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Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 16th, 2023

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  • Definitely agree on the used idea. Ebay is full of used previous gen parts at great prices (stick with sellers with a deep history of 99% and higher feedback, avoid those with accounts less than a year old and/or single digit feedback. Avoid single digit sellers with suspiciously cheap prices for recent hardware like the plague - these are likely scammers.)

    Personally, I’d avoid laptops if gaming is your primary interest. Performance does lag behind similar spec desktops, but more importantly, if something that isn’t ram or a storage drive breaks on a laptop, the whole machine is probably done. Not necessarily because the whole machine is unusable, but many if not most repair parts are model specific and can cost more than the laptop did.

    Desktops can be repaired and upgraded per assembly, which makes them pretty kind to your wallet if gaming on a budget. I just scored an excellent condition 1080ti for around $150, and I know with absolute certainty that very robust off lease workstations from a few generations back can be had for $200-ish or less if you know what you’re looking for. Pair them with that 1080ti and you’ve got some decently capable hardware to play with!

    I’ve got several gaming machines that I use to run everything from old stuff to heavily modded Skyrim VR and many new titles, and I pretty much only buy storage amd cables new. Everything else is purchased used on Ebay.













  • As someone who is seemingly constantly working on computers and has done a ton of engine building and other deep car stuff, in addition to the garage mentioned previously, I’d recommend buying a buildable engine core for your subaru, getting that built (either do it yourself - recommended, or by a machine shop - will probably work well, but will cost a lot of $$) and having it ready to install rather than trying to pull the existing engine out and rebuilding it - especially if the current engine still runs.

    Unless your plan is to make a hobby of having exploded cars in the yard, this’ll go a long way towards putting an end in sight for an engine rebuilding venture.

    Also fuck all car subscriptions - that’s some gross profiteering right there…






  • Been using Reolink IP cameras ever since I was robbed at gunpoint on my front porch in 2015. No complaints, though I wouldn’t use one of their NVRs or give them my info and sign into an app of theirs

    I find used servers are cheap, more maintainable, and more configurable than proprietary hardware like an NVR.

    A POE switch and BlueIris will run Reolink cams using the generic ONVIF protocol with no need to give Reolink personal data they don’t need.

    I would avoid their zoom cameras - I bought a couple thinking they’d be a good supplement to the 6 standard 1440p Reolink cams I also have and tbh I really hate the zoom cameras. They go out of focus or zoom weird and it’s a bit of a PIA to get them dialed back in. Good luck!


  • +1 for reolink. Works great with blueiris and has its own app as well. I’d recommend the basic 1440p model, which should run around $50 US on Amazon. You’ll need ether net cables and a POE switch to run them, also not very expensive. Stay away from the zoom versions - in my experience they kind of suck. Been running 8 of these for about 8 years now and they’ve been very reliable. Running both the native reolink app and blueiris on Android, Ipads, and PC, and they kick the dog out of that Ring junk - works great and easy/cheap to add cams and really place stuff when needed.