From: TJ@noneofyour.business   
      
   On 2024-12-16 22:08, bad sector wrote:   
   >   
   > I bought a refurb Lenovo T480 for couple of hundred a while back and   
   > I've been very happy with it. It's almost as good (in my use) as the   
   > 16" ROG it replaced (that had blown itself to ratshit). I bought my   
   > desktop deathstar nearly 15 years ago and (because I now definitely need   
   > 4k) am obliged to rebuild an entire system. With no regrets about what   
   > was then just as expensive and just as good for its time as my new one   
   > will be today I have no issues with it.   
   >   
   > One of VERY few reasons for me having a computer at all is my guitar   
   > sessions without which I could be brushing my teeth with a 9mm. They   
   > mean everything to me, and it's already frustrating enough when I sit   
   > down for a couple of hours of jamming and improvising or backing track   
   > creation I first have to do an hour's worth of hardware or software   
   > maintenance and tweaking by the end of which I'm too tired and have   
   > 'lost it' (you need to be with it to do music or forget it). So at least   
   > once every decade and a half I need up to date reliable and solid iron.   
   >   
   > The biggest problem is that nearly everything has changed since the last   
   > redux. I threw that previous system together in half a day with   
   > absolutely no difficulties. That kind of shopping has become a thing of   
   > the past. Today one has to check via multiple paths EVERY SINGLE   
   > COMPONENT for compatibility with what has already been chosen and I've   
   > been at this fucking CIRCUS(!) for several months now. It's totally   
   > ridiculous but maybe designed to be so. Just half an hour ago did I   
   > commit to a monitor as another example. I also want speed and end-to-end   
   > ECC and there again buying used could mean too many unknowns.   
   >   
   > I'll never buy used stuff on-line again and even in the case of brand   
   > new I have learned to be very careful. Living in the sticks on the   
   > eastern coast, actual for-sale used machines in my corner of the woods   
   > are so rare and so rudimentary that there is absoluteky no chance of   
   > finding one worth slowing down for 🙁   
   >   
   I too live in an eastern U.S. state, not on the coast but within 300   
   miles of it. And, being a third-generation farmer, I'm also in "the   
   sticks," though I'm in the same county as a moderate-sized city.   
      
   I too see almost no used stuff at garage/yard/church sales worth even a   
   first glance. I've suspected for years that those that have such   
   castoffs are selling them at places like eBay, rather than put it in   
   such a sale, if they sell it at all. Most stuff simply goes to a   
   recycler when no longer considered useful. The laptop I described was an   
   exception, thrown on the sale at the previous owner's last minute whim.   
      
   I need my computers for several things related to the farm, none of it   
   particularly taxing, so my equipment need not be as specialized as   
   yours. At the same time, while my oldest laptop will still do what I ask   
   of it, the newer one does it faster.   
      
   But we all have our hobbies, and rescuing someone else's castoff from   
   oblivion is one of mine.   
      
   TJ   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)