In the Market

Browsing places like FB Marketplace and Craigslist has given me an appreciation for value-hunting. Being in the market to replace my overheated and now-deceased laptop has me searching for something a little less than retail for a gaming PC with a little more bang for the limited buck.

Frankly, what I’m searching for is a gently used (that might be an oxymoron when it comes to gaming machines) gaming laptop that I’m able to swap out the existing SSD and give it a 1TB SSD, then if it has space enough to do so, add in an HDD for storage. Most of the second-hand gaming laptops are coming in around the 16GB RAM mark which means I’ll be getting more bang than if I went retail and paid close to $2K for a gaming laptop brand new in the box.

Wandering around online has led me to some interesting finds that could help me save money and still be able to play Sims 3 and SWTOR at ultra graphics settings and that’s what I want. Between that and writing my “fanfiction” for JAG and Sims 3 and I’ll be kept occupied for whatever leisure time I have that I’m not devoting to getting my photography freelance business back off the ground.

…and that is another post in itself. I can’t sit happily playing Sims 3 all the time until I’ve turned into mulch. I have to be doing something. Which means going back to what I know best: photography. And if I can manage to get my brain to organize properly and the rest of my body to remain in adequate health, I may be taking the opportunity to go for a week and photograph the Rocky Mountains by taking a nice little drive through the Rockies. At 52, yeah, the time’s ticking, but it’s been something I’ve wanted to do for a while now. My body won’t let me climb mountains to reach a nice secluded spot or wander trails with a grade of 8% or steeper, but the Rockies and Banff, I can do as well as scenics of Vancouver.

The gaming laptop would be a combination gaming PC and video/photo editing tool and if I can manage to get it for a reasonable price, all the better. And it would provide me a base to build up better with a desktop down the road as the (photography) business grows as well as provide me with some power for gaming.