Skip to main content

WHAT SHOULD I BUY WITH MY TAX REFUND?




The tanking of my mutual funds had one good result--mad cash for my tax refund.* After paying my property taxes for the first half of the year, I still have about $1350.** I usually like to get some sort of technology like a TV or computer, and I've narrowed it down to 6 things. Let me know what you think, faithful readers, which 2 or 3 should I go with?

IPOD TOUCH 30G ($400)
Pros: You get most of the iPhone features without the insane 2-year contract. It can access the Internet with Wi-Fi. Screen is better for playing games and watching TV than an Ipod Classic. Apps, apps, apps!
Cons: Expensive for the amount of storage you get compared to iPod Classic, and I have lots of music. Can't access Internet everywhere like iPhone. Apple will come out with a better one next week and I'll be sad.

SAMSUNG BLU-RAY PLAYER ($350)
Pros: Can finally find out what's so great about Blu-Ray. Will get the most out of my HDTV. It also has Netflix Watch Instantly.
Cons. Blu-ray will get cheaper, so I might want to wait until next year. My experiments with Netflix Watch Instantly suggest that higher-speed DSL might be in order, which would mean more monthly fees.

CENTER SPEAKER, REAR SPEAKERS & SUBWOOFER (varies, the most I'd pay would be $100 each)
Pros: My media center would be complete, and it seems a waste to have a 5.1 receiver without all the speakers to take advantage. Ability to watch movies late at night without my neighbors complaining (I have to have the sound up to hear the dialog over the soundtrack with the current system).
Cons: I might not be enough of an audiophile to hear the difference. Speakers not a "sexy" purchase.

ROKU PLAYER ($100)
Pros: Cheaper than a Blu-Ray player, and will soon have Amazon OnDemand videos in addition to Netflix Instant Watch. Supposed to be very easy to use. Viewing more Watch Instantly videos will give me more bang for my Netflix buck.
Cons: DSL might still be too slow. It only does a couple of things, and those things might be superseded by new technology (i.e. Apple TV adding Netflix Watch Instantly).

EYETV HYBRID ($125)
Pros: Like a Tivo, but without the monthly fees and you can burn to CD and edit out commercials. Exports to AppleTV. Less temptation to buy TV shows on iTunes. Will bring me closer to my dream of on demand TV when I want it. Even if I ever figure out how to program my VCR, I can't record while watching something else. Cons: There might not be enough TV to be worth it. My hard drive could get really full. Apple TV could add Hulu support or Boxee could take off, making me feel foolish.

ION USB TURNTABLE ($110)
Pros: Easy digitizing of my 300 LPs and assorted 7", 12" and EPs. No more worrying about line hum from some wire not touching metal in my complex stereo-to-computer hookup. My turntable is misbehaving, fixing or replacing it could be more expensive. Cons: If my turntable is easily fixable, it would seem like a waste. I did get some good recordings before I started having a line hum issue.

*Yes, I do plan to make charitable donations, take trips and save for emergencies. The nature of those items aren't up for discussion, so leave me alone.

**Yes, I know you're supposed to change your withholding if you get a lot of money back. I already have 2 Roth IRAs, 2 mutual funds, some stocks, a work retirement fund, and plenty in the old savings account, and no, I don't care if the government holds my money for a while. Don't judge me!

Comments

JethSeux said…
If you were to get the Ion player, you could listen to all of my Grateful Dead albums that I am sure you are just itching to hear!
You will have to forgive me, I have been spending too much time on Uchronia, and must have gotten lost in that strange dark alternate history where JFro got bonked on the head and became a hippy at a young age!
In this universe, I am far too much of a need to know on technology pseudo Luddite to be able to give much pragmatic advice on the issue, but whatever you decide baby, I will back you all the way . . . .

Popular posts from this blog

TOP TEN LIPSYNCH FOR YOUR LIFE SONGS FOR A DRAG KING EQUIVALENT OF RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE

 The Advocate has suggested that the greatest (i.e. only good) reality show ever, Rupaul's Drag Race , have a drag king contestant.  That's fine, but it would be much more entertaining to have a whole drag king competition. One of the best parts of Drag Race is seeing all the different types of queens compete: beauty queens, funny queens, conceptual queens, androgynous queens, scary queens, singing and dancing queens.  I want to see punk kings, gangsta rap kings, cock-rocking metal kings, panty-dropping R & B kings, country kings, baggy-pants burlesque comic kings, and of course, Elvis. I picked out some songs that make me think of different aspects of masculinity:  swaggering men, heartbroken men, lustful men, romantic men, philosophical men, and suicidally depressed men (interesting fact: I can think of dozens of songs by men about suicide, but only one female one: "Gloomy Sunday". What's up with that?) "That's Life" - Frank Sinatra

Things I Learned in 2020

Well, this has been quite a year, yessiree bob. But I’m being thankful right now of what I have and how my powers of Super-Introversion were activated by the current crisis as a laser-focus on learning stuff. Not that there weren’t many long hours of being too tired and paralyzed to move from the couch to the bed and vice-versa. And dusting and many other cleaning activities that didn’t aid in bodily sanitation were left by the wayside. Anyway, I hope that you too can make a list of things that you learned other than the details of the Electoral College.  How to make quick pasta sauce with canned tomatoes How to make instant oatmeal How to make creamed spinach Basic ASL Basic Inkscape Video conferencing with Zoom/Teams/Webex/Meet/Jitsi How to make ink-jet Shrinky Dinks Basic screencasting with Screen-Cast-O-Matic and Camtasia Online training creation with Niche Academy Online playlist transfer with Soundiiz Mask making Cuttlebone casting Intermediate Tinkercad Slide digitization Basic

WOMEN IN, ON AND AROUND FILM

Over at the Bitch Blog , they were talking about female movie directors, so I had to make sure psychotronic faves like Stephanie Rothman and Doris Wishman were given their due. I hadn't known that one of my favorite female badasses, the Kill-Bill -influencing Dag from Bury Me An Angel (introduced to me by Dr. S ), was also a woman director's creation (should've known). Then I put in a word for the woman who started me on my movie-obsessed path, the fabulous Pauline Kael . She taught me to own my loves and hates and call 'em as I see 'em. Maybe some people wouldn't consider her a feminist icon because she didn't always like the "right" movies, but read her review of Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore for some keen feminist insight. She totally terrified those guys in the movie boys' club. I mean, George Lucas named the villain in Willow after her! Here's Kael on the New Testament: Pasolini's The Gospel According To St. Mathew