Challenge: $1000 on Gaming/entertainment... from scratch?

[Treblaine]

So $1000* to spend - not on top of whatever you have at the moment - but starting from scratch for ALL your electronic entertainment, media and communication needs. Imagine it's a situation like you've been burgled of all your valuable electronics, or you've moved into a fully fitted apartment with only your clothes.

Remember YOU DON'T HAVE:
-TV
-consoles
-DVD player
-COMPUTER incl laptop
-But to make it fair, a free WiFi router for internet.

Only $1000.

(*Don't care about official currency conversion rates, UK users get a £800 budget as if you take a look at the cost of living here, taxation and importation difficulties then you'll know why. Don't know for Aussies or other countries)

EDIT: changed for clarity:
+ don't worry about games and movies, call this discretionary costs

 

[viranimus]

I dont get it.. 1000$ budget on entertainment/gaming... but your not allowed to spend it on consoles, tv, computer? Uh.. ok... then i guess an mp3 player and a kindle.

Not really sure what your trying to do because the rules dont make a lot of sense. Perhaps a clarification would be in order?

 

[L3m0n_L1m3]

So what, do I buy a copy of Mass Effect 2 and stare at the box art?

Even if we COULD buy a console/TV, that's barely enough for a good TV.

 

[Alon Shechter]

I dont get it.. 1000$ budget on entertainment/gaming... but your not allowed to spend it on consoles, tv, computer? Uh.. ok... then i guess an mp3 player and a kindle.

Not really sure what your trying to do because the rules dont make a lot of sense. Perhaps a clarification would be in order?

I think he was saying that you just don't have them, and your apartment is empty.
So you won't buy an Xbox 360 and a Kinect when there's no TV.
You CAN buy the stuff, you just won't have it in the beginning of this cute game.

 

[SimuLord]

No computer, eh? Well, I guess the thousand bucks would go to buying a new gaming PC. If my house has been burgled and I've lost most (or even all) of my electronics, the fact of the matter is that I haven't lost any of my games.

YAY STEAM!

 

[Nalgas D. Lemur]

I suspect the point is that you have $1000 to spend and you don't already have any of the things in that list, not that you can't spend it on them (hence the "from scratch" part). If that's the case, I could put together a pretty decent PC for that much, which would unquestionably be my first choice before any of the other options.

 

[silver wolf009]

I dont get it.. 1000$ budget on entertainment/gaming... but your not allowed to spend it on consoles, tv, computer? Uh.. ok... then i guess an mp3 player and a kindle.

Not really sure what your trying to do because the rules dont make a lot of sense. Perhaps a clarification would be in order?

I think he means you have no tv, no console, no computer so which ones do you get for one grand.

OT: A 30 in hdtv, an X-BOX slim, 12 month live supscription, Fallout 3, Halo 3, Call of Duty WaW. And whatevers left on a computer.

 

[Treblaine]

I dont get it.. 1000$ budget on entertainment/gaming... but your not allowed to spend it on consoles, tv, computer? Uh.. ok... then i guess an mp3 player and a kindle.

Not really sure what your trying to do because the rules dont make a lot of sense. Perhaps a clarification would be in order?

NO NO! I mean you DON'T HAVE a TV or Monitor. What setup would you get?

Would you get a Giant HDTV and surround sound then just an Xbox Arcade or no HDTV and get a full hog gamign PC.

It's been edited for clarity.

 

[Choppaduel]

free internet? well then a computer is probably your best bet. you can get a cheap computer system for around $900 and get a whole bunch of games super cheap during Steam's sale and of course theres always iratingp *cough* *ahem* but yeah, its either that or getting a and old $200 tv and a used ps2 and $5-$15 games thats are actually still really good. its doable but you won't be able to buy anything recent, which isn't all that bad considering all1 the over-priced shovel-ware sequels that are prevalent these days.

 

[viranimus]

Ok, thank you, I think i can work within these confines. Actually its amazingly easy.

In essence to rebuild a lost entertainment center, Personally I could do so very easily because my demands are low.

First key thing. Monitor, that has HDMI input.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254049
Monitor 129

Secondly.. means to access the internet. Now honestly I can put together a decent desktop that I could game with (not wonderfully, but at least the framework that could be improved upon later) but just for quick arguments sake to show it can be done I reference a basic netbook. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220651
computer 279

Thirdly a console, 360 w/ 4gb embedded.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16868105042
199

Lastly a coaxial input usb tuner card to hook to the netbook, and an DVI/HDMI out into the monitor for watching. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815100048
51 - tuner

All told? 658$ USD. leaving 342 to do with what ever minor other things I might need like HDMI cables, chargers, content, accessories, ect, or just use it to build a modest gaming PC for 300$ or so.

EDIT: Yes, dual core 2.4ghz processor, 2gb of ram, 1gb video PC for right about 300$ is not hard to do and is typically capable of handling most gaming today.

 

[Treblaine]

So what, do I buy a copy of Mass Effect 2 and stare at the box art?

Even if we COULD buy a console/TV, that's barely enough for a good TV.

No, it's $1000 for all the hardware (not games). And it's not a much of challenge if you have plenty of money.

I'm looking for great deals people may have found, I'd like to hear about what people's preferences are when they have to compromise.

And who knows, people on a budget who lurk this forum may find a lot more is within their reach than they realise.

 

[Dexiro]

I'd probably spend about 800 on a gaming PC, then spend the other 200 on some games.

Maybe see if i can a cheap TV, gamecube and some games for that ^_^

 

[Echo136]

I could easily spend $1250 on just a PC, so this is very limiting, especially since a monitor would cost me another $150, and thats on the cheaper end. I wouldnt spend less than $1000 on a gaming PC.

 

[Treblaine]

free internet?

Yep. We'd all pay for the same thing and face it, NO ONE here is going to exclude that so it's a sunk cost.

 

[shadow skill]

Ok, thank you, I think i can work within these confines. Actually its amazingly easy.

In essence to rebuild a lost entertainment center, Personally I could do so very easily because my demands are low.

First key thing. Monitor, that has HDMI input.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824254049
Monitor 129

Secondly.. means to access the internet. Now honestly I can put together a decent desktop that I could game with (not wonderfully, but at least the framework that could be improved upon later) but just for quick arguments sake to show it can be done I reference a basic netbook. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834220651
computer 279

Thirdly a console, 360 w/ 4gb embedded.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16868105042
199

Lastly a coaxial input usb tuner card to hook to the netbook, and an DVI/HDMI out into the monitor for watching. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815100048
51 - tuner

All told? 658$ USD. leaving 342 to do with what ever minor other things I might need like HDMI cables, chargers, content, accessories, ect, or just use it to build a modest gaming PC for 300$ or so.

EDIT: Yes, dual core 2.4ghz processor, 2gb of ram, 1gb video PC for right about 300$ is not hard to do and is typically capable of handling most gaming today.

I find that at work the Dual core PC's we have take far too long to start applications compared to the Quad core I have at home, but I must say that those specs are really good for a netbook. You should be able to run most things with that with very little trouble. Good post man.

 

[Treblaine]

I could easily spend $1250 on just a PC, so this is very limiting, especially since a monitor would cost me another $150, and thats on the cheaper end. I wouldnt spend less than $1000 on a gaming PC.

What's the price breakdown of your $1250 PC?

And remember this hypothetical apartment of yours is practically Amish (after the electrical mains and Internet). So you'd have this PC as your soul source of entertainment, information, communication short of resorting to the savage barbarism of something like reading a book!

Also, desk and chair a given but no headset/speakers, not mouse, no keyboard.

OK, you can forget about them if you like. But could you live without speakers if it pushed your $1000 budget too far?

 

[Vilcus]

I have a buddy who is selling most of his stuff for like $100.00 each. He's selling a 54 inch T.V. in good condition, a 360, and a PS3. As well as all the peripherals, and games. If I were to buy everything he's throwing away dirt cheap it would cost me roughly $800.00, and then I'd be set. My case is unique though, because I have this rare opportunity available to me if this supposed "$1000.00 for entertainment" challenge were to start right now.

However in a few days he will either have sold it all off, or thrown it out (the reason he's getting rid of most of it is that he's giving up gaming, and is focusing on his education).

 

[Treblaine]

No computer, eh? Well, I guess the thousand bucks would go to buying a new gaming PC. If my house has been burgled and I've lost most (or even all) of my electronics, the fact of the matter is that I haven't lost any of my games.

YAY STEAM!

Steam FTW, but games are discretionary cost, not part of $1000 budget. Think of it as like business expenses or an insurance claim, only hardware can go on the list. BTW, would you choose Intel or AMD processor? AM2+ and AM3 seem very friendly to system builders.

Don't forget with your PC build; no Monitor, no mouse, no speakers.

Also, if you want to watch TV you can't walk into your parent's living room or flatmate's room. Could you live without a TV? Or would you go for a less fancy PC to have a TV to watch while lounging on a couch. Or would you settle for a PCI capture card.

 

[migo]

A good HDTV would be the primary cost screwing things up there, and since there's no computer either, everything would be sunk on a custom built desktop which covers everything.

You could land a good screen for under $200, gaming mouse and keyboard for under $100 (regular keyboard for next to nothing really), a good set of headphones for under $100 (skip the speakers), that leaves you with $600 left over for the tower, which would cover a Phenom II X3 720 system, Radeon HD 4000 series GPU, 4GB RAM and a good hard drive. I guess Windows 7 would be in the cost too, although I'm sure you could justify using your previous license given everything has been burgled. Might drive the specs down a bit, but either way the system woul be good enough for me to play Civilization V and Guild Wars 2.