Conversation

Notices

1. Embed this notice
   Gregly (gregly@retro.pizza)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Jun-2025 07:51:40 JST Gregly

   My daughter wants to build a computer! She’s a bit dismayed that a moderate machine that will do everything she’d like would run about $1k though.

   In the meantime I can upgrade the CPU and RAM on her existing system, but it’s old — 7th gen Core — so the benefits would be pretty small.

   • Embed this notice
     Steve's Place (steter@mastodon.stevesworld.co)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Jun-2025 07:51:38 JST Steve's Place

     in reply to

     @gregly I once paid $650 for a new Apple ][ floppy drive and controller card. That's, what, about $1500 now, given inflation? If $1000 is stressful, she might want to get acquainted with gently used PC hardware with good GPUs.

   • Embed this notice
     Gregly (gregly@retro.pizza)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Jun-2025 08:11:15 JST Gregly

     in reply to

     @steter I can believe it! My first 486 was around $2500 (although that included monitor/keyboard/mouse). The cost of systems today is ridiculously low compared to the old days.

     She could probably get by just fine with an older system (albeit newer than her current one), but if she’s going to put money into building a machine I’d prefer she get something that will last her a bit longer. I may work out a deal with her to help her buy pieces over time. (At least the pace of obsolescence has slowed down since the 80s/90s!)

     Honestly, I’m glad she’s considering the costs! She just turned 18 and is starting to deal with a budget of her own for the first time, and she wants to save for bigger things like a car, so IMO she’s doing a good job of figuring out what she wants to put money toward.

   • Embed this notice
     Steve's Place (steter@mastodon.stevesworld.co)'s status on Wednesday, 18-Jun-2025 08:11:38 JST Steve's Place

     in reply to

     @gregly 👍