Saving up for my own Christmas present

[16BitAlex]

I'm saving for my Christmas present, to augment the cash I get usually. Last time around I got $200 which I sunk into repairing my first real guitar, which became a disastrous re-finish project. I will augment the present fund with some saved-up money, I might be able to scrape together $100 saved from quitting my soda habit back in September. Assuming I get the same amount as last year, I now have a budget of $300.

One of three things will be my present package:

1. Songs for Guitar Hero (and Rock Band)

-Band Hero superbundle to get the new drums and a second guitar again $195 because I have the coupon
-16 GB SDHC card $35 for one I found on Newegg
-Extra Wiimote $40 :mad: hope I can find one used
-The rest in Wii points (BH export, more DLC)

2. Turning my old desktop computer into a 360 substitute

-Graphics card with ATI Radeon HD 5750 $145 on Newegg
-Replacement keyboard $under 25, it just has to work because my current one sucks
-Maybe a 360 controller for Windows
-The rest on good PC games (which to get?)

3. A possible second bass?

4. Stop, just save up for a drum kit

[bmaninc]

I voted PC upgrade, but just get what you want most.

[Banky71]

I personally hope you get to second base someday.

[bmaninc]

How fatherly of you.

[Neoxon]

I say option one, just because the BH drums are awesome. As for the Wii Points, use it on the BH export to GH5 & get the GHSH manual (can be obtained from Blockbuster) & GHWT (I can give you) and export those.

[16BitAlex]

How fatherly of you.
:rolleyes:

I'm still the kid here.

[bmaninc]

I was talking to Banky.

[Ferocious Q]

PC upgrade is I had the money

[Mega-Tallica]

I'd say save up for the drum kit, but this is coming from a person who is also currently saving for a drum kit, so it's biased:p

[supernova1324]

I would go for the drum kit, but the PC upgrade seems cool tool.

[bubblegumpop]

Save for drum set.

[16BitAlex]

I was talking to Banky.
Would have made it clearer if you quoted him. I thought someone thought I was the father, blowing the money that I saved for the kids' gifts on myself. It's a bit late for me.

One thing keeps me from jumping at the drum kit: Cost for going electronic. I want this to be an extension of Rock Band, and since my local drum shop doesn't sell Yamaha (only Roland) I'm stuck with sinking $1000 for the TD-4.

If I go acoustic, the cheapest non-garbage kit my drum shop carries is a Mapex Q kit, $570 with, and that probably is one step up from garbage.

[Apples]

If you're looking at PC upgrades, you should get one of these:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/computing/accessories/ab85/

If you're looking at other gifts, you should get one of these:

http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/japanfan/89e4/

[trench762]

Hey guys, I'm buying myself a gift, what should I get myself, I dunno what I would want

[Banky71]

Hey guys, I'm buying myself a gift, what should I get myself, I dunno what I would want

I think you should try to get to second base too!

[fuselage321]

I vote save up for a real drum kit.

That is what I am doing.

[16BitAlex]

Okay, so the PC upgrade and the drum kit are the clear leaders in the poll now.

For the PC upgrade: What games should I buy?

For the drum kit: I still have trouble deciding on whether to go acoustic or electronic.

[HiAperture]

I can't believe this many people have voted for PC upgrade, especially without knowing anything about the computer. What are the other specs of the computer? A graphics card alone isn't going to turn a 3 year old PC into a gaming powerhouse. I say if the drums is what you really want, save up.

[bood-boy]

yeah the PC will jsut need upgrading again in 6 months cause if its a PC its gonna crash.

[Apples]

I can't believe this many people have voted for PC upgrade, especially without knowing anything about the computer. What are the other specs of the computer? A graphics card alone isn't going to turn a 3 year old PC into a gaming powerhouse. I say if the drums is what you really want, save up.

People would be much more supportive of your computer upgrade if you showed them the case (http://thecontaminated.com/r2d2-computer-case/)that it needs to go in.

[16BitAlex]

I can't believe this many people have voted for PC upgrade, especially without knowing anything about the computer. What are the other specs of the computer? A graphics card alone isn't going to turn a 3 year old PC into a gaming powerhouse. I say if the drums is what you really want, save up.
A three year old Dell XPS 410 with:

One of the first Core 2 Duo processors
2 GB memory
500 GB hard drive
Win XP

Is the processor good enough? Not going for something to blow through Crysis Warhead, but something better than the ATI Radeon X1300 in it right now.

Also, would I have to plunk down the cash for Windows 7?

[Sarge51]

My Duo Core is fine and it's just 1.87GHz. Your hard drive is bigger than mine, the RAM seems a little low, but not for Windows XP. For a graphics card I say anything at mine's level (Nvidia Geforce 8600) or higher will have you running games at max quality.

I wouldn't go for W7 (not for a few more months, anyway), but if you do, make sure to get the 32-Bit. 64-Bit is buggy when playing some of my games and your computer probably doesn't have a 64-bit able processor anyway.

[16BitAlex]

^Intel Core processors are capable of 64-bit, I think. Not that I would want to go 64-bit and break all my really old games I sometimes dust off. Also, what resolution monitor do you have? I have a 1280x1024 LCD, and I might consider using the HDTV within a few feet of the computer.

The cards I'm looking at are a ~$110 Radeon HD 4770 or a ~$180 Radeon HD 5770. If I buy the former, I'm getting a good wireless keyboard and mouse.