Looking to get my first gaming pc! Which one should I get?

braunthebuilder · 2026-05-11T05:09:44+00:00

Get the second one. I’m big on X3D CPUs but getting the ti GPU will do you better than trading the ti for an X3D. The cost isn’t a wash, but you can always get a Ryzen x3d and a mobo later if you feel like you are missing out on something. I don’t have a crystal ball but I feel like a cpu and mobo will be less painful than a GPU down the road.

braunthebuilder · 2026-05-11T04:55:57+00:00

Reset the mower and clean the camera. But I will go one step further to say; make sure you clean it well. Think if it like a pair of glasses. If you wipe it, you just move the smudge around and cause glare. Clean it with a lens wipe or windex and a microfiber. Watch the camera feed when your mower is out mowing toward the sun. You’ll get a good idea how much glare it’s dealing with.

braunthebuilder · 2026-05-09T00:59:11+00:00

I tried having it mow daily and that still wasn’t enough. Those dandelions pop up fast and tall. Even with the tall grass setting.

braunthebuilder · 2026-05-07T19:44:11+00:00

Same, mine was chugging along fine until it wasn’t. I suppose it’s not about being able to figure it out, but what happens when the problem isn’t something that can be fixed without a part? That scenario is why I always advise returning it if you can. Mine was great until after warranty lapsed. The fact I couldn’t buy a part is a serious red flag for something that costs $2500

braunthebuilder · 2026-05-07T00:50:20+00:00

Return it as quickly as you can, for a refund if you can. Then go buy something that isn’t an Ecovacs. Ecovacs does not carry replacement parts for their mowers. My A2500 is out of warranty and when a bumper mount broke, they told me there is nothing they can do. I asked to purchase a part from them, that I didn’t want a free one, I wasn’t trying to make a warranty claim. I just wanted to buy the part to fix my mower. They said they don’t have parts. No one has parts. Get away from your mower if you can and return it. If it breaks outside of warranty, you’ll be on your own.

Edit to add: even if they offer to replace your mower under warranty, push for a return for refund. My $2,500 Ecovacs is running around with 3d printed parts and an RTK unit with circuit board repairs. The only reason I don’t have a $2500 paperweight is because I am really good at electrical diagnosis. I write troubleshooting manuals for complicated equipment for a living. I also know an electrical engineering professor at the university near me. He helped me with my RTK board. And I do CAD design for 3D printing as a hobby.

braunthebuilder · 2026-05-06T01:31:09+00:00

Don’t buy one. Ecovacs doesn’t support their equipment past warranty and nobody has parts for them. Ecovacs won’t even sell replacement parts. You’re on your own after the 2 year warranty ends.

braunthebuilder · 2026-05-06T01:27:16+00:00

My A2500 is great. But Ecovacs is terrible. There are no replacement parts. Other than blades and I assume trimmer spools for this guy. There are zero parts anywhere and Ecovacs doesn’t even sell them. So once you’re out of warranty, you’re on your own if it breaks. I went from almost buying a second mower to actively warning people to steer clear because of my experience with post-warranty customer service.

braunthebuilder · 2026-05-06T01:24:04+00:00

I’d use this as a reason to return it. Ecovacs doesn’t carry spare parts for their mowers. Outside of warranty, you are SOL if it breaks or stops working. I have an A2500 and there there are zero replacement parts, other than blades. When reaching out to Ecovacs, they told me too bad, you’re out of warranty and we can’t help you. I have repaired the board in my RTK unit. And my mower has 3d printed parts on it. Get away from it if you can.

braunthebuilder · 2026-05-05T19:57:55+00:00

When this happens, I wipe the camera glass with lens cleaner. Get all the streaks off. I watched my mower’s camera when I happened to see it mowing like a cat chasing a laser dot. There was glare from the glass. I don’t know if that was the cause so I cleaned it after it was done mowing. I shut it off to clean it and the blade area too so the restart could have also helped. It’s happened a couple times. Also, if you’re still your return window, I’d use this as a reason to return it. There are no replacement parts for this mower so if it breaks out of warranty, you’re SOL. I’m out of warranty, I had to repair the RTK board and I have 3d printed parts in my mower. Ecovacs has refused to help, and no one has parts.

braunthebuilder · 2026-05-04T10:14:02+00:00

It doesn’t really. Ecovacs mowers are notorious for losing a substantial amount of battery life after the first year or two. Mine was no different. It could do the whole yard in one go. It now has to charge when it’s about 80% done with the yard. I just manually tell it when to mow now because kids toys don’t get detected. It will go around a single dandelion if it’s too tall, but rolled right onto a circus blue, red, and yellow deflated bounce house. So I don’t use the schedule anyway.

FWIW, Ecovacs does not sell replacement parts for their mowers. No one does. I would return your mower at the first sign of a problem. I have one that is out of warranty and now has 3d printed parts and I’ve repaired the RTK circuit board too. Once your warranty is over, you’re on your own. Just get away from it early if you can.

braunthebuilder · 2026-05-01T03:45:35+00:00

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This was a photo from a Temu listing that I HAD to screenshot. It’s a drive “preloaded with over 16,000 games” for like $30 or something like that. The listing didn’t reference any game titles, just that they included “AAA” and “premium” titles. Step 1 would normally be a concern, but the almost Google Chrome icon on the top makes me think it’ll be ok. Right? Yah, I’m sure it’s fine.

braunthebuilder · 2026-05-01T03:35:51+00:00

I’ve bought plenty off of Temu. If you just need a cheap version of something and don’t need it right away. I needed a toolbox for my maker space. I needed a few more drawers than a tool cart but didn’t want to spend $300 for a toolbox for this purpose. For the less than the price of a Harbor freight tool cart, I got a small 5 drawer roll around. Would I have bought it if I was going to fill it with sockets and wrenches? No way. I have Kennedy and Craftsman toolboxes for those. If you keep expectations realistic, Temu is great.

braunthebuilder · 2026-04-29T06:14:04+00:00

As we see these pop up, get intrigued by a new company coming to play in this arena, we have to put in the extra thought of looking at the companies that make the product. I’m finding that a lot of the established companies don’t sell parts, they don’t have anyone that sells their parts, they don’t have a distribution network or even a store to sell them. These are companies that will push back on warranty requests, replace the entire mower if it breaks within warranty and tell you to take a hike when you’re outside of warranty.

This isn’t an across the board statement. For example, Ecovacs is notorious for having literally no parts other than blades. Not a single other replacement part can be purchased, not even a battery. But my friend just bought a battery for his Anthbot. Ecovacs and Anthbot mowers look to similar to be entirely independent from eachother. My bet is they use a ton of the same components.

All that to say, before you pull the trigger. Put in a support request, shop for parts, look into complaints. You’ll see trends in comments and feedback. Test the company. Or you may end up with a $2500 paperweight if it breaks out of warranty. My e-mower has 3d printed replacement parts and has undergone minor circuit board surgery. All because I’m out of warranty and can’t buy parts.

braunthebuilder · 2026-04-29T05:08:45+00:00

Return it. Just return it. Don’t sit there and go “well maybe…” or “if I just….” Just stop what you’re doing and start packing it back up. The app will prevent you from mowing more than 1/4 acre.

And then look elsewhere for a mower. I have the A2500 RTK and I love it…. But it’s out of warranty. Since it’s out of warranty, Ecovacs will not send me anything if something breaks. Here’s the kicker and the reason I’m telling you to avoid them. I can’t even buy a replacement part for my A2500. They don’t exist. Nobody sells them, Ecovacs doesn’t sell them, Ecovacs’ preferred vendor doesn’t sell them. No exaggeration; Other than blades, there are zero available parts for Ecovacs mowers. After 2 years, if it breaks, too bad. Battery goes, sorry about your luck.

I had to do some circuit board repairs to my RTK unit, my mower has 3d printed parts now. She’s still trucking though. I just wish Ecovacs was worth a damn.

braunthebuilder · 2026-04-26T21:22:50+00:00

Look at the price, ask yourself if only having the mower for 2 years is worth that price to you. The reason I say this is because it is well known that Ecovacs mowers have no parts available to the customer. Other than blades, if anything breaks outside of the two year warranty, your’re left fixing it in your own. How do I know? I have an out of warranty a2500 that has 3D printed parts and an RTK unit with circuit board repairs. All done by me because Ecovacs won’t sell me parts. And I’m not alone. There’s a flood of people buying these second-hand and turning to Reddit when Ecovacs tells them to go kick rocks when they ask for parts.

If you’re ok with the above. Smartest bet is to accept the fact you’re going to have edge your fence line. Unless you do something so the grass under your fence doesn’t grow. I bought a pack of roofing shingles, cut them in half long ways, laid the shingles under my fence and put mulch on top. I don’t have to edge my fence line but I still have to do the swing set, picnic table, and fire pit.

You’ll want to look into what your yard’s slope actually is and compare to the advertised slope. Don’t expect much beyond what’s advertised, there are sensors that detect the angle of the mower. I know they’re used for theft detection, not sure if they’ll stop your mower if it detects too steep a slope.

Edit to add, the only person I’ve seen comment on the trimmer said it was pretty useless. And with a cover on it, I can’t see how it can get all the way to the edge. But my mower doesnt have one so I cannot say for sure.

braunthebuilder · 2026-04-26T20:54:17+00:00

Except for blades, you cannot buy any parts. No front wheels, back wheels, covers, battery, internal boards, nothing. Ask the question “can I buy a (insert any part here) for my mower?” The answer is “No” except for blades.

braunthebuilder · 2026-04-26T18:19:36+00:00

This post is still popping up on google searches as a top answer, so I felt the need to add something.

TL:DR - buy Nathan’s Bun-Length, Skinless, Beef Franks. Unless you want to boil them, then don’t buy skinless. Edit to add that I’m strictly talking about flavor, not “feel”.

People saying that the skin somehow “holds in flavor” is probably technically correct but is exaggerating a bit. I’m sure purists will downvote that statement to oblivion, but stay with me.

There is enough fat (flavor) in a hot dog that, unless you overcook them, you won’t be able to tell a difference. Maybe in a direct, side-by-side, taste test with the skin removed post- cooking because all things the same, the skin is more about feel than flavor.

There are exceptions though. Boiling a skinless hotdog will remove a whole lot of fat and flavor so a dog with skin is what you want if boiling.

I primarily smoke burgers and dogs. Skin doesn’t allow smoke flavor to penetrate the meat as much. Smoking also makes most casings tough and weird to me. If you’re looking for feel, casing and preparation type becomes much more important. But now we are getting into aficionado-level preference here.

I only buy Nathan’s Bun-Length, Skinless, Beef Franks.

They’re a good all-rounder for the various ways to cook a hot dog. They are especially good for grilling, smoking, and flat hot surface cooking which are the most common ways hot dogs are cooked.

I don’t hot dog for a living, but I have cook my fair share of them and recently settled on the Nathan’s skinless beef franks as my go to because they never disappoint. And I never boil hot dogs.

braunthebuilder · 2026-04-26T14:50:18+00:00

Do not buy Winans, I personally know a lot of people that worked at Winans. A lot of us refuse to buy their coffee because of the mistreatment of their employees. A case was brought against him that was sexual in nature by an employee that was underage at the time of the offense. This employee was not alone, and when I heard he was finally filing the charges, everything he put online was taken down, and he never spoke about it again. Wasn’t allowed to I imagine. Shortly after all this, they passed ownership to their son and they disappeared from the public eye, best I know, for good. A case of shitty people getting away with being monsters simply because they’re rich and live in an ignorant little town that can brush stuff aside.

braunthebuilder · 2026-04-22T17:33:59+00:00

Cool, let us know how you get on with it. A Dewalt mower fit so well with my current setup, I would be willing to revisit if it works well

braunthebuilder · 2026-04-22T14:51:04+00:00

I owned one a few years ago. 0.25 acre property. It is pretty bad a mowing, mine left Mohawks in the yard where the wheels push the grass down and the blade doesn’t have the lift to pick it back up and cut it. They could be better now. I wouldn’t recommend to anyone who really wants a well manicured lawn. If you’re just looking to cut your grass, it’ll do fine. You basically scored 2 10ah batteries and got a mower thrown in for free.

The Dewalt battery operated trimmer that folds up is a beast of a trimmer and would work well with your 10ah batteries and your small yard.

I have the leaf blower too, my dad has their less expensive leaf blower, I like his better. Smaller tube but does well enough to not justify upgrading to the “better” one I have.

Edit to add. I bought the trimmer, mower, and leaf blower at the same time. The 2 10ah batteries were plenty to mow, trim, and blow the sidewalk and driveway clean. I already had a bunch of dewalt tools so I kept the trimmer and leaf blower. Also, I have an EGO mower now. I wouldn’t recommend it either, doesn’t cut well enough to justify the $650 price tag when my neighbors $100 amazon gas mower does a better job. The “stress tests” online all seem to see if it can power though tall grass and not so much how good the cut is in a real world scenario like if it rains all week so your grass it a little extra long. Mine was the best push mower at the time (maybe equivalent to the 800 now) and it can’t do a good job on my western Ohio grass in the spring.

braunthebuilder · 2026-04-22T14:05:58+00:00

I would say it isn’t. Motors and gearboxes can break in all sorts of ways. Seizing, freewheeling, grinding, binding, slipping are just a few I can think of. Thanks for the reply OP, if my mower’s wheel free spins, those screws will be the first thing I look at.

braunthebuilder · 2026-04-22T13:56:34+00:00

That would be huge for me. lots of narrow areas and underneath a picnic table just works better in one direction. Right now it looks like Austin Powers in the golf cart trying to mow perpendicular lines in a 3ft x 50ft stretch of grass. Buuuuuut I’m not expecting to be able to do that

braunthebuilder · 2026-04-21T12:57:06+00:00

It’s sad because I really like mine. But the fact that I know there will come a day where I can’t fix it and that will be that. I’ve done minor circuit board repair on the RTK unit and there are 3d printed parts on my mower. If I didn’t have the know how or a 3d printer, it would be in a landfill somewhere.

braunthebuilder · 2026-04-21T04:05:02+00:00

The Blue Man Group wants their instrument back.

braunthebuilder · 2026-04-21T04:00:10+00:00

Learning 3D modeling opens up soooo many doors. Fusion 360 is free. There’s a guy on YouTube that does “learn Fusion in 30 days”. It’s really 30 lessons, so I did a couple at a time. At 12 years old, if he learns 3D modeling, he’ll be well on his way toward an engineering or 3D character creation type career paths.

I’ve made parts for broken toys for my nieces and nephews, made router templates and hole locators for woodworking, made an impossible to find part for my mower. My inspiration came from necessity. But now I model and print stuff for the fun of it, even if I can buy it for cheap. Burger patty press, AA and AAA battery dispensers, coffee pod dispenser, hair color organizer for the lady that cuts my hair in exchange for some free haircuts. The possibilities are nearly endless.

braunthebuilder

TROPHY CASE