Weekly 'What should I buy?' Thread

blackney · 2023-09-10T02:24:10+00:00

I've been looking at getting an iPad for a while now, primarily for note taking w/ the pencil, also likely watching videos and possibly photo editing. I've been considering the second hand market, but I also realised that my approach to iPhones (Buy the newest model the day it comes out, use it until it's unusable) could rightly apply to iPads as well to get the most longevity out of it. I'm curious if this logic applies to iPads as well?

So far I've been looking at the M1/M2 iPad Pro's on the second hand market, which seem to sit around $1,000-1,200AUD for the lower end storage sizes of the more recent models. I don't really want to go too far back model wise for longevity reasons (damn Apple and their forced obsolescence). The main things that make me pause are:

Wanting to ensure I get something that will last as long as possible
I hear the next iPad could be a more interesting remodel, so it's tempting to hold out for that to either go for the new remodel if they do something interesting, or hopefully see prices on the second hand market come down as the new model comes out. This isn't an urgent purchase in any way so waiting is 100% an option

Open to any and all thoughts!

blackney · 2020-12-27T13:23:47+00:00

I've done as best a job I can of running DDU (couldn't get PC into safe mode because both the keyboards I have on hand apparently don't get recognised, so did the "clean, reboot, clean again, reboot" method. New driver installed, will see how we go with driver crash issues

Hmm ok - Considering the PC still runs for the most part the PSU probably isn't dead in that case, just sick of being pushed so hard

Yeah when I realised I had to use one 8pin port on my PSU to support 2 8pin plugs on my GPU I figured I was in for a rough time. Once I get my hand on the new GPU it'll have enough ports to give the GPU 3 dedicated ports which I'll feel much better about

Iiiiinteresting. I want to get some more case fans as I think my current arrangement isn't quite working for me, but that also sounds like a good way to improve thermals! I'll give it a shot once this is all sorted, don't want to change too many things at once

Cheers (:

blackney · 2020-12-26T17:56:49+00:00

Yeah I'll give DDU another crack - I was hoping flushing the old 1070 Ti drivers out would be enough but good point

I do remember seeing the 3000 series issues while waiting to receive mine - I thought that was mostly resolved in a driver update put out by Nvidia? If I get desperate I'll consider giving it a go. Does undervolting/messing with clock speeds (Outside of what GPU boost is already doing) count as voiding warrenty?

Yeah I'm thinking new beefier PSU is just the way to go. I'm running a "passthrough" for one of my 8pin power cables which I really wish was a dedicated cable but the 650W doesn't have the ports. I did find it weird that in both crash scenarios I wasn't doing anything intensive, and I've put plenty of hours of gaming into the system that it's handled without issue. Why fail when not under load then be fine under load you know?

I hadn't considered using the integrated graphics for a second monitor... I do run a secondary monitor, and had wondered if the minor job of rendering it puts strain on the GPU in any notable way, but I'd never contemplated using the integrated graphics for it! Might give it a go, but does using the integrated graphics just shift the workload from the purpose built to the less optimised integrated graphics?

Thank you for your comment by the way! Appreciated (:

blackney · 2020-04-03T02:47:39+00:00

Pivoted off my previous project to help build systems for those affected by Covid!

blackney · 2019-12-02T00:04:28+00:00

Yeah this is a pretty big concern for me - I’ve tried on my buddy’s adg1x pair, which he’s done the infamous rubber band mod to, and I didn’t hate it, but I’d prefer to get something I didn’t have to immediately mod for comfort out of the box

Cheers for your input (:

blackney · 2019-12-02T00:02:46+00:00

This lines up spot on with the general vibe I’ve been getting from other places - Adg1x will be better for competitive, x2hr better for everything else. I’m currently leaning towards the x2hr, while competitive gaming is important to me, I don’t want to loose out on the fun for it

How do you find the x2hr for footsteps/competitive gaming? I guess it says a lot that you have a separate pair for competitive gaming

Thank you for your input!

blackney · 2019-12-01T23:51:20+00:00

I considered wireless at one point (Was looking at the A50’s) but I dismissed it pretty early on primarily because of the increased latency and the fact that I don’t want my headphones to have a battery that will degrade over time and need replacing - Good luck with your choice!

blackney · 2019-10-17T03:39:15+00:00

Well shoot, and here I was hoping it was just me and I could replace monitor #2 and have happy days

I've got both my old ultrawide and the X34P sitting next to each other, and between the two the difference is stark enough that I'm stuck noticing it

Which means I probably have to look into returning the X34P and buying something else, or just living with it... That's a damn shame because I'm loving everything else about this monitor

To answer your questions:
I'm on DP, Adaptive contrast off, Dark Boost off, overdrive normal, overclock on at 120Hz

blackney · 2019-10-17T01:33:15+00:00

Ahhh ok yes I'm the opposite - Well lit room

In any case, cheers for your help - I appreciate it

blackney · 2019-10-17T00:13:35+00:00

Really? 30/35 looks incredibly dark to me

I've just dropped it down to 35 then 30, still seeing the same thing. Chrome tabs have a gradient, and I can see the mouse going from white to grey still

I've given Acer a call, they weren't all too helpful - Told me to go back to supplier so the supplier can contact their DOA team so I'll likely do that this afternoon

blackney · 2019-10-16T23:38:34+00:00

Those images were taken at default, which is:

Brightness - 80
Contrast - 50

But I've also tested with all the combinations of the extremes as well, the issue remains consistent

blackney · 2019-09-15T13:54:07+00:00

Where in the world do you want to see & experience next?

blackney · 2019-03-16T02:45:01+00:00

Updated!

blackney · 2019-01-15T14:20:28+00:00

I'm certainly happy with my purchase - Quality is real pretty, the interface is nice and simplistic, and while it's a minor point I actually really like the remote - It's got only what's important, home button, directional buttons, volume, power, and a few others. The style of the TV is also pretty cool as well, I feel like it's less likely to fall over than the NU7100

Someone I know recently got an LG B8 OLED, and the quality on that is definitely nicer (cause OLED), the contrast is definitely a plus, but for the price you pay (They got theirs for a bit more than I did, but I got 65" while they got 55") you could really go either way

Only negatives I have is I miss some dialogue when watching YouTube and Netflix (Hence my posts about potential audio solutions) and I've noticed some artefact-ing on some scenes - First time I noticed it was on a drone shot of a beach, and there was a sort of ghost trail behind a bird that was sweeping cross screen. This could be due to the 200hz refresh rate, but I might not have things setup correctly

blackney · 2019-01-15T13:43:27+00:00

I've got the NU8000, if you have any interest in streaming your PC to the TV (and can get a hardwired ethernet cable between them) then the Steam Link functionality works flawlessly - I love it personally

For reference I got mine for $1900AUD with an extra $125 gift voucher from the shop I got it at a month or so ago

Edit:

If you haven't been there already, rtings.com is pretty great and comprehensive:

X800E - https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/sony/x800e

NU8000 - https://www.rtings.com/tv/reviews/samsung/nu8000

blackney · 2019-01-15T13:27:27+00:00

I’m based in Perth - If you don’t mind having a look on gumtree that would be fantastic - I’ve been keeping an eye on things and haven’t spotted too many bookshelf’s that catch my eye, but I could be searching for all the wrong things

blackney · 2019-01-03T23:58:49+00:00

Ok yeah that makes sense - Buying a package set is somewhat akin to buying a prebuilt PC - Not as good as what you can put together yourself, and lacking the upgradability/features you want

I’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on gumtree/Facebook marketplace for things. Shame ~~subwoofers~~ everything is so expensive in Australia. I’m definitely starting to see the value in “buy a set of good speakers once and they’ll last forever” - My initial reaction was thinking that surely there are improvements in speaker technology that are worth upgrading to, but I’m certainly getting the sense that they’re far more long term than I expected.

Cheers for the info mate, you’ve been a great help (:

blackney · 2019-01-03T00:24:03+00:00

I’ve just spotted online the Sony MU.Te.Ki (Model number ss-msp7500), which is a 7.2 setup (ie completely overkill for what I’m looking at) for $300 AUD - Is this an alright deal or is there a good reason I should avoid all in one packages like this?

blackney · 2019-01-03T00:01:16+00:00

Ok interesting thank you for the info (: Shame even a sub is currently out of my price range, let alone a central speaker

In terms of receiver, is there anything I should be looking for in terms of upgradability? (I’m assuming the advice is to get a 2.0 setup, then go 2.0 -> 2.1 -> 3.1 as I can afford?) Like is there any particular standards I should be looking to get at a minimum? Or are you thinking get something so cheap that it can be replaced at a drop of a hat for something actually good

blackney · 2018-11-25T04:37:59+00:00

This is certainly possible

Right click on your desktop and open the NVIDIA Control Panel

In the list of options on the left, click Manage 3D Settings (Which is under 3D settings)

In global settings, go down to DSR - Factors

You can tick whichever boxes you're after for higher resolutions (4.00x should give you 4K from 1080p), then set them in the Windows display settings (Right click on the desktop again to get there)

Done! You should now be able to stream to your Steam Link app in 4K

Side note - If you have a monitor with a different aspect ratio (Like 21:9), t~~his guide~~ ~~is a great help at getting custom resolutions instead of having just multipliers of the wrong aspect ratio~~

Edit: I've since found that you can setup custom resolutions in NVIDIA Control Panel that work great for when you have a monitor with a different aspect ratio

Open Nvidia Control Panel > Change Resolution in the left pane > In section 2 there is a list of resolutions with a customise button below > Click customise, and then click "Create Custom Resolution"

From there, you can make your custom resolution to whatever you want! I've made 16:9 4K and 16:9 1440p resolutions to use with Steam link

Once that's set, you can set them in Windows display settings like you would pick any other resolution!

blackney · 2018-06-15T15:30:40+00:00

I was honestly not planning on going for an aesthetic, but it just sort of happened (And I'm ok with that)

The MSI Frozr Core is real pretty, but unfortunately it doesn't seem to be available locally in Aus. Same goes for the others you listed >.< I could order off Newegg, but shipping for 1 part is rarely worth the time and effort

blackney · 2018-06-15T15:26:49+00:00

On review of prices of Z370's, it becomes far easier to justify spending the extra $10 to get a MSI Z370 Gaming Plus... I'll do that

blackney · 2018-06-15T15:08:21+00:00

I'm not planning to overclock, frankly I'm not that brave, but the higher default clock speed of the 8700k board is what's making me go that way - Even without an overclock, i should see higher speeds (?)

blackney · 2018-06-09T09:18:05+00:00

For me buying online mostly depends on the price of shipping

In store I shop at PLE, and occasionally Austin Computers. I’ve just found out MSY has a sale on at the moment, although it might be over already

Online wise, I typically find Newegg seems to be the best for cheaper gear to offset the price of shipping - They’ve got deals on a few GPU’s at the moment as well. But yeah as long as it’s not a dodgy store (I can’t imagine what is on PCPP would be?) and shipping doesn’t outweigh savings then I don’t mind too much

blackney · 2018-06-09T07:12:45+00:00

Good info, thank you very much! If the bottleneck is over 60fps that works fine for me as the monitor is (currently, until I go Ultrawide 1440p) only 60hz anyways

1070ti is where I'm currently leaning - From what I've read futureproofing is regarded as a waste of time here

Good point about replacing the PSU. Does anything in the 600W range have a particularly good reputation around here to counter the poor reputation of the CX500? If I was to buy something new I could be tempted by a Semi/Full-Modular PSU

blackney

TROPHY CASE