I have a few hundred bucks and a desire for a new gadget - what to get?

Å

Åndhrimnir

Limp Gawd
Joined
Nov 28, 2009
Messages
323
Hey guys,

I have some cash to spare and I've been wanting some kind of new gadget - haven't treated myself to anything new recently other than some minor computer upgrades around Christmas time.

I currently own a desktop and I'll be buying a pretty kickass laptop (~$1500 range) this summer in preparation for college. I'm also planning to replace my current cell phone with a Dell Mini 5 when they come out, likely sometime this summer as well. I don't own a netbook, and I don't have an iPod touch or Archos or anything of that nature - I have a second gen Zune but I don't use it too often, mostly just on trips. I don't own any kind of game console either, standard or portable (well, an old GameBoy advance, but that hardly counts).

However, I'm not much of a spender and have several grand just sitting around, and I figured I'd get myself something fun.

Want to suggest me some fun tech in the few hundred dollar range for me to look into? It'd be appreciated :)

thanks in advance,

-Åndhrimnir
 
If you're an avid reader, I can't suggest the Kindle2 enough. I got one with my tax return and love the bloody thing. Amazon has a decent store with decent prices, but you can also got to somewhere like feedbooks.com and download tons of free books as well.

And while it's Very easy to read E-Ink ( it's seriously almost just like a book, I caught myself thumbing the screen a couple times trying to flip the page like a paperback ) the killer app is the battery life. Reading takes awhile, and not worrying about the battery is great. As an example, I read The Stand ( recent unabridged ) by Steven King recently and used it for a benchmark of sorts. The normal book weighs in at around 1100 pages, and over the course of a week or so I finished it and it got down from full charge to about 2/3 battery left, always left it in sleep mode and I had turned the wireless off. Thats just badass for a handheld device. E-Ink devices use almost no power when displaying a static page, the power draw comes from changing pages and of course using the wireless.

Although you might want to check out the other EReaders too, Amazon's a little stingy when it comes to open formats. If you want to rent books from your local library ( lots are now putting EBooks up on the Internet ) for example, a Kindle is right out.

Just a suggestion, hell it might even be useful for college. Plus I got an opportunity to gloat :)
 
buy a few stocks of something cheap, bank of america, oil, you can get quite a few shares at for a few thousand
 
KaizerDan said:
buy a few stocks of something cheap, bank of america, oil, you can get quite a few shares at for a few thousand
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Very responsible and some good picks, I bought some BofA stock in January 2009 when it was at $3.

Now back to being irresposible! You might want to stop by a Barnes& Noble and pick look at a Nook. I did yesterday and its pretty nice and its very similar to the Kindle, some people like the Nook better actually. Personally not into dedicated eReaders as Kindle and B&N have readers for the PC, Mac and other platforms.
 
Hmm... an e-reader might be kind of fun. I hadn't really looked into that. Frankly I'm not a very avid reader right now, but it's more because of lack of enough wasteable time than lack of desire...
 
well, theres always the gift that keeps on giving, an assault rifle, from 600 to 1,400 you could get the czech vz.58, or a PSL sniper if you are more into that, or hell for the full 1,400 you could get one of the m14 or m16 or something!
 
KaizerDan said:
well, theres always the gift that keeps on giving, an assault rifle, from 600 to 1,400 you could get the czech vz.58, or a PSL sniper if you are more into that, or hell for the full 1,400 you could get one of the m14 or m16 or something!
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Not my thing, but thanks.

Guns are interesting to me from a mechanical standpoint, but I don't really feel unsafe in my home or like shooting them enough to justify spending anything on one.
 
Do you have a decent camera? Canon just released the Rebel T2i, you can get the body for $799 or with the kit 18-55mm IS lens for $899. Also has HD video recording, 1080p @30fps and 720p @up to 60fps.
 
Save the money for college. You'll have more fun with it there than buying a toy!
 
I don't know what you drive or if you drive but an upgrade to the car speakers/radio is never a bad thing. Maybe a new deck and a sub or new speakers. Just recently added two 10" subs to my jeep and it sounds awesome. No need to go too big though, nobody likes to hear the trunk rattle.
 
Talonz said:
Save the money for college. You'll have more fun with it there than buying a toy!
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Heh, nice thought, but I'm headed to HMC where the principal recreation is all-night CS:S tournaments and they build Da Vinci style flight machines over spring break... and my girlfriend will be a hundred miles away... so if you're implying parties/dates/etc with the money, that's not really going to be too much of a cost issue >.<
 
Åndhrimnir;1035491703 said:
Heh, nice thought, but I'm headed to HMC where the principal recreation is all-night CS:S tournaments and they build Da Vinci style flight machines over spring break... and my girlfriend will be a hundred miles away... so if you're implying parties/dates/etc with the money, that's not really going to be too much of a cost issue >.<
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In that case, I'd just pick up a couple of these before you head off to school!

My suggestion: Nice pair of headphones for gaming (AD700's or DT770's)
 
KaizerDan said:
well, theres always the gift that keeps on giving, an assault rifle, from 600 to 1,400 you could get the czech vz.58, or a PSL sniper if you are more into that, or hell for the full 1,400 you could get one of the m14 or m16 or something!
Click to expand...

My man. I had a blast with my buddy's SKS at the range the other day, but I've had the itch for an AR-15 for a while now...

The great thing about firearms as a hobby as opposed to computers is that your toys actually hold their value very well...or you can pass `em on to your kids in 20-30 years and they'll be just as usable as they were when you bought them (with proper care, of course).

Like you Åndhrimnir, I've been wanting to buy myself something and finally getting my B.S. in May is a good excuse. I certainly wouldn't mind having a motorcycle, but the GF (ER nurse) is strongly against it for obvious reasons. :p
 
@ryken - hmm, I do sort of need a headphone upgrade... my old HD202's sound pretty bad and look worse... might look into those 'phones. Thanks :)

@imyourzero - if you do end up getting a motorcycle, be careful, man - with proper caution they can be only mildly dangerous, but without it they can be very deadly. It'd be a sad way to go...
 
Crys1s_Gam3r said:
Do you have a decent camera? Canon just released the Rebel T2i, you can get the body for $799 or with the kit 18-55mm IS lens for $899. Also has HD video recording, 1080p @30fps and 720p @up to 60fps.
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Now this is what I call a Great idea!!! Just got one of these and I gotta tell you!!! I'm stoked about and haven't been this excited about a new toy in a while. Go for it!!!
 
I'm telling you, get headphones. When doing the college living, headphones are key. You need them when you are trying to study and there is a party down the hall. You need them when you are trying to watch a movie and your roommate is nailing some loud fat chick. You need them as an excuse for not hearing the fire drill when you don't want to go outside. They are priceless.
 
^^^ Make sure you recommend some good one though with noise canceling.
 
Buy 10+ visible green laser pointers, put them together, and mod it so that it takes one button to turn them all one.

THICK LASER BLASTER. :D
 
Åndhrimnir;1035491703 said:
Heh, nice thought, but I'm headed to HMC where the principal recreation is all-night CS:S tournaments and they build Da Vinci style flight machines over spring break... and my girlfriend will be a hundred miles away... so if you're implying parties/dates/etc with the money, that's not really going to be too much of a cost issue >.<
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Life changes when you get to college. Good luck with the girlfriend. Kudos if you make it through your first year.
 
Mr. Miyagi said:
Eyefinity

or

Hookers and blow.
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Agree on the hookers and blow.


idk..... a ton of fireworks to go on a rampage in the nieghbor hood as a last goodbye before college???

ummm

car upgrades are always great like a nice exhaust and a good audio system

a new ipod touch

a ton of DVD's for college (or just use a torrent DL-er and the money to pay off the law suit if you get caught ;) )

buy a pet (i.e. cat or dog, etc)

a tetris system or comparable classic gaming system to show off

a fatty huge tv for college with a tv tuner for you computer so it can double as a monitor/tv and what not. (would go great with a headset)

and the just use the rest on w/e *small things for shits n giggles while in college*


being in college at the moment any one of those is great!

good luck hope you find what you want!
 
Cerulean said:
Buy 10+ visible green laser pointers, put them together, and mod it so that it takes one button to turn them all one.

THICK LASER BLASTER. :D
Click to expand...

at that point you can buy a used CO2 laser off of ebay... much more powerful and about the same $$$ =)
 
Catsonar said:
Now this is what I call a Great idea!!! Just got one of these and I gotta tell you!!! I'm stoked about and haven't been this excited about a new toy in a while. Go for it!!!
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no offense but expensive camera + college = BAD! say bye bye to money and "hey mom check me out naked running through campus and all my friends/room mates took pics of it!"

... "OH and heres one of me getting arrested b y campus police!" ... "i asked if i coudl keep the mug shots but they said no"...

or that crap only happens to me.... idk :confused:

if you want a camera get a cheap good one.. i know that's an oxymoron but don't waste your money on something like the rebel unless you are prepared to be fine if it breaks.
 
I know you want something tech, but how about a mountain bike? Decent used one can be had for ~$300. It's a blast and improve your health.
 
Hmm, the Wiz looks kinda cool...

@SinShiva and noclick - thanks for the suggestions. I'm looking into headphones, though I dislike earbuds generally... and I already own a decent mountain bike. Thanks though.
 
hookers and blow of course....

oh you wanted a new gadget, hmm, lets see, is there an app for digital blow and hookers? :D

but seriously, save your money. There's always going to be next best thing right around the corner. who cares. You're smarter then that.
 
bigpimpatl said:
hookers and blow of course....

oh you wanted a new gadget, hmm, lets see, is there an app for digital blow and hookers? :D

but seriously, save your money. There's always going to be next best thing right around the corner. who cares. You're smarter then that.
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Yeah, but I like being stupid and indulging myself from time to time :D
 
Save it for retirement...or buy an eBook reader if you like to read. I bought the Sony PRS-600 and like it better than real paper and ink books because I can actually read the text now due to 5 different font sizes to choose from. I already have over 500 books on it and they never cost me a cent. That Kindle2 someone suggested has wifi which means Amazon can see what you have on it so I consider that a negative and not a positive. They use DRM too and Sony doesn't.
 
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