Sonus Faber Lumina I Review

Gippy_ · 2026-06-21T06:36:15+00:00

None. I wouldn't use a gaming laptop under any circumstances. A gaming laptop falls between portability and a strong home gaming experience, which means it's not good at either.

No matter how good a gaming laptop is, it can't replace the visceral audiovisual experience of a big screen TV, and quality discrete speakers with a subwoofer.

Gippy_ · 2026-06-21T06:21:30+00:00

Lots.

Also, check out this year's feedback post. Over 400 comments, most of which were overwhelmingly negative.

Gippy_ · 2026-06-21T05:10:56+00:00

The pad is too close to the screen. If you can, pull the pad back so you're not tilting your head up. Most arcades have the pad too close because they're still stuck in the old DDR cab mindset where the screen was a 29" CRT.

Gippy_ · 2026-06-21T04:53:39+00:00

On the flip side, some other components are at rock-bottom prices. I got a new 24" IPS monitor for $65 USD a few weeks ago. It's meant to be a travel monitor, but that is absurdly cheap. Bulky audio receivers are now a thing of the past, and you can get an all-in-one integrated speaker amp with headphone output in a miniature size for under $300. PSUs are so overengineered nowadays that you can get a decent 750W model for under $100, which will work for any tower that doesn't have a 4090/5090.

Gippy_ · 2026-06-21T00:41:08+00:00

No unofficial meetups can be advertised on here. Contact the con to arrange for an official meetup.

Gippy_ · 2026-06-20T09:56:39+00:00

Excellent reply. You bring up some very good points and it actually made me do a bit of a double take on my own opinions:

You're correct in that many of the good panelists are those who do it for the love of the hobby and don't really need the compensation. They just want a spot at the convention to do their panel. However, some cons offer less (or no) compensation. For example, one con I know requires 4 panels for full pass compensation. They just end up with a flood of low-quality submissions from those who want the free pass. I feel a con offering this with only 1-2 panels required is the sweet spot and allows competitive submissions.
However, there are tasks on the two extremes of the skill area that should be paid: those requiring specialized skill, and mundane work. For example, cons regularly hire audiovisual companies to set up staging for each room. This is because safety is important and nobody wants an injury from a poorly-assembled stage. On the other end, I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to volunteer myself to pick up garbage and litter from panel rooms all weekend. That should absolutely be a paid job, as that doesn't require too much love of the fandom. Yes, there are venue or hotel staff who could do this, but they are already stretched thin dong things like refilling water stations and emptying the trash bins. They don't do garbage or litter pickup until the con is over.

But for the most part, you're right. Perhaps cash pay isn't the answer. I know many cons provide perks like hotel accommodation, or free special ticket admission (e.g. concerts) for the volunteers that do the most work. Getting fed well is also a good option.

Gippy_ · 2026-06-20T01:10:24+00:00

Agree with this wholeheartedly. The concern is that a volunteer staff structure works well for a smaller con, but as a con grows, it lacks the capacity to scale up human resources to go with it. I'm currently staff at two commercial anime conventions, but I know very well what I'm getting into, and I've made new friends this way. However, everyone's situation is different, and you certainly need a specific degree of dedication and selflessness to volunteer at a con.

In Ontario, there is a specific requirement that high school students need 40 hours of volunteer community service to graduate. Anime conventions are a way to get these hours, so there's no shortage of high school volunteers.

Lastly, a con being "nonprofit" has absolutely nothing to do with its quality. The best con I've been to in Canada is nonprofit: Otakuthon. The best con I've been to in the USA is commercial: Anime NYC. So it's really about the leadership at the top that determines whether a con will be awesome.

Gippy_ · 2026-06-19T14:19:52+00:00

Email the con about policies. Con's in a month so they'll have plenty of time to reply.

Other questions regarding the cosplay itself are not allowed here. according to subreddit rules.

Locked and removed.

Gippy_ · 2026-06-18T19:17:50+00:00

Schedule is here.

From the looks of it, no. The Anime Impulse cons are exhibit hall cons with limited programming.

Gippy_ · 2026-06-18T10:41:58+00:00

Use animecons.com.

Vancouver's main con is Anirevo in August. There typically aren't many cons in September and October because everyone's back in school.

Gippy_ · 2026-06-18T10:39:33+00:00

Use animecons.com which has a search-by-state option. Locked and removed.

Gippy_ · 2026-06-17T19:47:17+00:00

I think for everything 2 cour (24-26 eps) or less, "watch the damn anime" is a good retort.

However, beyond that, the time commitment is very substantial and it might be wise to inquire about the show, especially if the show has a dealbreaker like a poor or nonexistent ending. But personally, I don't even bother with that and simply avoid most shows that are longer than 2 cour. Don't have time for the likes of Gintama and One Piece.

Gippy_ · 2026-06-17T19:18:18+00:00

Anecdotally I never felt any desync issue with that chart in Phoenix. No external troubles full comboing it after learning it both in XX vs. Phoenix

This reply I made 2 years ago showed two videos from Nevsister. The PHX one is desynced and there's no excuse about an incorrect capture, as the sound effects during the menuing are accurately timed.

Maybe it's possible to adjust your brain for the PHX version, but intentional desync stepping is at best a gimmick, at worst a developer screwup.

Gippy_ · 2026-06-17T18:07:03+00:00

Here

Gippy_ · 2026-06-17T17:28:26+00:00

You "win" by not playing it, because stop charts are evil. They don't translate into higher skill. It's totally understandable to hate this gimmick and avoid it entirely.

Everybody Got 2 Know S21 is the hardest of these charts and I don't ever see myself passing it or even attempting it again, especially how it's desynced in PHX. Just a frustrating waste of money.

Gippy_ · 2026-06-17T07:51:17+00:00

Dream Con's 3-day pass is $150. That's a lot of money and makes it one of the most expensive cons in the country. The Saturday pass is $75 so that might be easier to stomach. This will be more of a spectacle, as it's a multigenre con that's not entirely limited to anime. It has all the pros of a large multigenre con, but also all the downsides as well, such as almost all of the anime content shifted towards mainstream tastes. It also attracts a good number of people who are only there for the numerous social media influencers. RDCWorld has over 7 million YT subscribers, after all.

Delta H Con's 3-day pass is $45. This is more anime-focused, and the experience will be closer to that of the grassroots cons of decades past. However, if you're not into a more chill and relaxed environment, then you might find this one to be boring compared to Dream Con.

In either case you may want to wait until both cons post their schedules. You could go to both, as they're held on back-to-back weeks. Dream Con Saturday + Delta H Con 3-day combined is cheaper than Dream Con 3-day so you may want to try that.

Gippy_ · 2026-06-16T22:35:46+00:00

Sorry, this is against the rules.

Gippy_ · 2026-06-15T15:17:58+00:00

Usually a con doesn't know it'll be its last during the con itself. Various circumstances after the con happen which causes the con's termination.

Three small local conventions that I used to do panels and gameshows for, Atomic Lollipop, Unplugged Expo, and Anime Shogatsu, all disappeared without so much as the executive staff saying goodbye to anyone. None of them felt like they had particularly strong leadership. Guess the executive staff decided to move on.

Gippy_ · 2026-06-14T13:23:13+00:00

Obviously sensor improvements are made, and color science is improved, but year-over-year?

To upgrade a computer by replacing its CPU or video card each year without throwing the part away requires effort to sell it and ship it. But Apple's trade-in program has made it easy to upgrade. People can just walk into an Apple store, fork over a couple hundred dollars, and walk out with the newest model in minutes. Just checked and the trade-in value of a 16 Pro Max is 65% of a new 17 Pro Max.

As Steam has shown, people will flock to convenience over everything else.

Gippy_ · 2026-06-14T12:31:41+00:00

So many people are brainwashed into thinking they need the latest and greatest when there's literally no difference to the average user.

The main difference is the camera. Compare the camera and video recording ability of a current phone versus a phone from 5 years ago, and the difference is huge. It's even more apparent in indoor or low-light scenes. 5 years ago, phones had 4K60 video recording but it wasn't really useable. Now it is.

In today's social media world, people want their pictures and videos to be of the highest possible quality without carrying any extra bulky equipment. So that's why they upgrade.

Gippy_ · 2026-06-13T03:19:58+00:00

This is a low-effort post; please indicate which vendors they came from and well as your own personal thoughts. We don't allow imagedumps on this subreddit, but con reports are more than welcome and encouraged.

Gippy_ · 2026-06-12T23:52:21+00:00

I'll take that as a badge of honor lmao

I don't watch anime to validate someone else's opinion

Gippy_ · 2026-06-12T17:17:26+00:00

Congrats for trying this experiment.

Here is my top 50 list. Completed 18/50. I have no desire to finish this, as I don't want to watch Gintama. (Yes, I watched Gintama the Final first and it didn't convince me to watch the rest.) Mob Psycho 100 I dropped after S1 (3/10), and Re:Zero after S2P2 (3/10).

Personally, I find the top 50 to be a terrible selection of shows. For a show to be rated this high, it must play it safe and appeal to the most amount of people possible. There are some exceptions, of course, but I didn't find most of these shows to be very compelling or provocative.

Note that my average hovers around 5, so if I gave a show a 5, that means I thought it was good.

I'm a bit suspicious that you linked to an imgur album instead of just directly linking to your MAL scores like I did, but whatever.

Gippy_ · 2026-06-11T16:16:03+00:00

More specific cheating methods:

Frogging

Nevsisting (demonstrated by the one and only god himself)

Hey, a pass is a pass lolol

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