For example, I only buy/use old high-end (for their day) business class laptops and put linux on them. They work for everything I need to write and surf.
I also bought an iPhone that was already a few years old and plan to keep it until it stops getting security updates from Apple. I also moved from Android to Apple not because I like iPhones better (I don’t, really), but because the years of security updates (versus maybe one or two, on Android) matters to me.
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I simply live without most things. I have a ten year old laptop and a discount Android phone from about four years ago, and that’s it. No television, no console, no smart watch, no subscriptions to anything other than my internet connection which is also the slowest available.
I can stream YouTube, which I also use for music, I can do banking, I read the news. I don’t feel like I am missing out.
Stop buying battery-powered things when the wired version is perfectly fine. Might not work for all devices, but your mouse and keyboard will always rest on your desk… why the need to power it with batteries that will eventually fail? Let alone the added cost of batteries, and the bluetooth module that those devices would need to communicate.
And if you do need something that runs on batteries (like a flashlight) try to get one that uses 18650 lithium batteries. 18650s were/are used in laptop packs and a ton of other things so they are very easy to find and last for years even used. One old laptop pack can provide 3-9 cells. Just be sure not to use damaged ones.
Plus, added reliability!
I wait for deals and keep track of prices through price tracking sites. I might decide I want more ssd or nvme storage, and then I’ll wait. Then price starts to turn like it is now and suddenly I can get more TBs for the same amount of money.
Same for phones. I’ll decide I want to upgrade then wait for deals to pop up that hits my price range. Same for GPU. Same for TV. Same for games.
I don’t make impulse purchasing decisions. I make a decision then wait for the market to start shifting to a price I feel like paying. Sometimes I wait a year sometimes longer. I don’t feel like I intentionally go for a furgal low end or mid range option, since for me some things are worth paying more for. But, I avoid paying retail.
A god amongst men.
Which websites do you use for price tracking?
pcpartpicker, isthereanydeal, slickdeals, camelcamelcamel.
Thanks for the reply, I’ll check these out.
I don’t do subscriptions.
I also stopped buying the latest flagship android phones, and no longer upgrade my computer every few years.
This is tired advice that probably everyone here already knows… but building your own PC saves a huge amount over buying a prebuilt from Dell, Alienware, etc.
Build your own PC because it’s fun and because you get to control every piece that goes into it, but the massive price advantage that you used to get by building your own is long gone. There is a small financial benefit to do so, but it’s definitely not a “huge amount”.
yeah, not to mention the support and warranty you get with a prebuilt can be more than worth the small price premium for someone slightly less tech savvy.
I found this to be true these days, as well. I started building and repairing desktop and laptop machines a long time ago, and I don’t bother building them new anymore due to cost.
The issue seems to be that the build-it-yourself market caters almost exclusively now to the gaming crowd. If you want a gaming PC then you can still get a good deal building it yourself, but if you just want an inexpensive computer it’s going to be tough to beat a prebuilt.
The last time I built a PC for myself was 2012 and I’ve been looking at replacing it. I have to say the state of the DIY market today compared to 10 years ago was a bit surprising.
You are right. I’ve been browsing sites for PC parts the last several years, just for fun. And it never dawned on me that almost everything on them was trying to sell gaming-relevant components.
Benefit comes after the initial purchase whether you got it pre-built or made it yourself. Since then you can upgrade parts as needed after instead of doing one large system upgrade. So just buying a GPU if that’s what you need to upgrade instead of buying a whole new system. Or just dropping in a new CPU if your motherboard supports multiple generations like the AMD boards.
It’s one of those big impacts you see going with a replaceable desktop pc over a laptop. Especially if gaming, since if you find you want a a faster cpu or GPU now your only option is just buying a whole new brand new one paying for all the other parts again.
I remember going to computer shows back in the day where the parts were way cheaper than what you could get with a pre-built. It was to the point where you’d question if this stuff was legit or possibly stolen. It just happened to be that these parts were coming straight from the vendors in China and weren’t being marked up crazy. Those were fun days. Now everything is very serious.
<sigh> Yes.
Not mentioning that you can easily be sure that you can save money by choosing your components right.
Buying prebuilt often skimps on graphic card. But putting in in more memory and cpu to make seems like a better choice.
An other example is pay for midrange(or higher) for a power supply mean you may not need to upgrade for really long time.
I have a Pixel 3a that has CalyxOS on it and it still gets updates. I see no need to replace it until that changes.
No new phone for me until they make a pixel with a headphone jack
I’m still waiting for headphone jacks to come back. My ancient iPad has one, and everything since does not. Which means when this one dies I won’t be replacing it (decided I will just use only what my laptop will do).
For my iPhone (which is new enough that it doesn’t have a headphone jack, I limit it to just texts and phone calls, and do everything else from my computer or a cheap little MP3 player.
I have never paid full price for an Apple product. I’ve had 3 macbook pros and 5 iphones, all from work. Once I get a tech refresh for a new device, I hand the old one down to my wife. I pay 30% of the iphone price because my employer pays for the plan, and it’s unlocked after 3 months.
A somewhat wealthy relative was throwing out “junk” and giving away anything you’d be interested in. I found two 4TB external HDDs that were used for their home cctv, and an older “defective” magic mouse that ran on batteries. I cleaned the battery contacts and it worked again.
If you want years of security updates, you might want to look into things like Fair Phones. They make repairing easy and promise more years of support than both apple and mainstream Android manufacturers.
That’s exactly what I do as well. My laptop is an X280 I got off lease running Debian, and my phone is first gen iPhone SE I’ve been using for over seven years.
I just had a motherboard death recently, and went through the net looking for a replacement that would meet the few requirements I have. Made a spreadsheet of all the one I considered, and in the end I bought the same exact old Dell machine I bought last time. Turns out I made a great decision years ago, and it was still a great decision :)
Even more, now I have a parts computer for when the replacement machine needs something :)
I’m currently using a refurb sub-400 Eur laptop (R5 3500U) I’ve bought in Poland as my daily driver portable machine, which I’ve done a good number of DIY upgrades to it: for example, even if the motherboard had a SATA Slimline port, it was completey unused (probably as a carry over from an older design) and the case had no accomodation an optical drive (the space normally reserved for an ODD was filled up with plastic reinforcements), yet I’ve managed to find a way to free up some space and use the PCB of a Slimline to full size SATA to install a SATA SSD I’ve had lying around from a dismissed computer.
Also, a few years ago I’ve built a very cheap hackintosh out of a Dell Optiplex 755 for my family, who was unsure whether to keep using PCs or switch to Macs at the time. The PC used a LGA 771 to 775 modded quad core Xeon x3363 as a CPU, a Nvidia GT 210 “GPU” (in quotes because we all know just how underpowered it was, but I’ve been able to get it essentially for free and I was only looking forward to use it as a display adapter as the onboard graphics was completely unsupported by macOS and that PC had no HDMI out otherwise anyway) and a DIY’d USB DAC salvaged from a broken pair of headphones a friend of mine was throwing away as its speaker out (all I did was desolder the headphones from it and solder a 3.5mm jack in their place - macOS had serious audio quality issues with the onboard audio on that chipset, so using a USB DAC instead was highly recommended). The final build was running High Sierra, which was a few releases behind at the time as Big Sur had just been announced, but it was surprisingly usable especially considering all the DYIng and how some of the components had 10+ years on their back!
For gaming I buy price to performance as my #1 prio and hand me down old parts to family and friends rigs.
I’ve also become a sort of tech retirement home for my family members since I can always find uses for things like monitors and repurpose slightly older hardware for various personal projects, servers, transcoders, etc. I’m about to upgrade my Plex server from my wife’s old fx6350 to my old Ryzen 5 3600 since I got a really good deal on a Ryzen 5600X. Probably repurpose the fx6350 as a transcoder//file server or maybe as a super powered router. And I’ve also got another set of hardware to build an arcade cabinet whenever I get like a week off to devote to it.
I also don’t mind older tech as long as it meets a certain standard or I can easily get conversion cables/boxes. I got my parents old 1990s sony surround sound system with Dolby pro logic 1. Is it the latest and greatest? Hell to the no, but it still sounds good enough and with a $30 converter box+a pair of red/white cables I’ve now got a surround sound system for my bedroom with the more modern Yamaha system in the family room. It also pairs well with the retro consoles I hook up on rotation in my room.
I do buy new tech occasionally but use it for a very long time. For example I bought the iPhone X when it was new, but am still using it and have no issues so no need to replace or upgrade it. I also built a Computer about a decade ago that I only just some months ago replaced with a new build, which I also plan to use for a long time (with the occasional opportune upgrade of course).
Besides that, I generally use my things until they break not just until they are no longer current gen tech. Most stuff works just fine even years later.
The screen on my X just cracked and we’re hoping it holds together long enough to get the new usb-c model. Since we plan on keeping it that long again I’d like to get everything to the same cable.
I buy my phones refurbished and about 1 years old. I buy above minimum specs so that things last longer as I tend to hang on.
I can’t bring myself to buy a tablet, so I’m still printing papers and using 3-ring binders for my music. My desktop is due for an upgrade. My laptop is a boat anchor but I won’t replace it until it dies. I use an Epson Eco-tank printer which is awesome for ink cost.
Yes, I’ve been buying above-minimum specs for many years now, specifically to make sure the machine will last me another several years, at least.
I do the same thing you do regarding phones and tablets. Getting a new-in-the-box iPhone that’s several generations older still feels like a step up, plus I’m saving hundreds.
It does everything I need it to. I don’t understand people who are so addicted to “newness” that they willingly pay much more than necessary. I wouldn’t do that even if I could afford to. It just doesn’t make sense.
frame.work laptops can allow for mixing and matching components
giving life to used electronics can be a good frugal move
