathematically, if it only makes the difference between 4 and 6, given the physical life expectancy issues it's not really worth it.)

I'm thinking I might downgrade the memory since that's something I could easily upgrade later and it's also the biggest ticket item. Of the three upgrade/downgrades it's the only one I could solve later by just throwing money at it (harddrive'd take backup/reinstall time, cpu would take a whole new laptop).

[fixedd.livejournal.com]

Get the minimum possible RAM then head over to Newegg and buy it there.

I don't know what the exact difference is after the educational discount, but you can save $400 (retail) by getting 2x512MB, then you can spend $145 of that on 2x1GB Transcend RAM (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820208037). Plus you'll have 2x512s that you can sell off to recouperate some of the cost. Of course, this option basically disallows financing the RAM.

[winterkoninkje.livejournal.com]

Y'know, for some reason I didn't even think about getting components elsewhere. Usually I'm the one to suggest such a thing.

Well, I'm thinking of downgrading it anyways for the reasons mentioned to theotherjay so that should bring it down to 2.3k$. I was getting by fine with 1GB ram on the old box (probably 2x256MB no less, though the new books have goofy tech (check out the dropdown for memory (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/6154000/wo/vL25U99kC1o62mGdzKv1YYAoF8N/2.?p=0)) in them); since it's the same os and I'd be running the same programs et al, I can't think it'd be a step down. I can also put off getting more ram for another year or two by which point the price should've gone down.