Archive for The Unofficial Mamod and Other Steam Forum The Original Unofficial Toy Steam Forum
Established 2006
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Mister Occlusion
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burning a hole in my pocket...I don't know what to do with my tax return...
Lenovo has a sale on Thinkpads. I would love a new Thinkpad. I don't especially *need* a Thinkpad, just like I don't especially *need* a steady supply a root beer, but the T61p (or maybe the R61...) is looking pretty good, and with the options I want comes in at $1500 (I got a nice tax return  )
Or, do I save with the hope of an affordable Jensen 50 coming available, both in the desired vintage (one with the most modern heaters), and for a decent price (which will still be more than the Thinkpad, I expect).
Or, do I either stick it in my low interest savings account, or give it to my broker and watch it gain and lose and hopefully end up being worth more in a year than it is now (no, I'm not fond of my broker right now).
Or is there another option?
Just thought I'd do a poll, since I've never done one before, and everyone just loves having their opinions asked 
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pauly
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the jensen of course 
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johnreid
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Hmmm a lifetime supply of Root Beer, an option for sure 
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Nick
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I was waiting for one of these threads to appear. 
If you think about it, the Jensen will in a way be an investment too.
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johnreid
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The problem I have, is with this "Saving" concept, how does that work?
With me a small supply of cash enters my life, a windfall of sorts, I decide to "save" it for a certain item, and then I buy a Special to be announced when it arrives engine ( new, and English ) then I see a Bowman in Ebay and then... Just what is this "Saving" thing and how is it done? 
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psantama
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the jensen 50 to run all your generators at thye same time and power the thinkpad..
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Nick
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| johnreid wrote: | The problem I have, is with this "Saving" concept, how does that work?
With me a small supply of cash enters my life, a windfall of sorts, I decide to "save" it for a certain item, and then I buy a Special to be announced when it arrives engine ( new, and English ) then I see a Bowman in Ebay and then... Just what is this "Saving" thing and how is it done? |
I can't wait to see what this one is.
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Mister Occlusion
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heh.. I was thinking about that tonight, while waiting in purgatory. Within 3 years the Thinkpad'll be worth maybe a couple hundred.
And, even worse, they'll probably release a new model soon too (else why would the old ones be on sale?)
Ah I hate spending money.. There is always guilt attached once you pass a certain level and it's not an essential item..
ooo..I forgot to add Jensen 10 and 95G XD
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Nick
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| Mister Occlusion wrote: | | Within 3 years the Thinkpad'll be worth maybe a couple hundred. |
That's what I don't like about computers, once it leaves the store, it's out-dated. 
I buy the cheapest one the store has, and get about 3 years from it. For what I use a computer for, it works perfect.
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johnreid
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I dont have a Laptop, wish I did just for the Web, but I have only bought two prebuilt computers, an AT that cost me close to 5 grand and even had a 20 meg hard drive ( I was told that I would never fill it as long as I live ) and a 486 that crapped out in 6 months. I still like to buy the Motherboard and build it up as I like it. That used to be the cheapest way to go, and if you want a half way decent computer, still is.
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Mister Occlusion
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that's the problem with me; I always try to buy the best that I can afford, because if I buy cheap I will invariably upgrade it, or regret buying it.
I've got an Acer Travelmate supplied by work. It's utter rubbish (cheap buggers only have 1 IDE channel in it with the HDD and DVD both riding on it, so trying to do anything while burning a DVD is a waste of time). Plus the case is flimsy and the keyboard is a horror. I don't even use it outside of work for fear of wearing it out prematurely.
I've seen Thinkpads burn out (7 and 8 year old ones where the backlight/inverter goes), but it's rare to find one that has worn out.
Ah, I'm drifting off course... My A21 is in fine shape and does just about anything, other than get more than 45minutes to a charge XD
I tried putting OSX on it, but it didn't like it, so now it's got Ubuntu. Last week it had BSD, and next week it might be Server '03 XD
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kusuchi
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| Mister Occlusion wrote: | heh.. I was thinking about that tonight, while waiting in purgatory. Within 3 years the Thinkpad'll be worth maybe a couple hundred.
And, even worse, they'll probably release a new model soon too (else why would the old ones be on sale?)
Ah I hate spending money.. There is always guilt attached once you pass a certain level and it's not an essential item..
ooo..I forgot to add Jensen 10 and 95G XD |
But not a # 90 Atomic?
I'm not a broker, but the word on the street seems to be commodities.
Since the US currency is rapidly falling from favor, many national economies would prefer to keep their oil in the ground rather than exchange it for overextended dollars.
Maybe collectibles, like steam engines, may not be such bad investments. Just be prepared to sell them on Chinese E bay.
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johnreid
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| Quote: | Just be prepared to sell them on Chinese E bay.
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You mean Cheebay?
What is going to be hard to understand is how the Chinese value some things differently than we do, Intellectual Property and such are very important to our way of life, while in China many valuable Corporations would be practically worthless. The Service Economy just wont cut it if China rules the world.
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Les Marsh
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The thing is how often does a #50 come up on e-bay, and are you prepared to wait a long time?
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Stitch
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As a lecturer in a business school, my advice would be to invest in the shonkiest scheme you can find and then use the returns to help pay for another engine
Seriously, do you have any debts? If so, the first use of the return is to clear them.
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MooseMan
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If you buy the Thinkpad it'll be absolete the second you walk out of the shop.
I've found that I can get a modest but decent return by investing in steam engines......have a trawl for ugly ducklings and neglected engines, fix them up and get them running, and sell them on. I've been doing this for years and I've yet to make a loss, with profits in the 20-30% range - better than any stocks or shares, and no brokers fees either!
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Mister Occlusion
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| kusuchi wrote: |
But not a # 90 Atomic?
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I forgot about the atomic.... If only it came on a wood base and with an iron engine...
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No debts to clear. Unlike governments, I won't declare a "surplus" if I'm rolling in debt.
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Yeah, availability is the only thing. Could wait a ~long~ time to find a 50, let alone the right one.
Going to have to think about this one some more...
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