I'm sure that would probably be smarter.
this post was submitted on 21 Dec 2024
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me_irl
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At the very least go second-hand.
Depends what it is. I'll buy used books all day, but there's almost no level of savings where I'd buy most used electronics.
Really? I go used all the time for electronics. DSLRs and lenses (and flashes and other kit), tablets to 3d print a case for as the home automation panel, etc.
About the only electronics I dont go used are the actual electronics - esp32, sensors, a GPS module, etc.
I should really set a minimum timeframe before purchases though....
Cameras are different. Professional stuff is built to last forever and can be really good value.
I wouldn't take a used tablet or laptop for free, though. It's genuinely worth nothing to me.
More for me then!
A battery swap is nothing, and its real easy to turn an old android tablet into something useful. Hell ive got a nexus 10, two 7's, a gen 3 iPad all doing work for me on the daily.
I'd be interested in hearing what you do with those tablets, if you want to share.
Sure!
- Home assistant controls, defaulted to pages by the room they are in
- Recipe display for Mealie. I can't have gluten, and we have some family recipes, so storing recipes that worked out well for us is a must
- Repurposed as a kids tablet with some educational games and access to the media server
- Family calendar for quick view
- eBook and Comic reader
- Replacement remote for a few devices (Bluetooth IR blaster added into the mix)
- Baby monitor (rtsp camera in the room)
- Test device for apps I make
Etc.
Usually the only thing needed for these devices is a replacement battery, generally pretty easy to do, just replaced the Nexus 10 battery recently. If it needs a screen or something, its not getting repaired unless its cheap.
Then its a custom ROM and tweak for what I plan on using it for, maybe kiosk it, depending on what its doing.
Those are some nice use cases and very cool that you've set that all up while breathing new life into old hardware. Thanks for taking the time, happy holidays.
Imo buying new phones is like scamming yourself essentially.
My phone has access to my whole life. Anything that isn't brand new out of the box is way outside what I'm OK with for security.
Ignoring that, iPhones don't get that discounted and there's no amount you could pay me to use Android as a phone.
Well for me it's almost the opposite you'd have to lay down a solid salary to get me to use an iPhone as my daily phone so there seems to be some fundamental philosophical differences.
And flagship Samsung looses like 40-60% price in 18months even though nowadays they are fine for 5+years.
you'd have to lay down a solid salary to get me to use an iPhone as my daily phone
Aaaaand it would be exclusively a work phone for me. Ive been around long enough to definitely not trust apple. After all, they steal all the time.
I'd much rather have control over my software than the manufacturer of the hardware, in no small part because of the repurposing I can do (among the many other reasons).
Jup a phone, which is a computer, which can't easily run arbitrary software just shouldn't exist, and if it has to I don't want to use it.
These days you don't even need custom firmware or root to do most things (except debloat/degoogle). Which I probably should degoogle but it's a project for a later day (a day where a home server + reasonable backups are already setup)
Already have both here (and inching my way toward a petabyte - I'm ridiculous, not needed for that self host action, even of all your photos and videos. I'm at about 3TB there, and that I cludes my wife's stuff and mine, along with the DSLR.)
Well worth the effort imo
I'm probably not adhd, but am probably autistic. (undiagnosed but everyone is pretty sure.) I do this. I literally have a 24 hour waiting period on ideas before I put energy into them. I then have. 1 week waiting period before I put money into it. I then have to have a definable need before I put lots of money into it.
So anyway, I have several 3d printers now.
Online shopping. It can be a week to a month before I pull the plug, but I still somehow have buyer's remorse.
This is why I avoid hobbies that require any special kit. I hate hate HATE having some useless tool laying about in my limited space.
Nowadays I try to stick to art hobbies and programming, since between all my pencils, paper, and laptop, I already have everything I need to perform those hobbies.
It's usually at the same rate it takes me to switch video games. If the interest survives two game changes then it deserves hobby money
Yeah but I've also noticed that the moment I put money into a game is also the last time I play that game.
I feel seen.
Ugh, I always have like 5 of these slow cooking in my brain at any given time. And I'll be warming up another 5 old hobbies I've not touched in years.
I'll eventually have a dam breaking moment where all my hobbies just switch at once.
Yes but as soon as I buy it and use it I will lose all interest. (Looks over at 3 unused 3D printers)
I lock my hobby acquisitions behind goals. Example sourdough
0-5 loaves use what I got, 6+ loaves get a dedicated jar, 10+ loaves get a proofing basket, 16+ loaves...
That way I can drop at anytime and not feel money was wasted and the amount of hobby stuff is proportional to my lasting enjoyment. Currently, I'm doing home lab stuff, and have the same progression system going from raspberry pies to a full fat server.
Looking at my newly acquired heavy brass lighter collection
Um, yep.
Definitely except I struggle with impulsivity so my threshold of waiting time is far lower than it should be.
100000% yes.
Learned this one long ago.
Took years for my wife to understand it.
The cheapness is STRONGER then my ADHD.
I do this with tools too. Buy it cheap. If I use it enough that it wears out, buy a good one.
Amazon probably considers me a psychopath considering the amount of times I’ve ordered something then cancelled. Sometimes multiple times the same night.
I do this. I write it down. I commit to a similar something cheap or free to see if I can stick with it.
Recently, I wanted to get back into playing the saxophone. I figured if I could update my knowledge on reading sheet music and play my wife's keyboard I would know that i was serious. I didn’t do shit. Saved hundreds of dollars.
This is the way
My rule with myself is i won't buy any quality stuff for a hobby or interest until I've been interested in it for an extended period.
Lol. So excited spent a bunch of time and money buying all the shit I needed to get into polymer clay sculpting... then I was like oh I should probably digitize my movie collection up to plex.
Now I'm like. Why did I want to get into sculpting?
I hate this. So does my dust/fur covered half completed first sculpt. Poor little guy.
I'll never buy something on the first research stint. I'll do my reseach, draw up my notes, then move on to the next obsession of the week. A few months later, if I get the same obsession on that topic, then putting money into the project is allowed
This is basically what I do. I keep a stockpile of obsessions at the ready and try - not always successfully - to ensure that I've fully obsessed (what does that even mean?) over at least one before adding anything new.
I've also been moderately successful (~ 25%) in training myself to return to previous obsessions and it's only if I return to it that I will spend any money on it.
I find research the best way to take out any interest in the subject. Only things I end up doing though only partially is the one in which I jump head first without looking twice.
I just whittle away at it with "eh, I probably shouldn't..." again and again. That is until I've hoarded enough interest or I'm feeling particularly impulsive
Sorry, what? I just bought into a new hobby 🫠
I don't, at least not on purpose. I'll be in the rabbit hole from hours to days narrowing down what I want. I never intentionally wait to see if my opinion changes, but often I will drag my feet on buying something, and just never do it.
Can't relate
I don't think this has anything to do with ADHD.
Blind people are always complaining that things are hard to see, but that's normal! Everyone has trouble seeing! Especially when you leave your house on a summer day and it's super bright. Blind people need to act like they're so special, not being able to see is completely normal and not a disability. /s