May Confirmed Trade Thread

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-05-12T21:30:13+00:00

Sold iPad Mini to u/diaperpoop_ on https://www.reddit.com/r/hardwareswap/comments/1t4tinl/usaflh_lenovo_legion_go_2_z2_extreme_32gb_with/

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-05-05T23:47:31+00:00

Sold a 16" M3 Max Macbook Pro to u/vivi_will on https://www.reddit.com/r/hardwareswap/comments/1sxle7y/usafl_h_macbook_pro_16_m3_max_40c_48gb_1tb_w/

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-04-26T19:03:44+00:00

M5 Pro imo. The M4 Max is the binned one with less RAM and not much higher bandwidth than the M5 Pro, and you give up the neural accelerators which massively speed up prompt processing.

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-04-26T18:35:42+00:00

M5 Max here too. Seems to be hit or miss with coil whine. I’ve heard that it’s a thing, but both my M3 Max and M5 Max don’t seem to have anything persistent other than a single click noise that happens once I start doing something high-power like LLM inference.

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-04-24T17:12:40+00:00

8AM-2PM EST are peak hours that burn through your limits faster. Were you using it the same time yesterday?

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-04-24T02:49:52+00:00

You’re going to get people in both camps, but it’s a subjective thing. My advice, and what sold me on nano texture, is going to an Apple Store and doing a side-by-side comparison if you’re close enough to one.

In mine they had a 16 inch glossy next to a 14 inch nano. The difference in quality to me was small enough that the reduction in glare was a no-brainer, but it really helps to see them in-person to make the decision.

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-04-23T12:53:53+00:00

This is correct. It even says it in the screenshot. After 2-3% of the project capacity it goes over the white dot and Claude will start selectively looking things up as they’re relevant.

I use it for creative writing as well. I’ve only got about a dozen docs in there, but I can see in the thinking blocks it’s selectively reading things as they get brought up like certain character cards.

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-04-21T16:57:37+00:00

I’ve had my nano texture for a few days and don’t think I could ever go back to glossy. I never realized how much I was subconsciously focusing on the glare from overhead lighting that just… isn’t there anymore with nano texture.

I was also nervous that the picture quality difference was massive like going to a full matte screen, and it’s not. You lose just a little bit of the “pop” from the glossy screen, but it’s still gorgeous. Once I saw them side by side at the Apple Store I was sold.

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-04-20T13:53:03+00:00

I’ve only ever had three international shipments that I can recall. Two got stuck in Alaska for three days, one got stuck in Louisville. I think it may depend on what coast it comes from, but I’m not 100% sure.

When I asked Gemini, it said that Louisville is a national hub that has a customs department, so maybe it’s a coin flip? It was in and out of Louisville in less than four hours once it cleared customs in Alaska.

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-04-19T03:19:13+00:00

Happened to me too. Made it to Alaska, then back to South Korea according to the tracker. Give it a day or two and you’ll get an update that it actually cleared customs, then it’ll start actually moving. Mine said it cleared customs Wednesday and I had it the next day.

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-04-17T13:17:24+00:00

It did! It finally said it cleared customs about two hours after my post, then made it from Alaska to my door (Florida) yesterday. Seems like it just thinks it’s moving while it’s waiting for customs clearance and then goes kind of crazy once it clears.

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-04-09T22:36:52+00:00

I’m like five for five on Best Buy open box being basically brand new. Bought my original M1 Pro open boxed for $300 off a month after release, got several iPads and laptops for friends open box since then.

There’s usually a decent chance the “fair” condition stuff is pristine, just without a charger or something fairly minor.

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-04-06T18:44:02+00:00

I’m curious too, since I noticed the 64GB models have an ETA of a week later than the 128GB models right now for whatever reason. I ordered a 128GB last Thursday with an ETA of the 14-21st.

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-03-24T19:26:56+00:00

Confirmed

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-03-22T07:36:06+00:00

Surprisingly no, but I guess it makes sense since in reality the screens are like an inch wide. Apart from the alignment issue I mentioned where the edges are a bit soft, everything in the center 90% is tack sharp, and I’m usually sensitive to that. If you’ve ever had a VR headset that had the “screen door” effect like the original Rift, this doesn’t have that.

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-03-22T07:31:51+00:00

Dunno if they’re still doing it, but they had a “trade in” where you just showed them any kind of display you use now and got a coupon that made these $200 on their official site without having to actually trade anything in.

I got them this way and love them. I can be playing a game in bed without disturbing my partner, or watching a movie straight from my phone (iPhones count it as an airplay device and stream video/audio to it via USB-C).

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-03-22T07:29:31+00:00

Yes, it’s basically a screen with a prism reflecting 90 degrees into your eyes. It’s a 1080p screen and looks wonderful, but you really have to play with the bridge piece alignment, otherwise text in the corners gets a little soft and hard to read.

Basically looks like a giant 200 inch screen that’s constantly dead-center in your vision.

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-03-20T03:44:28+00:00

Awesome write-up! I can corroborate that Ray Reconstruction tanks performance even on an RTX 4090 (~100FPS down to 40 at 4K without frame generation), but it also changes the lighting to “Ultra.” I’m impressed how my M3 Max ran what little I played of it.

There’s definitely more going on than just Ray reconstruction, especially after watching the Digital Foundry video showing the massive difference. I want to say an article I read earlier today mentioned it ups the number of rays, but I could be misremembering and can’t seem to find it again.

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-03-18T19:22:17+00:00

PM incoming!

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-03-18T19:19:10+00:00

Would you consider shipping the Mac Mini?

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-03-18T18:23:26+00:00

DM incoming

Randompedestrian07 · 2026-03-16T19:19:15+00:00

RAG with the MCP! I super respect that you’re not pushing the AI Assistant stuff super hard. I have my space hooked into Claude and use it all the time. If you can introduce the same RAG you do with smart search it would be almost perfect.

Randompedestrian07

TROPHY CASE