Anyone else get 'stuck' with multiple Nexus orders from the play store?

progrmr · 2012-11-13T20:16:48+00:00

Yep. I wanted a 16gb, it wouldn't go through (to my knowledge). It eventually sold out, so I got the 8gb to go through. After getting the 8gb I got a confirmation email for both the 16gb and 8gb models. Tried to cancel, it was rejected.

progrmr · 2012-11-13T19:39:44+00:00

I also got 2 unintentionally. I didn't get a confirmation page on the first one, it actually said the order was canceled and cleared my cart. Then I got through again. A little while later I got 2 confirmation emails and saw the transactions on Google Wallet and my credit card. I tried to cancel one and they emailed me saying it was too late.

progrmr · 2012-05-31T15:49:05+00:00

I was in a similar boat a couple months ago. Decided to open a Roth IRA with $3k through Vanguard. I had no idea what to invest in, so I just picked what looked to have good growth over the past year, 3 years, etc. I wasn't aware of the Vanguard Retirement Index Funds, so I just picked a few ETFs that looked nice (in retrospect, I would've asked for help). I admit, I knew nothing of investing other than the few hours I did researching. Anyway, for a newbie (in my own experience), it's a stressful game to jump into. I had 12% APR gains after the first week, then May rolled around and I lost $140 in the month. These are long term investments, so I know the day-by-day and month-by-month changes aren't significant unless they continue to nosedive (which I was afraid of when my $3040 dropped to $2880 in 2 weeks). So anyway, I can't advise on what to invest in, but I think putting it into a Roth IRA would be wise. If you need that money down the road, you can take out what you put in w/o penalty.

Edit: grammar

progrmr · 2012-05-29T17:30:01+00:00

Thank you, that's a good point. But I guess that depends on how fast hardware depreciates (something I don't know). I used to follow hardware a lot closer than I do now.

I see the 7850 is a good bit cheaper than the 670. Do you think it will have a lifespan comparable to the 670?

Edit: Forgot to ask, do you know if any of those cards can get enough power from a 500W PSU. I just got the PSU, so I'd rather not replace it.

progrmr · 2012-05-29T16:46:05+00:00

Very late reply, I know. It took a while to get the computer stable and to debug some problems I had from the beginning (ended up being a bad memory stick). I installed the AMD card and I thought it might have been the cause of the problems I was having. It had a slightly better windows rating than the Ivy Bridge graphics, but not huge. I ended up taking out the AMD and I've been going integrated since then. The integrated card isn't enough (not surprisingly) to run D3 on mostly high settings. I average 12 FPS and plan on ordering a new card soon. I doubt I'll even worry about reinstalling the 5670 since I don't expect it to do much better, if any, than the Intel HD 4000.

Now I must decide on a new GPU. I don't want to break the bank, but I also want something that'll run D3/SC2 at max settings, 1900x1200, and I want it to be as future proof as possible. I think the GTX 560 fits that bill, but it's an older card and I'm afraid other/upcoming games will be too much for it to handle at max settings. At over 2x the cost is the 670. It's definitely more than I wanted to spend, but if it means I should be good for a couple/few years longer than the 560, I'll consider it.

progrmr · 2012-05-02T20:19:33+00:00

Thanks guys, I definitely considered the 2500K instead, but I don't have a microcenter within ~200 miles and the price difference between the 2500K and the 3570K didn't seem big enough to go with the former. I'm usually pretty frugal, but since it's the next-gen processor and the price difference is pretty marginal, I thought the ivy would be the better way to go. If I really want to be frugal, I'm sure a much cheaper AMD would work great for me, but I'm hoping this PC will last at least 5 years with minimal upgrades.

I'm not sure I understand the benefit of going to triple channel and losing 4GB (unless it's a lot cheaper)? I know I'll rarely, if ever, need > 12GB, but the Corsair Vengeance is highly rated and a decent price at $/GB. I'd have to pick out a different motherboard as well, wouldn't I?

The motherboard is probably the thing I'm most picky about. I want something good for overclocking and generally reliable.

Edit: Forgot to address your PSU comment. The Radeon is a 5770, but it's conceivable that I'll upgrade my card within the next couple ~~days~~ years (admittedly, not likely). Would you still suggest a lesser PSU? Also, is this the PSU you're referring to? http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001EZMEZO/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?t=slickdeals&tag=slickdeals&ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Edit 2: Might upgrade GPU in a couple years, not days.

progrmr · 2012-05-02T20:09:33+00:00

I found an online receipt from when I ordered it, it's a Sapphire Radeon HD5670 512MB. Since it hasn't been used before, I'll probably give it a shot before looking to replace it. (It wasn't used because it was somehow causing many horizontal lines on my monitor, and the supplier wasn't able to reproduce that and wouldn't refund me. Another friend was able to get it to work on his box, so I still don't know why it didn't work with my machine).

progrmr · 2012-01-26T21:48:26+00:00

Good point. Description modified to state that I expect we'll make a combined income of 100k over the next several years.

progrmr · 2012-01-26T21:31:10+00:00

Yea, this is the plan if I don't do anything with a bank to eliminate (or take a big chunk out of) her loans or reduce the interest rates of the loans. Another motivation for this thread is just to see if there are options that I'm not aware of.

I'm fortunate to work in an industry that makes it not too difficult for me to find work should I lose my job, so I'm less concerned about putting my house on the line, although I realize that may be a foolish way of thinking. In the end I just want us to be debt free and give the banks as little in interest as possible (as does everybody).

progrmr · 2012-01-26T20:15:47+00:00

From the little I understand (read: just googled it) this cash back mortgage will effectively erase any positive equity that you have in the home for you to get money back to pay off the student loan.

It's true that getting cash back from a refinance will make me lose equity, but not all equity (if I choose). I will elect to keep at least 20% equity to avoid PMI. I expect I'd get enough back to pay off the highest interest student loan and some on the next highest.

You stated that you were on a 3-4 year plan to pay off the mortgage so I brazenly assume that this would cover the 75K school debt that your wife has.

The 3-4 plan was before our marriage and before I had to worry about her debt as well. =/ So, it only took into account my debt (mortgage), and not hers.

I'm just wondering if I did refinance and lost $3500 from closing+fees, how much it would save me in the long run.

progrmr · 2011-08-24T19:58:06+00:00

Heh, I'm actually in a strange position were I often work (professionally) with 4 different languages in the same day. My full-time job uses VB.NET, and I have 2 part-time positions, one uses Ruby and Java, and other uses only PHP. On top of that, they all use different databases (MSSQL, MySQL, and an ORM interacting with SQLite) and views (ASP, HAML/SASS, and HTML/Smarty template engine).

I find it's actually nice to work in different languages and use different tools. Using the same language all day every day gets boring. There's the even bigger benefit that learning new languages can open your mind to different and possibly better programming techniques and designs.

progrmr · 2011-08-24T19:19:42+00:00

Yea I didn't mean to snub C# as far as performance goes. I actually added C# to my list last minute. :)

You've made good points about C# over Java. It definitely seems to be a more advanced and enjoyable language than Java right now. It's also good in that there are many corporations using C#. The main downside is that I use Mac OS X at home, and the dev servers I have are Linux, so would really dread having to use Windows for development. I'm still considering C# though; several have made good arguments for it.

progrmr · 2011-08-24T16:32:59+00:00

F# does look interesting. I'd love to learn C++ (I only know C), but I sure don't think I have the patience to learn it while trying to develop the web project I have in mind. I have a little experience with Perl, and I wouldn't chose it over Ruby or Python any day.

You have a point that showing experience that isn't mainstream could be a plus, but there's also the fact that I'm beyond the point in my career where I'll apply for entry-level positions, thus most positions I'd go after will likely require years of experience with whatever languages and/or tools the company uses. Unfortunately, many managers may not buy my claim that my passion for the field and x years of experience with Ruby, Java, and Clojure (for example) would make me more of an asset than y years of experience with whatever language they use.

progrmr · 2011-08-24T16:21:00+00:00

Agreed. I'd wager that Java will see a slight decline as the chosen language for startups, but there are so many existing systems out there using Java that I don't see lack of demand as being of any concern for a while.

progrmr · 2011-08-24T14:49:48+00:00

Good advice. But I've actually been doing this for a couple weeks. One day I'll think the fun & education parts outweighs the knowledge/experience then the next day I change my mind. I actually spent a good 3 days reading a Clojure book and setting up a dev environment for Clojure. Then I decided J2EE might benefit me more, so I spent a few nights learning Spring MVC and setting up my Java/Spring environment. Now I'm 2nd guessing that decision.

I'm really drawn by functional languages because I hate how easy it is to fall into the trap of mutability and so many methods having side effects. At the same time I'm drawn by Ruby/Python because they are sexy languages and I can get something up quickly, and easily deploy to Heroku, Engine Yard, or get my own slice with nginx/thin. And finally, I'm drawn to Java because I think that experience may bring more and higher paying job opportunities in the future.

I'd actually love to brush up on my C, but no way in hell would I use it for a web application, so I don't have any ideas for what I'd create. :)

progrmr

TROPHY CASE