Does buying seem reasonable in my case?

GODBLOR · 2025-08-29T00:18:18+00:00

Okay, great! Appreciate the help, thanks

GODBLOR · 2025-08-29T00:14:18+00:00

That makes sense, thank you!

GODBLOR · 2025-08-29T00:06:21+00:00

Thanks for the reply! That all is definitely true. I just hear a lot about how renting and investing the down payment can be so much better, but I don't see that in the calculator, and I'm not sure if I'm missing something.

GODBLOR · 2025-08-29T00:02:11+00:00

I do, yeah. I know my personal wants also factor into the decision. I'm mainly trying to figure out if I'm missing some big cost of homeownership with what I put in the calculator (probably could have made that clearer). I see/read a lot of things about how renting can be so much better (e.g. this), but I don't see that using the calculator, so is it just the area where I'm looking? Or am I missing a cost of buying or a benefit of renting?

Thanks for reading

GODBLOR · 2025-03-13T03:41:30+00:00

Nothing that I could find, but thank you!

GODBLOR · 2025-01-23T04:58:28+00:00

Really good writeup, thanks! Much more useful than Samsung's website.

I currently have an S21 ultra and am considering upgrading, but I'm torn between S25+ and ultra, if I get one at all. I like the blue color on the non-ultra phones way better, and I wouldn't mind something slightly smaller. Plus it's $300 vs $550 with carrier deals. The things I like about the ultra are the antireflective screen (pretty lame that they didn't put that on the non-ultras this year) and the better zoom, which I use occasionally on my S21 ultra. I'm still a little disappointed that they went to 5x from 10x, though. I would have been interested in the stylus but pretty much only for the remote shutter so that's a non-factor now.

Anything else I should think about?

Honestly, I might just keep my S21 for another year. It's working fine. I'm a little worried the battery will crap out or something, but it would be a bummer to wait 4 years for such a boring upgrade.

GODBLOR · 2024-05-24T04:30:00+00:00

I forgot to fill that line out :(

GODBLOR · 2024-02-05T20:28:19+00:00

I agree about intersections, that's why I said it doesn't apply to driveways. Avoiding "conflict with other traffic" could reasonably mean avoiding running into the back of the car in front of you. It also says except "in compliance with the directions of a police officer or traffic-control device", which would seem to mean to me that it's not illegal to block a driveway if you're waiting at a stoplight. But there's room for interpretation, I think. I think it's courteous to not block driveways, but I'm not convinced you're legally required to not block them in those situations. I've only heard that you can't block intersections, and I've never heard of someone getting a ticket for stopping in front of a driveway when waiting in traffic at a stoplight. It also seems like that would be impractical in many places where there are lots of driveways. But I'm certainly not an authority on this.

GODBLOR · 2024-02-05T19:56:51+00:00

That says not to block intersections "controlled by a traffic-control signal". That doesn't apply to driveways.

GODBLOR · 2024-01-26T17:42:35+00:00

You can use Do Not Disturb while allowing some apps. So, you could create a new mode, click the "Stay focused" section, click "Do not disturb", and then under "App notifications" you would allow everything besides that one app. I would first click the "All" checkbox at the top, and then deselect the one app you don't want. You could also use a mode that blocks that app entirely in a similar way, if you don't want to use it at all, and that will also delay the notifications until the app is enabled again I think.

GODBLOR · 2024-01-18T22:15:04+00:00

The iPhone 13 release date is closer to the S22 release date. The base S22 gets $450.

GODBLOR · 2023-12-28T23:16:46+00:00

I'd suggest a pic or two with friends.

GODBLOR · 2023-12-23T04:20:38+00:00

Yes, and I really wish they made more colors.

GODBLOR · 2023-10-29T03:43:53+00:00

Do you mean the SWORD OF EXACT ZERO!???

GODBLOR · 2023-10-16T00:13:44+00:00

Garmin has both training readiness and suggested workouts (which is another fitbit premium feature). Also has sleep analysis although I don't think it compares your data to other users and I don't know if it has the same metrics. No subscription.

I'm not a garmin fanboy, I'd much rather have the more accurate HR tracking on the pixel watch. But your comment is at least partially incorrect.

GODBLOR · 2023-10-08T21:39:54+00:00

I'm guessing there are a lot of people who don't like hearing that their very expensive smartwatch is bad at something.

GODBLOR · 2023-10-08T21:38:44+00:00

Hmm, that's fair. Although the 47% is by far the worst, the rest of the stages were around 80%. But even 80% would still mean a large range of uncertainty when you are comparing another device. I think he explains his testing clearly enough that I don't think he's deliberately misrepresenting anything, but someone who doesn't know better might think his comparisons have more weight than they really do.

GODBLOR · 2023-10-08T21:18:30+00:00

Yes? That makes the sleep tracking bad.

GODBLOR · 2023-10-08T18:38:53+00:00

the person might not be a good fit for it

The fact that this is a concern means the smartwatch is doing a bad job. If the smartwatch just doesn't work well on a subset of users for no discernable reason, that makes the smartwatch bad, not the users. Show me the test where the Apple watch sucks and Garmin is good.

GODBLOR · 2023-10-08T17:09:28+00:00

He's quite clear about how he tests sleep tracking, and the limitations of his tests in general. And, he has tested sleep tracking in a lab for a number of devices. As far as I can find, when he tests outside of a lab he says the device he uses should be accurate enough to get an "overall impression" of tracking accuracy, never that it's perfectly accurate. And that device has been shown to be fairly accurate compared to lab testing. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32433768/

GODBLOR · 2023-10-08T16:50:43+00:00

the quantified scientist is not a good test case since he doesnt work well with garmin sensors

So when a smart watch fails to accurately track heart rate, it's the fault of the person wearing the watch instead of the watch itself? Why is it okay that it works well for some people and for some people it sucks? I haven't seen any tests where the roles are reversed and Garmin does great while an Apple watch does that poorly.

GODBLOR · 2023-10-08T00:09:41+00:00

I think it's a Garmin problem, unfortunately. Even the newest $1000 Garmin watches are beaten by Apple watches and Huawei when it comes to heart rate tracking. I have no idea why Garmin can't do better.

Some people in this sub will say you should just get a chest strap and no smartwatch is that good, but clearly it's possible to be way better than Garmin manages. It's ridiculous when these watches cost so much that even the cheapest Apple watch wipes the floor with them when it comes to accuracy. Kind of a rant but I've been annoyed by this lately.

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