So, for clarification, I have £700 left to get paid on a job I completed recently. I have a new rig from April (ordered from Scan in Jan - thanks global GFX crisis) which was also paid for by the same job so I don't think that itself needs any upgrading. My thoughts were along the lines of maybe some sort of NAS storage or UPS but it could easily just go towards the cost of a new phone (wife and I have an iPhone 7 and 8). Am I missing anything? I have a decent Asus 24" monitor that was bought at the end of last year and some Bose computer speakers... got a decent table and a nice office chair that's still very comfy after the last four years (second hand purchase from a recommended site here - can't remember which). As much as it sounds like that £700 is burning a hole in my pocket, I REALLY do need to spend it and supply the relevant invoice! Any thoughts would be very much appreciated! Lot's of love, Ian
Orthopedic chair, nice new headset, keyboard, mouse and mat? A nice new environment to sit and work with better support for your back may prove to be a superb investment in the long run even i your current chair is super comfy. One of those overlooked areas thats all. But if tech is needed and is 100% on the agenda.. a small UPS for your internet router/modem and a NAS to connect to it too would be an epic combo for keeping everything work related available at all times. Works wonders here
A UPS is like setting money on fire because the electrical grid still works (at least until the water companies find a way to pump raw sewage into it). Spend the money saved on a better NAS instead.
New headset with mic to replace the snowball and AKGs I currently use... good shout there. I have a Quickfire TK keyboard that suits me perfectly but a new mouse may also work nicely. 2ndhnd was the place I got the existing chair which cost just short of £300 so I guess that can stay put even after all those MMORPG sessions during the last few summers means the current padding is suitably filled with arse sweat and farts!
If/when the power goes out, having your router and modem as well as your NAS on power means you still function as a business. Its not like setting money on fire at all. If you are self employed and you rely on your data and a connection, its worth its weight in gold.
Shure SMV7 with Focusrite 2i2 (gen3 with typeC) and a set of DT770 pros (if you like a bit of bass) or the DT990 pros with a nice new mouse puts you firmly at that £650 mark I would think. Then theres some room left for anything else you fancy throwing at it, a mic arm is probably going to be needed. I can confirm that the SMV7, Focusrite 2i2 and DT770 Pro make for a LUSH combo even if the headset is a little on the lower priced side when compared to others on the market.
If the OP was in South Sudan or Texas where power outages are a thing that happens more than once per decade I'd agree. However in the UK the internet failing is several orders of magnitudes more likely than a power outage.
Try living in an old house with dodgy electrics (condemned to be more accurate) in the arse end of the north... Ill take your South Sudan or Texas and see it raised
Standing desk and anti-fatigue mat, mine came to around £700... And now I only stand at my desk, its great exercise!
I wouldn't get UPS unless you have power problems. Most places nowadays have few power interruptions so UPS are redundant. Also keep in mind UPS batteries need replaced every 3-5 years and are not cheap .. so are rather expensive to maintain.
Eh, depends on the UPS. I replaced the ones in my CyberPower 650VA thing and my bigger Eaton, after about eight years, for under £25 each. They're just sealed lead-acids, nowt special.
We get a brown out once a week to two weeks on average which usually resets all the cooking appliance clocks - luckily it's usually in the early hours of the morning but it's still often enough to consider. We live in a village just outside Braintree which, even with the poor power infrastructure, has still going through a housing expansion (1200+ houses) which will inevitably compound the issue. Thanks for all the advice on this one - I'll have a ruddy good think!
Looks like you're pretty well set up, so it sounds like a UPS might not be a bad shout TBH. Your OP makes it sound like you're self-employed (or contractor, etc), and in that case it could easily pay for itself. Even if it all it does is allow you avoid critical data loss and power down cleanly. For the average home user I'd agree that a UPS is probably overkill (unless your power is really bad), but for someone who's self-employed it's an entirely different proposition.
If you get a UPS, I suggest you only have computer plugged into it with computer set to shutdown as soon as UPS kicks in. Link below is to UPS size calculator may be helpful: https://www.apc.com/shop/us/en/tools/ups_selector?ISOCountryCode=us