• Activity
  • Votes
  • Comments
  • New
  • All activity
  • Showing only topics in ~tech with the tag "shopping". Back to normal view / Search all groups
    1. Are there any affordable digital compact cameras out there with a zoom lens?

      Most of my photo-taking is done with my Smartphone but it really lacks a proper zoom feature. I'd like to purchase a cheap compact camera with a zoom lens. Is there anything out there you would...

      Most of my photo-taking is done with my Smartphone but it really lacks a proper zoom feature. I'd like to purchase a cheap compact camera with a zoom lens. Is there anything out there you would recommend?

      edit

      Bonus if it has a USB-C interface. I hate carrying multiple cords around.

      14 votes
    2. Anyone have recommendations for a CD player I can charge via USB and play via BT (or USB) in my car?

      A recent post here made me realize how much I really wish I just could pop in a CD while driving (you can skip those, and I can make mix CDs, so no need for cassettes haha). I commute a decent...

      A recent post here made me realize how much I really wish I just could pop in a CD while driving (you can skip those, and I can make mix CDs, so no need for cassettes haha). I commute a decent amount and I'm using a Pixel with GrapheneOS. Adding a streaming service would just be one more piece of Google I'd have to add to my "work" profile. I'm listening to some great podcasts, but I'd rather go full nostalgia without ripping all my CDs.

      That being said, I'd like any recommendations. USB would be nice for the constant power option, but blutooth is doable as well. TIA!

      9 votes
    3. Recommended tablet/2in1 for ~$1200?

      My company has given me a budget of around ~$1200 to purchase a device. Its technically for "education" so my excuse is that I'll be doing online certifications with it, but the reality is that...

      My company has given me a budget of around ~$1200 to purchase a device. Its technically for "education" so my excuse is that I'll be doing online certifications with it, but the reality is that its going to be primarily a toy to play with, watch movies, play some light games, etc.

      Does anyone have any recommendations? I know the ipad pro is the big dog in town but I've never been much of an apple fan and don't have any skin in their ecosystem, I'm mostly an android guy but I'm not married to the idea of an android tablet.

      Here were some of the ones I've looked at so far:

      Surface pro 9

      Dell XPS 13 2in1

      Lenovo Yoga 9i

      Samsung Galaxy Tab S9+

      They all seem like decent options honestly, but I was wondering if anyone had first hand experience with them and could give some thoughts.

      13 votes
    4. Request - Suggestions of a laptop brand or style for someone who is clumsy

      I don't want to pay an extra thousand dollars for 'rugged' design suitable for military deployment, but the user in this case is not well coordinated at all and it should be able to survive being...

      I don't want to pay an extra thousand dollars for 'rugged' design suitable for military deployment, but the user in this case is not well coordinated at all and it should be able to survive being dropped.

      I otherwise need sufficient memory and speed to boot reasonably quickly and to run standard text, spreadsheet and database programs without annoying lag.

      9 votes
    5. Upgrading my gaming PC or starting afresh

      Hello everyone, my CPU died and I'm at a crossroads and hoping for some advice. I bought my rig 4 years ago second-hand. It was originally built in 2017 using high-end parts. It was not something...

      Hello everyone, my CPU died and I'm at a crossroads and hoping for some advice. I bought my rig 4 years ago second-hand. It was originally built in 2017 using high-end parts. It was not something I was looking for TBH, but at the time GPUs were hard to get and it was a crazy deal. Here is what's left of the rig:

      • Motherboard - ASUS x99 Deluxe II, fits Intel i7 LGA2011-v3 CPU socket
      • PSU - EVGA Supernova 850 T2
      • RAM - 32GB, 4 sticks of G.Skill Trident Z 3200 DDR4
      • GPU - EVGA 1080 Ti Founder's Edition 11 GB
      • Case - In Win 904 plus - large and spacious case
      • Storage - Couple of Samsung SSDs
      • CPU Cooler - Have ditched the Corsair AIO, picked up a lowest tier fan for $10 to keep it booting while I figure out what to do

      Options I'm floating.

      1. Get a compatible CPU, but that socket is harder to come by for my MOBO and likely to be second hand + get a new CPU cooler, and upgrade GPU.
      2. Replace MOBO, GPU, and get a new CPU and CPU cooler. The PSU is 6 years old but it's decent quality and 850 watts should be enough?

      Price range/goals:

      • Happy to spend a bit on something that is mid to slightly upper range, but not high end. Thinking $$ will go into the GPU and CPU (maybe $600-800 USD ea?), something reasonably good that's just before the latest gen to get a discounted price. If replacing MOBO, something simple and medium range would be ideal.
      • Play some current AAA games like Baulder's Gate 3 and Elden Ring decently, at medium-high settings (not ultra), and don't need super high FPS.
      • Ideally supports 4k resolution for desktop use but for gaming I'd be mostly sticking to 1440p/1080p.
      • I don't want to overclock (those days are over)
      • Likely to sell in 2ish years, don't need heaps of futureproofing
      • If replacing MOBO, open to going to the AMD ecosystem for price/performance ratio. I've only ever used Intel so know less about AMD systems.
      • Don't need raytracing, DDR5
      • For CPU cooler I don't mind AIO but if anyone has any non-water cooled recommendations I'm all ears

      I'm at a bit of a loss at what to do, and there are not many PC-building threads here on Tildes, so I thought I'd ask for some advice. Anyone have opinions on option 1 or 2 above, or is there a third option I'm not thinking of? And does anyone have part recommendations? Thanks in advance.

      27 votes
    6. What's your method for shopping for laptops?

      Just wondering how other technically inclined individuals go about this. For my daily driver machines I usually buy Macs and build towers, which are simple enough — on the Mac, figure out needs...

      Just wondering how other technically inclined individuals go about this.

      For my daily driver machines I usually buy Macs and build towers, which are simple enough — on the Mac, figure out needs and slightly overbuy, and on towers put some research into parts to find those with the best reviews and bang for buck. Pretty straightforward.

      I also keep around a generic x86 laptop though, and I might be replacing the one I have currently in the coming months. Shopping for its replacement unfortunately is not so clean and simple. There is to my knowledge no laptop-shopper analogue of PCPartPicker for laptops for instance and retailer search tools are terrible (especially Amazon's), which makes filtering out the noise practically impossible. It gets even harder if you're looking for certain features and especially less tangible things like build quality, QC, and battery life. Review sites often aren't of much help, with skin-deep reviews that frequently miss major points and pay little mind to things that may become issues in long-term usage.

      And yet clearly, plenty of people are buying laptops, which brings me back to the topic question. How does everybody go about their laptop shopping?

      26 votes
    7. Purchase a Chromebook or "regular" laptop?

      I'm looking to buy a new device and have started to look at chromebooks to see if it would be a suitable option. My use cases are pretty mundane: Online banking and other similar services Emailing...

      I'm looking to buy a new device and have started to look at chromebooks to see if it would be a suitable option. My use cases are pretty mundane:

      • Online banking and other similar services
      • Emailing
      • As a tool for GMing RPG campaigns (probably managed through some online service)
      • Stream video while traveling (eg Netflix, YouTube)
      • Note taking & drawing (possibly with a stylus)
      • Occasionally ssh to remote machines

      Arguably the heaviest of these would be streaming, but I guess most devices can handle that decently. Since I won't be doing any gaming or heavy dev work (on the actual machine) I figured I don't really have very high hardware requirements. As such perhaps a chromebook would be a good option. There are some downsides, mainly for me that it is heavily tied to the Google ecosystem. Can chromebooks be easily jailbroken and run a lightweight window manager on Linux? If so does the device retain its battery life okish? Could I still use a stylus with the device? Would I be better off buying a cheap laptop and install linux on that?

      Finally I've read that Google cancled their Pixelbook 2 last year. Has there been any updates or rumors of it coming back (I tend to like Google's hardware)?

      24 votes
    8. How to find AV hardware for specific requirements?

      Apologies if this belongs in ~tech, that group is more on topic than ~talk but I think it’s for news and links more than open questions. (Edit: Looks like it's been moved to ~comp, I guess that...

      Apologies if this belongs in ~tech, that group is more on topic than ~talk but I think it’s for news and links more than open questions. (Edit: Looks like it's been moved to ~comp, I guess that works too.)

      I’m looking for an HDMI switch. It needs to support at least 4K resolution and have at least 10 input ports. It also needs to have Toslink audio out. Remote control support is a “nice to have” but physical buttons are fine too.

      I’m having trouble locating a product like this online. Not sure if I’m just using the wrong terms or if it doesn’t actually exist. Can any Tildes gearheads give me a pointer here?

      8 votes
    9. Smart watch for Android post-Pebble

      Hi there everyone. I gave up on smart watches after Pebble sold out to fitbit and my OG Pebble started having screen issues (again). I never watched to spend hundreds on a smart watch or switch to...

      Hi there everyone. I gave up on smart watches after Pebble sold out to fitbit and my OG Pebble started having screen issues (again). I never watched to spend hundreds on a smart watch or switch to the iOS ecosystem to use an Apple watch.

      I was wondering if anyone here has had success with any other watches after having to give up their Pebble, something with a great battery life and good notification features without resorting to terrible china-watches.

      Hope you have a great day!

      11 votes