$200
March 31, 2004 9:25 PM Subscribe
$200 falls into your lap. You can only spend it on something cool for yourself. Perhaps something electronic. Your picks?
Gameboy advance with a rom loader so you can play old NES and MAME games on it (might cost about $250 total though -- I just started looking to get this setup for myself)
posted by mathowie at 9:44 PM on March 31, 2004
posted by mathowie at 9:44 PM on March 31, 2004
James Burke's Connections. One of the best television series ever.
posted by Danelope at 9:53 PM on March 31, 2004
posted by Danelope at 9:53 PM on March 31, 2004
The last time I had a spare two hundred dollars, I bought this, and I'm completely satisfied.
posted by interrobang at 10:08 PM on March 31, 2004
posted by interrobang at 10:08 PM on March 31, 2004
Gameboy Advance, my ass! You want handheld emulation with a really high cool factor? Screw Nintendo! What you're really after is a GamePark 32, which has a port of just about every emulator out there, including MAME.
You want old school? C64? Weird-ass european shit you've never heard of? No? Not old school enough? How about 2600?
Lik-Sang's got these suckers for $150, just enough to spend the rest on some SmartMedia to hold your games. Or $200 if you want the frontlit screen version.
posted by majick at 10:13 PM on March 31, 2004
You want old school? C64? Weird-ass european shit you've never heard of? No? Not old school enough? How about 2600?
Lik-Sang's got these suckers for $150, just enough to spend the rest on some SmartMedia to hold your games. Or $200 if you want the frontlit screen version.
posted by majick at 10:13 PM on March 31, 2004
Oh, that's an easy one.
I'd buy this. Which I am going to do. Tomorrow.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:19 PM on March 31, 2004
I'd buy this. Which I am going to do. Tomorrow.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:19 PM on March 31, 2004
Danelope, thanks for the Connections link. I'd forgot I was looking for that.
posted by anathema at 10:29 PM on March 31, 2004
posted by anathema at 10:29 PM on March 31, 2004
$200 would be a great initial investment into a savings account. Put 10 percent after from every paycheck and you'll be in the top 10 percent of people who have excess money all the time. Oh, what? Not dorky enough? Buy yourself an ATI 9600 XT 128MB and spend the pocket change on a carton of cigarettes.
posted by Keyser Soze at 10:33 PM on March 31, 2004
posted by Keyser Soze at 10:33 PM on March 31, 2004
$200 would be a great initial investment into a savings account.
And in a year, you'll have $200.01!
posted by kindall at 11:26 PM on March 31, 2004
And in a year, you'll have $200.01!
posted by kindall at 11:26 PM on March 31, 2004
mr_crash_davis: ooh! I have a Wacom, which I adore - the stylus is almost worn down to an exhausted little nub after four years of heavy-heavy use, but still going strong, and the tablet is one of my few absolute-must-have peripherals.
Just a couple of thoughts though: I have the smaller size, and I can honestly say I would in no way prefer the larger, though before I got it I thought I was "settling" for the smaller. But because you can "map" your use area, you can reach anywhere with a minimum of hand/wrist movement, which means that even on my small one, I actually end up using even a much smaller area of it (graphically visible by the wear on the plastic "guard" covering the actual tablet) - no more than about 2 or 3 inches wide by 1.5 to 2 inches high.
Also, I'm surprised at the prices. I'm almost positive I didn't spend more than $75 on mine... have prices gone up? That seems sort of strange.
posted by taz at 12:43 AM on April 1, 2004
Just a couple of thoughts though: I have the smaller size, and I can honestly say I would in no way prefer the larger, though before I got it I thought I was "settling" for the smaller. But because you can "map" your use area, you can reach anywhere with a minimum of hand/wrist movement, which means that even on my small one, I actually end up using even a much smaller area of it (graphically visible by the wear on the plastic "guard" covering the actual tablet) - no more than about 2 or 3 inches wide by 1.5 to 2 inches high.
Also, I'm surprised at the prices. I'm almost positive I didn't spend more than $75 on mine... have prices gone up? That seems sort of strange.
posted by taz at 12:43 AM on April 1, 2004
Last toy I bought - a few weeks ago - was the Plexor DVD burner which burns at 8X speed on 4X disks. It's sweet. They're about $160 - so you would have enough left over to get, say, a 35-pack of blank DVD-Rs.
posted by sixdifferentways at 1:20 AM on April 1, 2004
posted by sixdifferentways at 1:20 AM on April 1, 2004
I've got a GBA XG-Flash Rom Burner. Has made owning a Gameboy Advance more than worthwile. 256mb version out now, should come in at less than $200.
www.cdworld.co.uk
posted by Frasermoo at 1:35 AM on April 1, 2004
www.cdworld.co.uk
posted by Frasermoo at 1:35 AM on April 1, 2004
I agree with the GBA Flash ROM card... very cool thing to have. Plus you can load up an NES emulator onto the card and play all those old NES games on your gameboy.
posted by benjh at 4:08 AM on April 1, 2004
posted by benjh at 4:08 AM on April 1, 2004
if you've got a digital camera, how about a big ass card? amazon frequently has rebates on viking and other cards. i was able to pick up a 1 gig cf card for $150 just before the holidays and now i can take photos forever.
posted by heather at 10:12 AM on April 1, 2004
posted by heather at 10:12 AM on April 1, 2004
If you're a TV watcher, nothing, I say NOTHING will change your life more than TiVo.
Assuming you don't already have one.
</zealotry>
posted by o2b at 10:55 AM on April 1, 2004
Assuming you don't already have one.
</zealotry>
posted by o2b at 10:55 AM on April 1, 2004
Response by poster: The Tivo is a very strong temptation. I had one once when I only got three channels of crappy reception, so I sold it for a turbo jogging stroller, which we haven't used that much.
However, the camcorder and/or Imic let me make something, instead of consume something, so they will probably get the nod. Although I am so sick of my wife's crappy guitar I may go that route...
And yes, I realize I sound like a complete materialistic pig talking about what crap to buy myself.
posted by mecran01 at 11:12 AM on April 1, 2004
However, the camcorder and/or Imic let me make something, instead of consume something, so they will probably get the nod. Although I am so sick of my wife's crappy guitar I may go that route...
And yes, I realize I sound like a complete materialistic pig talking about what crap to buy myself.
posted by mecran01 at 11:12 AM on April 1, 2004
bah! I'd buy any of one of these issues listed under Tales of Suspense.
posted by Stynxno at 5:28 PM on April 1, 2004
posted by Stynxno at 5:28 PM on April 1, 2004
I'd go for Hannah Mary Rathbone's Some Further Portions of the Diary of Lady Willoughby (1848). Of course, I'd have to throw some additional money at it. (A copy is listed at $285 on abebooks.)
posted by thomas j wise at 5:54 PM on April 1, 2004
posted by thomas j wise at 5:54 PM on April 1, 2004
Bicycles are really cool.
I was looking at a used road bike today, going for a measley $200, but in surprisingly good shape for the money, and feeling really sad that I'll be spending the next two years paying off the student loan demigorgons.
posted by kaibutsu at 11:34 PM on April 1, 2004
I was looking at a used road bike today, going for a measley $200, but in surprisingly good shape for the money, and feeling really sad that I'll be spending the next two years paying off the student loan demigorgons.
posted by kaibutsu at 11:34 PM on April 1, 2004
Response by poster: I will be paying off graduate loans for at least 15 years. So I have no pity.
Bicycles are most excellent, and I'm amazed at what is available used. I ride a low-end recumbent, and one of my possible purchases is a low-end trailer to haul my youngest kids around in. $99 at Nashbar.
Thanks to everyone for these cool suggestions.
posted by mecran01 at 1:37 PM on April 5, 2004
Bicycles are most excellent, and I'm amazed at what is available used. I ride a low-end recumbent, and one of my possible purchases is a low-end trailer to haul my youngest kids around in. $99 at Nashbar.
Thanks to everyone for these cool suggestions.
posted by mecran01 at 1:37 PM on April 5, 2004
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Jairus at 9:37 PM on March 31, 2004