Saw this pop up about an hour from me and immediately hopped on it. Seller ended up requesting to meet somewhere even closer.
Took it home, ran it through an OCCT Gold stability test overnight, and we're good to go!
Specs:
i9-14900HX
RTX 4070
32GB 5600 DDR5
2x1TB SSDs
1600p 165Hz VRR IPS panel (they didn't start doing OLED on the Legion Pro until the 10th Gen iirc)
Got some more stuff to sell! All prices OBO, will also do cash if you're local to Western PA
Video timestamp for all three:
MSI Katana 15HX B14W (i7-14650HX, RTX 5070, 16GB DDR5, 1TB SSD) - $1100 shipped with G&S, $1000 local** - https://imgur.com/a/ZcQsXZp
Lightly used and freshly repasted with PTM 7950 on the CPU/GPU and Upsiren UTP-8 on the VRM! I never really gamed too heavily on this so I'm passing it on to someone who will get more use out of it! Comes with a 240W charger. Note: I don't have the MSI recovery image on the drive anymore so this will come with a generic Windows 11 install. I can go in and install all the drivers as well and set it back to the OOBE though at the buyer's request
Claw 8 AI+ (1TB SSD, comes with case and clear screen protector not installed) - $725 shipped with G&S, $700 local - https://imgur.com/a/0HOwalp
Good condition but has two spots on the screen. See pictures. Battery is in great condition as well. Comes with original charger and a carrying case!
Anbernic RG 477M (Bronze, 8GB / 128GB model, comes with case grip, carrying case, and better buttons trigger and bumper mod) - $200 shipped with G&S, $180 local - https://imgur.com/a/EesqENU
Very lightly used and in great condition! It'll come in the original box though the screen protector has already been applied. I also added felt to the inside of the grip cover so it slides easily in and out and doesn't scratch the device. Also includes the better buttons mod if you want to change up the triggers.
Signature will be required upon delivery. I can also sell all three if you're a madlad and knock $125 off the total for $1900 flat or $1850 local!
Just a quick note that this is far from my first grinder and not my first 64mm grinder.
I grabbed a DF64 locally for cheap since I wanted another 64mm grinder on my bar again after downsizing everything to just a modded Vario.
It's definitely an early model and, based on the front power button, I assume bought from the df64.com rather than miicoffee or espresso outlet.
Playing around with this though I'm wondering just how beneficial the common practice of shimming the burrs would really be. While you can get a good wipe with just shimming, it seems like the entire grinder is just designed to allow for some movement that could disrupt the overall alignment of the burr chamber anyways.
Primarily, it looks like the top burr carrier sits on three springs. Without the adjustment dial screwed in, the carrier on mine sits a little off-kilter which suggests to me that the springs aren't necessarily identical and may have different tensions. Even though the dial levels out the chamber when you screw it in, there's still a little play that shows me the top burr carrier can move around.
For instance, even if you're off chirp you can push down on the top and get it to chirp. I also assume there's enough give for burrs to be forced apart a bit when actually grinding. We're also assuming that the entire threaded adjustment mechanism was created with tight enough tolerances to be perfectly level as you adjust it. If we're talking about tiny adjustments with shims to get proper alignment, would differences in the spring tensions and even any unevenness in the adjustment mechanism throw off the alignment once you actually have beans in the chamber?
I'd love to get people's thoughts on this. This is also just all speculation so I could be completely off-base anyways.
Either way, I'm good with it as a very cheap 64mm platform and the coffee's good. This isn't a "help me dial in my grind size" or "why does my coffee taste bad" post
I'm looking for the same caps they use on the RG477M which have become my favorite low profile sticks. I'm actually trying to add them to other handhelds which use the same posts.
It looks like their parts page is sold out and I've tried caps from the replacement sticks they sell on the Retroid store and some replacement caps that are supposed to be for the RP6 from AliExpress but they're both a bit smaller. I'm also not looking for 3D printed alternatives since I already have a few.
Let me know where I can get the caps themselves or harvest them from joystick modules if needed. Thanks!
Clearing out some stuff and selling some stuff I cleaned up for a friend!
Video timestamp for all three:
A16 (Ryzen 7 7735HS, RX7700S, 16GB DDR5, 1TB SSD) - $625 shipped with PayPal Goods & Services - https://imgur.com/a/nO3CKK1
Has a scratch on the lid and WASD were painted over with a clear coat after legends wore off. Battery is at less than 80% but new battery is included / can be swapped in before purchase.
F15 (i7-13620H, RTX 4070, 16GB DDR5, 1TB SSD) - $750 shipped with G&S - https://imgur.com/a/crw2heX
Great condition, no issues.
Claw 8 AI+ (1TB SSD, comes with case and clear screen protector not installed) - $725 - https://imgur.com/a/0HOwalp
Good condition but has two spots on the screen. See pictures.
All three will come with their original chargers! Signature will also be needed upon delivery.
If you want to buy all three I'll knock $100 off the total for $2000 shipped with G&S. Same if you're local to Western PA.
I love deal hunting and trawling marketplace so when I saw someone selling this MSI Katana 15HX 814W on Facebook marketplace for $900, I shot them an offer of $750 given the distance and didn't really expect anything to come of it. A few days later they accepted so I immediately had to drive out to pick this up. The specs are:
core i7-14650HX
RTX 5070
1TB SSD
16GB RAM
1440p 165Hz 15.6" IPS
Figure I might as well include a quick review here too so here are my impressions:
Pros:
Cons:
I'm glad I can undervolt from the BIOS like I would on my desktop and after some tuning and testing it's finally on par with other 5070 laptops I've seen.
I have:
-150mV on the P-cores, frequency capped at 4500mhz
-180mV on the E-cores, frequency capped at 3000mhz
Didn't end up undervolting the cache because it threw up some WHEA errors and I wasn't seeing enough of a difference to find it worth tuning further.
I also have a +350mhz core and +1000mhz memory overclock on the GPU. It's passed an OCCT gold stability test and the CPU is running at close to 3000mhz at the base wattage of 55. The highest either of them get is 85 C now during Timespy benchmarks but in realistic gaming usage they both stay under 80.
I don't know if I would recommend it over other options though if you're not getting a crazy good deal. I had a Legion 5 (not pro) to test out a while ago and I got the same performance but also an OLED screen and great battery life with the Ryzen 7 250 that also ran cooler. Of course, that one ended up being closer to around $1100-$1200 on sale, but from what I've seen the Katana 15 only ever got around $1000-$1100 on sale.
Overall this definitely looks and feels cheap but I'm not complaining given how little I paid for it. None of the cons really matter as long as this thing runs for a few years without any issues. I'm also not particularly concerned about the 8GB VRAM because this is very much a secondary gaming device between my desktop with a 4070ti Super and my MSI Claw 8 AI+. Plus I mostly play stuff at 1080p anyways and I really just want to be able to have consistent high frame rates at not-potato graphics. With that in mind, I expect this to be good enough to last me for the next couple years.
Cheers and happy deal hunting!
So 7 months ago I posted after paring my collection down to just two handhelds that covered everything I wanted to play and thought I was finally out of the game.
Turns out I was wrong
Just want to preface this by saying that I'm not knocking dome switch or microswitch d-pads in any way and I actually like them a lot, but the release of the Retroid Pocket Nova really has me wishing it came with a classic membrane d-pad since it's so good for retro emulation.
I picked up an RG477M over the Nova and while I love the feel of the buttons, I still prefer the more mature Snapdragon platform overall. It's also what led me to get the Konkr Pocket Fit over something like the Ayn Odin series or RP6.
Just curious if anyone else feels this way or if it's too niche of a sentiment to make it worth it for these companies to stop using the tried and true dome switch d-pads they've had for years.
Basically I was wondering what people would suggest for a $100ish USD bedroom setup that is mostly just meant to improve the experience of some media consumption from my tablet in bed.
The biggest wrinkle is that the speakers themselves would be on the far corners of the room on either side of my bed so they're out of the way. I'm sleeping on a very low raised platform + shikibuton so it wouldn't be hard to make sure the speakers are ear level. I also only have a floating headboard behind me so something like a simple soundbar doesn't really fit the setup. The speakers on my tablet are also pretty good, to the point where I think getting a small Bluetooth speaker wouldn't be enough of an improvement to justify the price.
I'm thinking a cheap set of powered speakers with Bluetooth would be a fine option, but I could also see getting a small amp and passive speakers in that budget. Do people have options for powered speakers that would work with this placement? Should I just get a cheap Bluetooth amp from Amazon and used passive speakers? A secret third option?
tl;dr any recommendations for a smallish barebones Bluetooth friendly far-field 2 speaker setup for $100ish USD?
Cheers!
Not sure why it's only letting me add one picture but I picked up a pair of Emotiva Airmotiv 4 for $200 a few days ago for a near field desk setup!
I love the speed and clarity of these ribbon tweeters and the low end is surprisingly punchy! I'm running these through an old Fosi tube preamp with some tone controls to dial down this weird bass rumble I was getting even with the bass controls in the back turned down.
I don't know if I overpaid a bit but they're still in great condition and I've always wanted to try some Emotivas. I had a larger office setup in my previous home but had to sell it when I moved. I have a pretty narrow corner desk now and wanted to get settled in with it before I added speakers again.
I'm sure I could've done a bit better with a strict $200 budget, especially since the only reason I went with powered speakers was to avoid having an amp with limited desk space and I ended up throwing a small preamp in the mix anyways.
The other setup I was considering if buying all new would've been something like a Lepai or Fosi amp with Micca MB42X or even a pair of Dayton B65s so I was wondering if anyone has tried these and how they would've sounded compared to the Airmotivs?
Hey everyone! I haven't been following IEM releases for a few years now and am feeling the itch to add one or two more IEMs to my modest collection. I was wondering what you would add for a total of $200 USD or less to round out this selection of IEMs:
7Hz Timeless
Moondrop Kato
Sennheiser IE200
Etymotic ER2XR
Salnotes Zero (basically never use these tbh)
All just being driven by a simple USB C to 3.5mm adapter or FiiO BTR5
I'm sure this also gives y'all a particular snapshot of when I was buying these lol
My budget is a firm cap at $200 USD and that could all go to one pair or several. I'm mostly just looking for some fun variations but don't want to go crazy since I usually just use speakers at home and use these for travel and walking my dog. I'm not usually doing critical listening with these.
Timestamp:
Hey all! I have a black base model Ayn Odin 2 (8/128GB) and a white Xbox Ally (16/512/Z2A) for sale! Both are lightly used and will come in their boxes.
The Odin 2 also comes with a screen protector installed, Ayn carrying case and some 3D printed grips. I don't remember if it came with a charger but I'm throwing in a charging brick and a USB A to USB C charger. $250 shipped in the CONUS, $225 local to Western PA
The Xbox Ally comes with its original box and charger though i don't have the little cardboard stand for the box. $400 shipped in the CONUS, $375 local to Western PA
Both are lightly used though the Odin 2 saw a little more playtime than the Xbox Ally.
If you're a madlad and want to buy them both I'll do a discount and do $600 shipped for both or $575 local.
All prices OBO as well! Let me know or make me a reasonable offer if the prices seem off.
SOLD!
So it's been recommended for a long time now for people to just get a controller to use with their phone if they want the most bang for their buck in an emulation handheld. With advances in Android emulation, new frontends, active PC translation layers, and stagnant dedicated handheld prices, the DIY route is only getting more appealing.
But how much it would cost if you were to just assemble your own Android handheld from scratch? Maybe you don't already have a powerful phone, maybe you don't want to use your phone and want a dedicated device. Regardless, I thought it might be helpful to share what I've found, what the market looks like (in the US), and what the value proposition is currently.
As you can tell from the title, I ended up with a Snapdragon 865 phone (Samsung Galaxy S20 FE). In the US at least there's tons of used Samsung Galaxy phones all over eBay and local marketplaces though I actually found eBay prices to be the best. This is primarily because you'll be able to find phones that have some kind of issue that'll make them a lot less desirable AS A PHONE but not necessarily as a dedicated gaming device.
Case in point: you'll find old flagships being sold for cheap because they're carrier locked, display units that can only use wi-fi, IMEI locked, have broken cameras, maybe cracked back casings or minor screen cracks, etc. Depending on what you actually want out of your device and how much you care about cosmetic issues, you can get a surprising amount of power for cheap.
I got this Galaxy S20 FE for $40 shipped because the camera module is completely nonfunctional, but otherwise the screen is in pretty good condition and it hasn't had any other issues. You can also find the Galaxy S20 and S20+ in the $50-$70 range in a wide variety of conditions including lightly used. I targeted this specific line of phones because of availability and because I wanted to still at least have an SD card slot. Another good option in the US are Motorola phones. My dream would be to find Sony Xperia 1s or 5s for cheap but that just really ain't happening.
My main priority in putting this handheld together was bang for buck so I also looked for used or refurbished controllers. You can find popular controllers like the Gamesir G8 ($50-$60 refurb), X5 Lite ($25-$30 refurb) Razer Kishi ($30-$50 depending on which model), Backbone ($20-$30) etc. at a discount pretty regularly and I ended up with this refurb Backbone for $30.
So all told I have:
for $70 after shipping and fees.
Compared to the Retroid Pocket 5, which is still listed at $199 by Retroid and doesn't seem to be readily available used anymore, this seems like an excellent deal.
In my opinion, if you're on a budget and really want to get Gamecube and PS2 performance, this is a great option IF you can get everything for a good price. I think under $120 total for a phone in good condition and good controls makes this a very compelling option.
Once we start to get above $120 though, I think the Razer Edge 5G which I regularly see on eBay in the $140-$170 range (and it can definitely get cheaper) is a much more appealing option if you're going this route. If you can save some money and find just the tablet, you also get to customize your controller experience. However, I think the line where this DIY handheld approach makes sense stops right about there.
It's unfortunate that Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 handhelds haven't really come down in price and have only seemed to have gotten more expensive, but phones with that chipset come with some compromises as well. The biggest I've found is that there's basically no option for a phone that's readily available at $200 or less, has a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, and still has an SD card slot. Depending on how much internal storage you need that may or may not be an issue, but if you're pushing those kinds of specs I assume high-end emulation and more PC gaming are your priority. And then it's still difficult to actually find usable SD8G2 phones under $200.
The worst part is that this also basically all goes for the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 tier of devices as well since those phones are still relatively expensive while still having the same compromises, hence why I think the Razer Edge is the best option at that tier.
Of course all of this is based on what I've seen being in the US and not being in a city where my local marketplaces have great deals on tech that often. Being in a larger city might present better opportunities. There's also a degree of variability because that's just the nature of the game when shopping used. I also primarily focused on Snapdragon phones because the turnip drivers, but if there's better options I'd love to hear about them. For now, I'm pretty satisfied with this little project and the handheld I ended up with, but I might just keep searching to see how far I can push this on as tight a budget as possible.
Cheers!
Pretty much just what the title says. Memeing and toxic online stuff aside, shout outs to all the peeps who can just absolutely body me but stick around. Idk if you're just grabbing combo clips or showing off but it's usually enlightening to see my bad habits getting punished, learn traps, work on my defensive game, and just practice keeping cool under pressure. I've been playing casually for like half my life at this point and there's always something new to learn.
This is all on the MSI Claw 8 AI+ with the Intel 258V
Hey folks! I had to wipe my drive so I figured now was a good time to play around with CachyOS. I don't have before and after metrics comparing it to my Windows performance and one of my priorities with this reset device is to stop chasing performance and just PLAY the dang thing so this is more qualitative than anything else.
First off, I had issues getting CachyOS to see the built in controls initially. It defaulted to having the joystick mapped to the cursor and wouldn't change it despite actually seeing the controls as a USB controller. I figured it was an issue I've seen people talk about before with Input Plumber being wonky so I disabled and masked Input Plumber in favor of Handheld Daemon but to no avail.
My first install was using the latest CachyOS with Ventoy which is sometimes temperamental. I was also dual booting with Windows and the Windows side was still working perfectly. I'm unfortunately not super well-versed with Linux and dual booting though and my occasional hiccups with Ventoy in the past led me to just try making a new CachyOS live USB and doing a full wipe and reinstall (backup your old SSD with MSI's recovery image if you do this).
Second go around had the same issue but disabling Input Plumber and installing Handheld Daemon worked this time! I've had a few random issues such as the device hanging when changing from Desktop to Game Mode once and not booting into Game Mode properly once or twice. Both times I just had to force a shutdown and restart.
Otherwise though now that I have installed and setup it... Feels like SteamOS. I can confirm Sleep works, deckyloader tools allow me to control lighting, TDP, and fan curve, and otherwise it seems to be playing everything I'd play normally.
I don't often play the most demanding games and like I said I'm trying not to fixate on performance and benchmarks too much. If I can tweak a game to feel good playing then I'm fine. I don't think I've noticed a significant difference in performance so far but I did want to test some games that I knew ran poorly on the Claw even with Windows.
Specifically, it's hard to get Jedi Survivor and Tainted Grail to run at a decent FPS even with everything turned down and aggressive upscaling. Optiscaler on Windows helped a lot but for those who don't know, Optiscaler on Linux is a bit behind and can't make use of the dedicated hardware for AI upscaling that the Windows drivers can use. Both games are playable now but they might as well be Switch ports running with potato graphics at 30-40 FPS.
Otherwise though it basically just feels like any other SteamOS gaming handheld. I'll update with a more long term report in a few weeks or to say I got fed up with something and went back to Windows, but so far I'm pretty pleased with the results. I also was used to running straight up SteamOS on the Ally X before it was supported so dealing with occasional hiccups aren't new to me.
Conclusion / Recommendation: It's fine. It's not the god awful buggy mess people seem to think it is, but takes just a bit of troubleshooting. I personally don't think that's much different or worse than setting it up to run well on Windows since running a few console commands then downloading DeckyLoader and other tools is quicker than downloading and updating drivers, debloating windows, installing AnyFSE or some alternative, etc.
But having said that, aside from just the general reasons to switch from Windows to Linux the only other advantage here is just not dealing with the game bar or Center M. But in return and you still lose out on the latest Intel drivers. It's also a little less convenient to update firmware and BIOS so I still recommend either dual booting or having a Windows portable USB for updates. If none of that matters then sure, try it out. It's not unusable by any means. But I don't think it's a no-brainer to switch and it's not going to be life changing.
Tl;dr — It's fine. It works. It's not quite ready to go out of the box but it's quicker than optimizing Windows. It's not BETTER than an optimized Windows setup yet imo
Update: a big issue I didn't notice at first is the back buttons on the MSI Claw 8 AI+. With Handheld Daemon I had to set it XBox Elite DInput mode and it still only sees one of the back buttons. Maybe a fixed Input Plumber address this or I'm missing something.
Hey folks, I've been running the 2280 adapter in my Claw 8 AI+ for about half a year now and my 4TB drive is likely failing. The device has become so slow it's basically unusable with the drive pinned at 100% usage but read and write rates in the hundreds of kb/s. I've always had a heat sink on it and aside from initial setup never really stressed it much. I've also never had it throttle before it just stopped working last night.
The adapter itself doesn't seem to be the issue since I swapped in a different 4TB drive (I know, I know. I got these when they were dirt cheap comparatively) and it seems to be working perfectly. I was always a little concerned about the adapter putting the drive directly over the heat pipes and I'm not sure if that's what caused this issue or if the drive itself was just faulty. It's a cheaper Silicon Power drive so probably not the most reliable thing. The odd thing is that the drive health is still reported at 100%.
Anyways, I just figured I'd make a post to see if:
Anyone else has had drive issues with the adapter
If anyone has any insight on things I could do to try to fix this. I've also run TRIM manually just in case that was the issue and nada. I've also benchmarked the drive again on different PCs to replicate the issue. In a more open space the write speed increased but was basically in single digit mb/s still at best.
If I can't fix the performance I'm likely paying an arm and a leg to a 2230 and forcing myself to stop hoarding games to boot 😅
Timestamp + Memtest Results
Pretty straightforward: I want to downgrade since I don't need 64GB RAM. Looking for a comparable 2rx8 32GB 3200 Mhz SODIMM kit + $100 cash net to me.
Also need verification that the ram works before trading. If you're local to Western PA I may also be able to meet in person for the trade. Cheers!
First post here and hoping y'all with some insight can help me figure out if it's worth spending a good amount of money on some major repairs and restoration on this car.
It's a 2011 Subaru Impreza 2.5i that I own outright and was driven pretty lightly for the first 10 years of its life before seeing heavier use these past five years. But it still has just under 90,000 miles on it after all these years. It hasn't needed major repairs yet but I was told during my last inspection that I'm going to likely need the suspension bushings replaced soon, the power steering has started to sometimes provide a lot of resistance when turning the wheel, it screeches when the wheel is cut all the way to either side, and I'm sure other things are going to need replacing.
I'm considering taking it to a mechanic I trust and basically asking for an estimate to do as much as possible to get this thing as close to "as good as new" as possible since it's been a great and reliable car and the mileage is still pretty low for its age.
I can afford the payments for financing a new car if needed, but I don't really have any desire for newer features or a nicer looking car or really any upgrades from what I currently have and I'm hoping by investing some more money I can get a good few more years out of her. I'm also wary of locking myself into a contract and additional monthly costs in case things go belly up for me financially over the next few years but have enough to cover the up front costs for some major repairs.
What would y'all do in my situation? Does it make sense to invest something like $6000-$7000 into this car hoping to get another five years out of it? At what price point for repairs and restoration would you consider to "no longer be worth it?" Should I trade it in and get a newer used car? Is there any reason to go new instead?
P.S. there is also a minor degree of sentimental value since this was the first car me and my family were able to finance and it's served us well so part of me wants to keep it until it's well and truly unusable.
Thanks everyone for the insight and for reading this big wall of text
Little writeup about my ThinkPad acquisition:
I had a gaming laptop that was overkill and basically become just a PC for office stuff with the occasional game or game streaming. I decided in that case I might as well just downgrade and get a decent reliable all-arounder and remembered my old X220 fondly.
Fast forward a bit and I found a reputable local seller getting rid of a Thinkpad P1 Gen 4 for $350 USD. We met up, I verified everything looked good, and then he decided to just drop it down to $300 after a very pleasant talking shop in person.
Specs are:
i7-11850H
64GB RAM
RTX A3000
1 TB SSD
It had a 4K screen but was unfortunately damaged so I replaced it with a P1 Gen 5 165Hz screen as per this post:
It was available on Amazon with prime shipping for $80 https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0D6XRHNFY?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title
The only annoying things about the replacement process were the fact that the front bezel is just held in with adhesive which I hate (clips are easier to work with), and the display cable itself was hard to get flush under the screen.
Setting a custom refresh rate in CRU was super straightforward, just remember to do it in the Extension blocks. And I can confirm it even supports VRR!
If you're looking to source it yourself the panel I received was this one:
https://www.panelook.com/NE160QDM-NYC_BOE_16.0_LCM_overview_59277.html
It's a surprisingly capable little machine now for low-medium 1080p if I wanna really push the FPS or even med-high.
I knew this was gonna run hot but honestly I'm a little surprised by just how hot it gets. I already repasted both the CPU and GPU with PTM 7950 but I'm wondering now if it would make a big difference if I replaced the stock VRM pads with some better thermal putty.
Either way I'm super pleased with this thing as a daily driver and stoked about the price I paid overall!