don't make enough money...

[anachronistic]

hi guys

i ha(d) a plan to save up my money this summer and buy a nice computer, and have the rest of the money for books... problem is, i miscalculated the estimate..

i make about 5.50 an hour which is about 35 cents over minimum wage. i have been working at this place for two years. i am a system administrator for 2 sectors of a medium sized publishing business. i and 2 other guys actually rebuilt the entire network. on the side, i help the publishing by keeping the website up-to-date with weekly news updates.

the guy that used to own what are now two sectors of a nice size business ended up selling them to a very generous guy. maybe i will get a raise... i'm too chicken-shitted to ask or suggest.

actually, the computer i'm trying to save up for is this:
[url]http://www.shopping.hp.com/webapp/shopping/cto/computer_customize_components.do[/url]

it's compatible with linux, would run adobe apps nice, compatible with newer games, everything i want. i miscalculated that i would make about $2000 if i worked full-time. i will actually make about $800 after all the car payments and gas as high as it is... the computer with the exact parts i'm hoping for costs $1,163.99. the price has dropped nearly $200 in about a month.

how much do you think the price will drop by august? could i get a discount because i need a new computer for school? i need all the discounts i can get...

also, how much money should i set aside for books? my grandfather is giving me $750 and i plan to buy all used books. my triple major cancels out all my electives and liberals, and i really don't have to take extra classes.

i'm also thinking about the things i have that are worth some money i could sell on ebay... what about those old-ass pokemon cards? are those worth anything? maybe i could sell this old computer that i upgraded... runs at 1.73 Ghz has two hard drives, 20 and 15 gig, a cd drive and burn drive, and 768 mbite of ram... can anyone recommend any freelancing websites where i could make some good money in freetime?

[Gribble]

Why not build your own computer? If I were you I'd go to newegg.com, select all the same components as that computer (by the way, the page is down so I don't know what it's like), and compare prices. Odds are you'll be saving quite a bit. Plus it's so much more fun building your own computer. I'm guessing you've fooled around with them enough for it not to be a challenge. Even someone who's never cracked a PC open before can put one together with ease. Motherboards generally come with step-by-step instructions.

If you don't want to do that I would recommend you contact your college and find out if you can get a computer through them. I know the University of Maryland offers discount HPs to its students. Dunno how good of a discount as I've never actually checked.

Lastly, books are probably going to run you five hundred bucks. If you can get a bunch of used books it won't be so bad, but it's hard to get them used. Publishers release new versions of their books left and right which add virtually nothing, but the chapters are mixed around. This is done so that you, the poor student all ready paying through the nose, has to buy books new. It sucks royally. While I'm on the subject, I would recommend you not buy books until after your first week of classes. Many professors don't require that you use textbooks for this very reason. Some of them are cool and don't feel that students should be cheated out of money. Others simply don't bother delving into the textbooks.

Oh! One more thing! Check this place out: [url]http://www.safarix.com/home[/url] Safari offers eTextbooks. They're generally cheaper, although you don't get to sell them back, and really you're just renting the textbook for 150 days. What's so great about them is you have access to a search engine. I don't know about you, but half my time studying is wasted flipping through a damn book trying to find relevant information. With ebooks you just type what you're looking for and it comes up with every reference in the entire book. I find it to be a lifesaver.

Good luck.

[anachronistic]

Why not build your own computer? If I were you I'd go to newegg.com, select all the same components as that computer (by the way, the page is down so I don't know what it's like), and compare prices. Odds are you'll be saving quite a bit. Plus it's so much more fun building your own computer. I'm guessing you've fooled around with them enough for it not to be a challenge. Even someone who's never cracked a PC open before can put one together with ease. Motherboards generally come with step-by-step instructions.

If you don't want to do that I would recommend you contact your college and find out if you can get a computer through them. I know the University of Maryland offers discount HPs to its students. Dunno how good of a discount as I've never actually checked.

Lastly, books are probably going to run you five hundred bucks. If you can get a bunch of used books it won't be so bad, but it's hard to get them used. Publishers release new versions of their books left and right which add virtually nothing, but the chapters are mixed around. This is done so that you, the poor student all ready paying through the nose, has to buy books new. It sucks royally. While I'm on the subject, I would recommend you not buy books until after your first week of classes. Many professors don't require that you use textbooks for this very reason. Some of them are cool and don't feel that students should be cheated out of money. Others simply don't bother delving into the textbooks.

Oh! One more thing! Check this place out: [url]http://www.safarix.com/home[/url] Safari offers eTextbooks. They're generally cheaper, although you don't get to sell them back, and really you're just renting the textbook for 150 days. What's so great about them is you have access to a search engine. I don't know about you, but half my time studying is wasted flipping through a damn book trying to find relevant information. With ebooks you just type what you're looking for and it comes up with every reference in the entire book. I find it to be a lifesaver.

Good luck.

i've built desktop computers from scratch, but never a laptop. are laptops difficult to build?

[Gribble]

Oh. It's a laptop? I figured it might be. I don't know anything about building those. In fact, I'm not even sure if you can build a laptop. At least not without putting in more money than you would buying it from a manufacturer.

[anachronistic]

well thanks for the info about the books... yea, lol, i haven't built an entire laptop from scratch... i've put in new vid cards and sound cards and ramifications what have you.

i'm not sure if i want to use the amd 2.0 ghz processor that comes with it or if i want the 64 bit amd turion 2.2 ghz processor. does 64 bit do much of a difference? never used a 64.