It used to be easy to build a PC that was double the performance of a console for the same price. And it was even easier if you sourced slightly used current hardware. Now you’re lucky to get last gen hardware for a decent price used. The market is garbage.

Back in 2014 you could get brand new motherboards for ~$50, where it’s difficult to find any under $150 that provide decent features. I think the most expensive thing at the time was NAND due to flooded factories but everything else was super cheap.

It was removable, but used Dells weird connection. I just had to solder the connections of the new battery on instead of paying Dell $20 for a watch battery haha.

I had one of the Alienware Alphas with the 860m and desktop haswell 4130t. You could swap in a 4160 but your big enemy would be heat.

I swapped the steam OS for windows and threw in some cheap 240gb adata ssd. Ran it for years.

Only problem was the cmos battery would fail every now and again and I’d have to solder a new one in because Dell……

Anyways, I was in it ~$400 and it was a great htpc. Only real problem was haswell couldn’t decode 4k YouTube.

The steam controller I still have, and it’s quirky. But I like it for the mouse function.

I thought the steam deck already had this. Admittedly, I’ve only had mine for about a month, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen it charge to 100%. I think 95% was the highest I’ve seen. It seemed like it had something similar to smart charge like Windows has.

They’re features, not bugs in Bethesda games.

I’ve worked at a couple of Mom & Pop places in the south during my youth, and generally they were terrible with money, racist, and tried avoiding taxes any way they could.

Small sample size with a sprinkle of confirmation bias on my end, but there are usually signs.

Always need help? Discount on cash purchases? Making the customer pay the credit card transaction fee?

There are many others, but those are generally the biggest ones where management is just interested in customer sympathy and the bottom line.

That’s disheartening to hear. At least Tesla has to sell cars to even stick around and it doesn’t look good for them in Europe so far.

I was about to say, this seems pretty slam dunk for them.

I’ll take it if that means companies start optimizing their games better.

Sorry, I meant to say for your current phone. Otherwise you’ll have some sort of road block if the carrier sees your current phone as locked. I had that issue with Sprint years ago.

You can verify by going to Settings->General->About.

Towards the bottom there should be “Carrier Lock” and it should say/list “No SIM Restrictions”.

If it doesn’t, you’ll need to call your provider to have them unlock the phone.

Virginia, so a bit of a wildcard.

I can’t quite remember all the details, but since my friend was still living with his parents he had to pay for the “catastrophic” insurance since he was over 26 and didn’t work with a company that offered anything. He might have been unemployed at that point. I think it was only $75/mo or so but I wonder if he just filled out the form wrong.

I won’t disagree, but the controlled narrative the Kremlin pushes is still very much the definition of propaganda.

It just shows how effective top down propaganda is.

Generally I don’t buy anything else other than Phillips. They’re usually bulletproof if you don’t get the smart bulbs. I’ve not had a Phillips fail in ~10 years. But that’s a sample size of like 30 or so bulbs.

Yep. When I moved into my house the previous owner had used all garbage Walmart LED’s. I think I had one fail each month and just bought a bunch on sale from Phillips eventually.

Most common failure was the driver. So they turned into strobe lights lol. Most annoying failure ever.

And more importantly, not every LED is dimmer compatible. Sometimes they’re super picky or just plain don’t work.

I will at least point out, that unless it’s a safety or moving violation you can’t get something like a window tint ticket in Virginia if your car is registered in North Carolina because the window tint laws are different.

Also, in rare cases, if the vehicle comes from the factory with super dark tint, you can’t get a ticket period because it is federally allowed. See the GM Pontiac fiero rear limo tint from the 80’s.

And this is just one aspect of a vehicle across state lines. So yea, it’s chaos and the police will give you a ticket anyways, especially if you’re a visitor.

Is that why I can find some brands in Colorado and not in Michigan? Or are there just really that many brands?

Soft plaque forms like the other comment said from bacteria excrement.

It then hardens and becomes impossible for a regular brush to get rid of within 24ish hours. It’s why you should get regular cleanings and brush twice a day. And floss.