What did you buy today? Post your latest purchase!

[nanofrog]

Metal stock is more limited than McMaster-Carr, but Grainger and Zoro can be good places for those types of products as well (tooling, fasteners, ...).

Grainger owns Zoro, which offer discounts from time to time (can be quite decent). Shipping is reasonable too IME. It's easier to find what you're looking for on Grainger's site, then port the P/N to Zoro. They even sell on eBay, so you can use PayPal should you choose.

[TERRA Operative]

You can easily record the programs these days to the Audio input of the PC.
No need for a cassette tape anymore.

Interestingly, all my stored programs of old cassette tapes from the 80s
could not load anymore. But I had them all digitally on an old floppy as well.

The PC1350 and PC1360 were amazing machines in the day and still are today.
I even liked the PC1350 more than the PC1600, because of its slim factor.

These days I have several PC1350 laying around and being used all the time.
Once in a while you can find them cheap on ebay and may find one broken with
a good display and replace yours.
 

Nah, I need the real thing! Makes it all the more fun.

The PC1360 is a little rare here, but the PC1350 is a little more common. The earlier models are popping up all the time on Yahoo Auctions too with printers and stuff, but I'm not so keen on the single line displays.

[CJay]

I only hated them at the loading times of the Sierra adventures or even worse installing a big software program on harddrive (to continue insert disk 18 of 24 and press any key ...... )

Who remembers installing Visual Basic 4.0 Pro (30 disks I think), MS Office 4 (34 Disks) or Visual C 1.0 (18 disks). Only to get "xyz.dll" - File not found on disk 31 !!! 

Similarly, I remember the multi-box 5-1/4" floppy installation of Netware followed by the overnight surface scan of the server's drive. Those were the slow old days.

Overnight? So you only had a small disk then 

I used to install on 380MB Maxtor XT4380S drives which took three to four days to scan.

And the bloody things could fail the scan in the last hour.

The process was abysmal, think it was the install routine for Netware 2.15 that Novell publicly apologised for?

[onesixright]

....Netware followed by the overnight surface scan of the server's drive. Those were the slow old days.

Netware, as in Novell? NSnipes FTW! Now Those where the days!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXsJhoW0C78&frags=pl%2Cwn

[CJay]

....Netware followed by the overnight surface scan of the server's drive. Those were the slow old days.

Netware, as in Novell? NSnipes FTW! Now Those where the days!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXsJhoW0C78&frags=pl%2Cwn

Oh hell yes, NSnipes. 'Who got the highscore on the network diagnostics today?'

[HighVoltage]

Nah, I need the real thing! Makes it all the more fun.

The PC1360 is a little rare here, but the PC1350 is a little more common. The earlier models are popping up all the time on Yahoo Auctions too with printers and stuff, but I'm not so keen on the single line displays.

Then look for an old Olympus Pearlcorder like model S801.
In the days it worked the best with all the sharp models.

[bitseeker]

....Netware followed by the overnight surface scan of the server's drive. Those were the slow old days.

Netware, as in Novell? NSnipes FTW! Now Those where the days!

Yup!

[TERRA Operative]

@Terraoperative @Gamalot

My X1C6 repair has arrived today, and my bet was right -- it didn't fix the dead pixels.
The legally blinded technicians failed to even spot the dead pixels, and they released the panel and shipped the machine with the same panel back.

New depot service order placed and escalated. Let's see.
I'm now thinking to return the entire unit and order a similar unit with FHD monitor instead.

When can PC manufacturers get the quality to MacBook level .

Good luck!

The worst is when they have 'zones' of allowable dead pixels on the screen.. ANY dead pixel drives me insane. I've been lucky that my panels are all clear, but then again, I ain't going to push my luck by examining toooo closely.

[Kjelt]

Just ordered $320 worth of metal . I never thought aluminum alloy can be so expensive.

Ordered two 8" by 8" by 1/2" plates, one 8" by 8" by 3/4" plate, and one 8" by 8" by 0.09" plate. Both 7075-T651.

Why 7075? I always buy leftovers from toolingplates, prices vary from €3-€5 per kg.
example 5080 1" thick 42x21cm (aprox 16x8") 7kg+ Price: €25.- 
i don't know where you live but it is worth while looking for some scrap dealer, hardware left over hoarder and such.
I only buy new when I need one very large piece, does not happen often.

[BravoV]

NOS 20 pcs of this SAS cable with $1/piece  , bought locally at a store the sell used big corporation equipment like servers,network stuffs,office equipments and etc.

[TERRA Operative]

Just got myself a new toy. (Pic from the listing). A Sony Vaio VPCP11AKJ

Should be easier to use this in the data center rather than lugging a full laptop around.
The bigger screen should be easier to squint at than my phone too.


I gotta stop buying so much stuff.

[nanofrog]

Why 7075?

Half of the order was for a custom tool, and that's because the original bed of my CNC was made of 7075, so I figure I can use the same material.
The other half was for cases of one of my inventions.

Both are prototyped with cheap 6061, so I have little risk of ruining $320.

Personal funds or is this you're research?

I ask, as even $320 can be very dear to a starving student that's covering it from their own funds. But whilst it might not be peanuts to a research grant, it'd be more tolerable at least.

If you're unwilling or unable to answer, I'll understand. It's just that your situation as I understand it brings back some memories for me (funding issues + politics were bad enough I quit after completing my MSc).

FWIW, good on you for putting any funding issues and/or any other obstacles aside/beating them down in order to acquire your Ph.D..  I just didn't have any more fight left in me. 

[TERRA Operative]

I once had a Vaio Z Flip 2015 bought at Akihabara 99 back in 2015. It had a very bright and vibrant screen, but the workmanship was horrible.
Bad installation resulted in high edge/corner stress that caused the screen to bleed light and fade, it also caused the touch screen to mistrigger due to the presumably pinched touch screen flex cable.

Because of communication problems (at that time I was around JLPT N3 level, I could speak Japanese in a a casual environment, but not with technical terms, and the store employee that handled Vaio product line couldn't speak English AT ALL), I didn't manage to return the machine.

I ended up disabling touch screen from Device Manager and used it as a conventional laptop for 2 years before the fading and back light bleeding got so bad that it looked like Sadako was going to climb out of the screen at any moment.

That was the last Vaio I've ever bought. 200k Yen down the drain. I should have known Sony ditched the brand for a reason.

Yeah, they dropped the ball a bit. Story of Sony almost all round in the 2000's....
I would never buy one new, but the second hand market has hopefully weeded out the duds, so I'm crossing fingers for a good one.

[tooki]

@Terraoperative @Gamalot

My X1C6 repair has arrived today, and my bet was right -- it didn't fix the dead pixels.
The legally blinded technicians failed to even spot the dead pixels, and they released the panel and shipped the machine with the same panel back.

New depot service order placed and escalated. Let's see.
I'm now thinking to return the entire unit and order a similar unit with FHD monitor instead.

When can PC manufacturers get the quality to MacBook level .

Good luck!

The worst is when they have 'zones' of allowable dead pixels on the screen.. ANY dead pixel drives me insane. I've been lucky that my panels are all clear, but then again, I ain't going to push my luck by examining toooo closely.

As a lifelong Mac user, it’s been years since dead pixels have even been on my brain’s radar. Last time I ever dealt with them was in my PowerBook G3 from 2000. It had some screen issue (I think it was dead pixels, but honestly it’s been so long I can’t be sure any more), so I called them up, they sent a mailer, and less than a week later I got it back with a new LCD in it, which works to this day.

Anyhow, I vaguely remember that even when Apple did have allowable dead pixel policies, they tended to be very generous about fixing them even if the policy requirements weren’t met, since at the time (before the iPod and then iPhone really bolstered the company’s income), their core users were graphic designers, photographers, and videographers, and Apple respected them deeply, including their (understandable!) sensitivity to dead pixels and other screen defects.

But I haven’t seen a dead pixel on a Mac since then, nor frankly on any other LCD gadget I’ve used (whether my own or someone else’s, regardless of brand), so I kinda assumed that the LCD makers had simply managed to improve their processes to the point that dead pixels just aren’t an issue any more. The rapid move to 4K also supported this suspicion, since for most people, a 4K TV adds no value at all, and 1/4 the resolution (1080p) means a far, far lower chance of dead pixels, and thus fewer dud panels, and thus higher yield, and thus lower cost.

So, out of genuine curiosity (not snark), is dead pixels something that people still run into in PC laptops?!?

[TERRA Operative]

I use an Eizo brand monitor, no dead pixels. I've never seen dead pixels on an Eizo panel so far actually.
On my Dell Precision laptop, I have a 15" 4K panel, no dead pixels I can see there either (maybe they are just too small for my eyes... )

[Specmaster]

I have two 23" LG monitors with no dead pixels either

[tooki]

P.S. Speaking of that PowerBook, a few weeks ago I dug it out and reinstalled SimCity 2000 to show that game to my 11 year old nephew. (Yes, he liked it and we had fun!)

But man, playing around with that system, you realize how much things have changed under the hood without us noticing! It’s crazy how incompatible those systems have become with the modern Internet. On Mac OS 9, it’s now nearly impossible to use the web, even to download from vintage software archives, because they all use HTTPS, and modern HTTPS uses encryption standards that didn’t exist then, so they literally cannot connect. Even the last Mac OS X (10.4) that runs on that system can’t download anything, the Safari (and IE 5) in it can’t connect, for the same reason. There’s a special version of Firefox for PPC Macs that can connect. That works great for the vintage software archives, but trying to browse the modern web shows you just how batshit crazy insanely CPU intensive modern websites are. (And that special Firefox doesn’t work with modern ad/tracker blocker extensions, so the 400MHz CPU has to take the full brunt of the dozens of pieces of JavaScript bullshit on most sites.)

So then, OK, I’ll download on my modern Mac and copy things over... well, can’t do it via LAN, again, no mutual protocols (in a default OS config on each end). OK, well, I’ve got a USB floppy drive! Nope, Mac OS X shed the ability to write to Mac-formatted floppies over 10 years ago. What does work is external hard disks (the PowerBook has USB 1.1 and FireWire 400, the modern MacBook has USB 3 and Thunderbolt, and my Mac Pro has USB 3 and FireWire 400/800) and Zip.

Which brings me to my “what’s your latest purchase”: I scored a USB Zip 250 drive. (Has the PCMCIA adapter card, too, but that’s PC-only and unneeded on my USB-capable PowerBook anyway.) Since I have an internal Zip 100 module for the PowerBook, and my original SCSI Zip 100 drive, too, Zip 100 is the only format I have that all of my computers can read and write! Most of my computers have optical drives, but not my oldest vintage Mac (external CD—ROM drive got disposed of ages ago ), and the optical drives in the remaining vintage computers are starting to fail, having trouble with marginal discs of any kind, be they burned or stamped.

On the bright side, maybe I’ve just been good about storage, but I have yet to encounter a single failed floppy or Zip disk, and my old CD-R data archives also seem to be flawlessly preserved. (It’s all been migrated to HDD with separate backups, but still!)

I’ve also been assembling a “new” hifi system from what’s basically Sony’s last real lines of pure audio gear, all QS series from around 2000ish. So far, I’ve snagged a tape deck (TC-KB920, the last deck they ever made. Sadly I damaged some of the electronics while trying to repair a failed potentiometer, so I still need to do repairs on it. I picked up a cheap donor deck with a dead transport and damaged housing but intact electronics as a source for unobtanium ICs so I should be good), an MDS-JB930 MiniDisc deck (Sony’s penultimate MiniDisc deck), and a CDP-XB930 CD player (Sony’s last pure CD player in the 900 series — all the later ones were SACD, and don’t support Control AII bus for system automation). The last two I got lucky on and got for a song, about $90 each, far less than they’re selling for, and they’re in absolutely mint condition! I also bought (and still need to pick up) a CDP-XB740 CD player, which is truly Sony’s last pure CD player, but which should support CD-RW playback, too. I got it for a whopping $40! No idea why nobody bid it up more, got lucky I guess!

So I still need to get the tape deck fixed, as well as pick up a matching receiver or amp. Modern amps have at best one tape input/output, so it has to be a matching late-90’s model that has two, one for tape and one for MiniDisc. And of course another set of speakers. Most likely, the XB740 will end up connected to the home cinema, while the rest will become a stereo for the bedroom, where I currently must use the Mac Pro for music playback. (Speakers are good, but the Mac Pro pumps out a lot of heat, so using it just as a music player is silly.)

I also got a portable HiMD recorder and a tape Walkman a bit better than my old one (I replaced the belts in both). I still love MiniDisc; those damned magneto-optical discs are just indestructible!

[tooki]

I use an Eizo brand monitor, no dead pixels. I've never seen dead pixels on an Eizo panel so far actually.

Well, Eizo is a super-premium display brand, I don’t think they ever tolerated any dead pixels!

On my Dell Precision laptop, I have a 15" 4K panel, no dead pixels I can see there either (maybe they are just too small for my eyes... )

Heh, yeah! I mean, think about a 4K phone display at 700ppi or something; even at half-arm’s length, a single pixel is not visible to the naked eye. Dead pixels are probably absolutely invisible to the naked eye (whereas hot pixels probably still stand out on a black background).

I have two 23" LG monitors with no dead pixels either

For sure. I think on desktop displays, dead pixels are truly a thing of the past. Same on TVs. At least it is on a name-brand product, which uses only top-grade panels. I suppose that lower-tier brands that use lower-grade panels might have a higher risk, but I still don’t recall seeing a dead pixel on them in ages, either!!!

[rsjsouza]

My two years old work laptop Dell Precision 5500 has a 4k screen and no dead pixels, as well as a much more recent Viewsonic 27'' 4k display. Perhaps this may be a brand issue.

My wife got a Samsung Galaxy S8 that had a couple of dead pixels and they replaced the phone without any questions.

[Specmaster]

Following some prodding by Terry01, I gave in purchased one of these little beasties, not for general use a multimeter (I've plenty of these already) but for ability to be able to measure DC current via the jaws so now need to insert a normal in series, just require a loop of cable big enough to insert the jaw through and I;m done, sweeeeeetttt. 

[Jeroen3]

At work we've bought a few. Some are way off (20%). Beware, they're as correct as what they are worth.

[bob225]

A case for my new 8.0" tab S2
Anker 6ft micro usb cables
Hdmi component cable (YPbPr)

[macboy]

...
I’ve also been assembling a “new” hifi system from what’s basically Sony’s last real lines of pure audio gear, all QS series from around 2000ish. So far, I’ve snagged a tape deck (TC-KB920, the last deck they ever made. Sadly I damaged some of the electronics while trying to repair a failed potentiometer, so I still need to do repairs on it. I picked up a cheap donor deck with a dead transport and damaged housing but intact electronics as a source for unobtanium ICs so I should be good), an MDS-JB930 MiniDisc deck (Sony’s penultimate MiniDisc deck), and a CDP-XB930 CD player (Sony’s last pure CD player in the 900 series — all the later ones were SACD, and don’t support Control AII bus for system automation). The last two I got lucky on and got for a song, about $90 each, far less than they’re selling for, and they’re in absolutely mint condition! I also bought (and still need to pick up) a CDP-XB740 CD player, which is truly Sony’s last pure CD player, but which should support CD-RW playback, too. I got it for a whopping $40! No idea why nobody bid it up more, got lucky I guess!

So I still need to get the tape deck fixed, as well as pick up a matching receiver or amp. Modern amps have at best one tape input/output, so it has to be a matching late-90’s model that has two, one for tape and one for MiniDisc. And of course another set of speakers. Most likely, the XB740 will end up connected to the home cinema, while the rest will become a stereo for the bedroom, where I currently must use the Mac Pro for music playback. (Speakers are good, but the Mac Pro pumps out a lot of heat, so using it just as a music player is silly.)

I also got a portable HiMD recorder and a tape Walkman a bit better than my old one (I replaced the belts in both). I still love MiniDisc; those damned magneto-optical discs are just indestructible!

I was a MiniDisc guy back in its day. I still have a MZ-N1 portable recorder in great condition, but I sold my deck many years ago. The N1 managed 50+ hours of battery life. Try that on an iPod.

The STR-DA4ES (or DA7ES) receiver may be suitable for your system. Two tape (in/out) loops plus two more video loops, so plenty of analog line-outputs for recording purposes. It has Control-A1II and Control-S jacks, and supports two-way remotes. It also has two multi-channel audio inputs (5.1 and 7.1) and 7.1 pre-amp outputs. It's becoming harder to find those these days. One downside is the use of SAP15N (and -P) transistors for amplifier output devices. These have a built in emitter resistor as well as temperature-compensated biasing circuitry, and they are no longer made. That makes repairs more difficult if ever necessary.

[bob225]

Not a Sony fan but they did make some nice tv's - A lot of there other lines are dross just trading off the name, There car audio is one step up from Chinese no name brands, all show and no go (apart from the very high end stuff made in japan)

the late 90's early - 2000's a lot of Sony's items had proprietary leads, cables, memory and psu's, the less said about the pc attempts the better

[KNSSoftware]

I just got myself a Vision Engineering TS-3 Dynoscope for £350!!  Still can't quite believe it, as these things still go for a lot more, despite their age.

Got an issue though; the thing is massive!  I can get away with a lot, using the dining table for this and that, but my better half will show she has a limit if i tried the unthinkable.  Couldn't not buy it though, so i need to store it, until i can work something out, or we get a bigger place.  Any reason if wrapped nicely, that this shouldn't be ok in a normally insulated and boarded loft?  The UK winters are a bit of a concern, but is there much to worry about - the thing is a tank!