Having run out of good excuses to put it off, I finally smashed Purchase on the components that will eventually by my hand become my new desktop PC - my current PC has been chugging along faithfully since 2016 and has more than earned its retirement. This will be my first time actually building a PC on my own, and I'm very nervous and excited about it. And I even have a few hundred left over from the money I had set aside that I can put towards replacing my even-older laptop, which is about to turn 10 whole years old.

For those interested, here's what I'll be working with:

• Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X
• Motherboard: ASUS AMF TUF Gaming X570-Plus
• RAM: Two sets of Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 32GBs
• Graphics Card: MSI Ventus GeForce RTX 3060
• Case: Antec Performance Series P7 Neo
• PSU: CORSAIR RMx Series (2021) RM850x
• Cooling: Enermax ETS-F40
• Memory: Coupla these bad boys

I basically started from the "Mainstream" suggestions on NewEgg's PC builder tool and then economized in a few areas (partly out of thrift, partly out of personal preference). I swapped the suggested case for a more "basic" one because I think RGB stuff is just tacky and I'd rather have more case space I can decorate with stickers and stuff like that. I also swapped the suggested liquid-cooling system for an air cooler because I've had bad experiences with liquid-cooling systems in the past and I'm really not much of a benchmark-pushing gamer anyways. PSU got tweaked because I spotted one that was cheaper with higher wattage and didn't seem to have any obvious flaws. I'm excited to see the difference in boot times with the SSD (my current HD is mechanical) and I decided to double up on those drives because I'm constantly having to memory-manage my 500GB HD and I'm SICK of it.

Oh, and I also picked up my first-ever wireless headset because I tried it out at my parents' place and was really impressed with the sound quality. Also it's cute and comfortable.

In the same spirit as my thread from a month ago where I solicited advice for my upcoming desktop PC purchase, I'm now prostrating myself before the Cohost Council of Computer Know-Abouters for help picking out a new (or at least new-to-me) laptop.

My current machine is a 19.5" Asus beast of burden that I got more or less sight-unseen back in 2013 at a Future Shop, from before all Future Shops became Best Buys. It's heavy as fuck and runs Windows 8.1, which as of January 2023 will no longer be receiving updates from Microsoft. I'm honestly excited to have a genuine good reason to replace this thing, because up until now it's been just BARELY sufficient for the limited number of tasks I employ it towards, and upgrading would have felt like an extravagance.

Here are my priorities for what my ideal new laptop would be like:

• Smaller than 19 and a half inches, something in the 16-17.5 range. This feels achievable
• Windows 10, natch
• Not a Chromebook
• Powerful enough to do word processing and navigate modern internet browsers and that's about it. I mainly use my current laptop for charting my treatments at my RMT day job, and for writing scripts in Google Docs. I have a Switch and a Steam Deck, I'm not looking for a gaming laptop
• Decent onboard speakers would be nice but not a dealbreaker
• A minimum of gimmicks like touchscreens etc
• Ideally coming in at $800 CAD or below. I could MAYBE see myself going up to $1k for the perfect machine but given my modest requirements I feel like the lower figure is doable
• Refurbs are fine, I'm not precious

If you have a laptop you purchased recently that fits these requirements or are someone who knows about computers and the purchasing thereof, I'd love to hear from you! Thank you!