*A:M User* Roger Posted January 13, 2012 *A:M User* Share Posted January 13, 2012 I would say mine probably would have to be buying a 12x cd burner when they first came out. I think I spent about $200 on one. I kept thinking about that every time I had an urge to buy a Blu-ray recorder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted January 13, 2012 Hash Fellow Share Posted January 13, 2012 One big "oops" was buying not one but two identical CRTs in an internet auction about 13 years ago. About $450 apiece. But I'm now using that second superfluous monitor as the first one died a few years ago. My most unnecessary purchase.... Maya! Twice as many steps as A:M to get half the result. Fortunately it was at the student price, but still... wasted money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itsjustme Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Dual layer DVD's (8.5GB)...I got errors on about half, so I stopped buying them. Never had a problem with single layer DVD's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Roger Posted January 13, 2012 Author *A:M User* Share Posted January 13, 2012 One big "oops" was buying not one but two identical CRTs in an internet auction about 13 years ago. About $450 apiece. But I'm now using that second superfluous monitor as the first one died a few years ago. My most unnecessary purchase.... Maya! Twice as many steps as A:M to get half the result. Fortunately it was at the student price, but still... wasted money. Yeah, thats a lotta money on CRTs. I don't want to think about how much money I've spent on computer gear over the years, but I guess I wouldn't have my current job if I didn't have that background. I'm glad I never spent more than $500 on 3d software ( I bought 3d studio for DOS ages ago w/ a student discount). I had contemplated buying Maya or Softimage at one point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wildsided Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 A Wacom Tablet back when they conected with PS2 and Serial Cables. It seemed like a good idea at the time but the drawing area was so small that it was mostly worthless. Didn't give up on Graphics tablets though. Started buying A3 tablets when I got an Ebay account, but the battery powered pens kept snapping in half so I bought a Wacom Intuous 3 about 7 years ago and it still works great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenH Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Buying an expensive card for my Amiga which made it twice as powerful. It probably brought it up to the power of one of todays calculators. Ah well, it's all in aid of progress. (I'll balance that by a good purchase.....I bought a little program called Zbrush when it wasn't cool. Ever since, I and others have been getting updates for no cost.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pixelplucker Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 Kensington mouse in a box. Should have kept it in the box and left it on the shelf. Other worst purchase... Frontpage 1.0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted January 13, 2012 Hash Fellow Share Posted January 13, 2012 Buying an expensive card for my Amiga which made it twice as powerful. I built one from a kit! I think it put a 68020 in an AMIGA 1000. I just about went blind trying to solder all the tiny feet on the socket into the board. It worked but it crashed a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Roger Posted January 13, 2012 Author *A:M User* Share Posted January 13, 2012 I always kinda wished I could have done the "kit computer" experience. By the time I was old enough to be able to work on something like that, most PCs were mass produced items, not homebrew affairs. I always built my own computers from parts, but its not quite the same. If I had more spare time (and better engineering skills) I think it would be neat to design my own 8 or 16 bit system from discrete components. Don't know if I'd be able to write an OS and software for it too, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thejobe Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 A 1984 ibm laptop computer. 2" screen with pull off keyboard. Weighed in at 28 lbs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phatso Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 A Motorola Atrix with the plug-in laptop. Atrix: good phone. Laptop: dog. I don't know if this counts as a "computer" purchase: HTC EVO phone. The glitchiest, buggiest thing i've ever owned. If you wanna get a smartphone, don't get this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin Rodney Posted January 31, 2012 Admin Share Posted January 31, 2012 I've been pretty fortunate with computers but things haven't worked out as well when purchasing video components and graphics cards that for one reason or another didn't work for me. You know the type. Like the ones that were first to claim 'watch TV on your computer' when that wasn't a common thing or that time I bought a graphics card because it was cheaper with the no return policy only to discover it was the wrong type for my PC. (Still brand new in the box where ever that box may be). Usually the reason for the inoperable component was that it required something that my current system lacked (for example a USB connection when my computer had no USB. That kind of thing. Usually by the time I upgraded my system to a spec that could be used, the component was packed away deep in a box or just plain obsolete. Because this has been a recurring habit, I can't say that I've every had a fully functional video system and I can attest that being on the cutting edge of hardware technology historically has not worked out too well for me. When it comes to video I have definitely got what I paid for in pursuing things on the cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbenefi33 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Hmmmmm a Dell 5150 laptop the monitor went out on me they said you could buy a new PC for what you could replace the monitor for . I hate when I call there tech support I usually get somebody I can't under stand or they can't understand my southern redneck voice they probable watch for my name to come up on there caller ID ahhhh it's him again who want's to take the call. Sorry if I got of the subject a little bit it's 4:00 AM here good night yall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Roger Posted January 31, 2012 Author *A:M User* Share Posted January 31, 2012 Another computer gadget I'm not terribly happy I bought was a video input/output board (not a video card, more like a DPS PAR but cheaper). Spent about $400 or $500 on it, but now that most cameras have firewire or usb there really isn't a need for it. I no longer own a camera with analog outs, and I doubt I would be able to find drivers to get it working under Win 7. So that's right up there with my bad purchases. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hash Fellow robcat2075 Posted January 31, 2012 Hash Fellow Share Posted January 31, 2012 Where would the Chinese economy be if it weren't for all of our bad tech purchases? Why, they'd probably have to cut back to mere 8-hour shifts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*A:M User* Roger Posted January 31, 2012 Author *A:M User* Share Posted January 31, 2012 Where would the Chinese economy be if it weren't for all of our bad tech purchases? Why, they'd probably have to cut back to mere 8-hour shifts. Its not so much that they were bad at the time, I got my use out of them. But in retrospect, they were maybe not such a good idea. There is a significant cost to being on the bleeding edge. I'm tired of being on the upgrade treadmill. My systems I have now are going to have to last the next 6 years, at least. I haven't upgraded my graphics card in 4 years. I'm thinking about upgrading it now, but only because I can ge a 200% performance increase. Its only going to help in CUDA enabled apps, though, of which AM is not one (yet). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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