[...] did ours for one fifth of the cost! J.D. at Get Rich Slowly has his rules too when it comes to doing home improvement projects. He suggests: The cost and [...]

[...] DIY: Buying It vs. Making It Yourself [...]

All it takes is a little reading, a little online research, and maybe a few project ideas to get you going. Companies like Parts Express, Madisound, Meniscus, Solen can supply you with everything you need except for the MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) to build the enclosures — you can get that at your local lumber yard.

The only bad part about the total DIY method is the time it takes to build a pair of speakers… typically 30-40 hours for a pair by the time you cut, assemble, veneer, install, test, tweak, tune and test again.

Or, if you don’t want to do deal with all the math that comes with designing your own loudspeakers (or if you don’t have time), you can get kits that still offer excellent sound for the money — about all you need is basic soldering skills, a hot glue gun, and a screwdriver. A few hours of assembly gets you speakers comparable to those that retail for twice as much (or more).

Thanks for the impressively prompt and thorough reply. I feel we may be discussing two different things, however. I have been focusing on “easy to learn how to muck around inside”, and it seems your points are aiming toward the expandability and options after you have already learned how.

Your points are all valid, however. I have come close to building my own Mac, but as you cannot buy all of the individual components as a consumer, it was actually a frankenstein of other machines.

My personal favorite point of yours is the “there’s little reason to ever fiddle inside a Mac except to upgrade memory.” Every time I have had a friend with an issue, I just sent them to the Apple Store, who had them up and running again for free within hours, with no interrogation or paperwork. Not having to pay to replace broken parts or wait around while my computer was mailed off has saved me lots of money over the years.

No offense taken, either. I’m certainly not defending Macs or PCs; I use both on a regular basis. I’m just relating my experiences. It’s nice to see you using older computers, as well. Buying older or refurbished computers or parts (what you need, not what you want), as well as hanging on to them for longer can save you a fortune in technology.

Best of luck saving up for the MacBook!

My statement “Unless you’re a Mac user, it’s easy to learn how to muck around inside your computer” contains a multitude. With the caveat that I still have not used an intel-based Mac, here’s my reasoning:

• First and foremost, there’s little reason to ever fiddle inside a Mac except to upgrade memory. (Which every Mac user will have to do, probably, because Apple is criminal about shipping too little.) Default Mac configurations work great, and there’s little reason to open a Macintosh to look inside.
• As far as I’m aware, the Mac OS still will not boot except on an Apple-built machine. You cannot build a Mac. It’s easy to build a PC.
• It’s a simple matter to swap just about any part in- and out-of a PC. I can’t speak to Intel Macs, but I suspect choice is still rather limited as to what you can install. I’ve seen reports of upgraded processors, etc. but you’re still not going to be able to install just any graphics card, I’ll wager.
• PC users outnumber Mac users by a ratio of nearly 20-to-1. By learning to work with PCs, you have a skill that can be used to help friends and family. It can even be used to make a little cash!

I wasn’t knocking Macs when I made that statement. I was simply being pragmatic.

I am curious about your line “Unless you’re a Mac user, it’s easy to learn how to muck around inside your computer”, though. Considering Apple desktops are made especially to be easily opened and accessed, and once you get in there you have the same parts as any other PC, what makes it any harder to learn? Macs are now Linux and Intel-based, and you can even drop down to a command line if you really wanted. Given my years of building and rebuilding computers, I prefer the easy latch open and close to the dozens of tiny screws and awkward sliding sheet metal that i’ve cut myself on with PCs.

As you might be able to tell from my website, the usability of things tends to be important to me, so I put a lot of emphasis and pride in companies that put effort into making their products easy to use and accessible. I am always curious why someone feels that something isn’t simple and usable, so I can add that knowledge into things I create in the future.

Keep up the great articles!

Oil changes here are usually in the 20$ CDN range and doing it myself with a high quality oil and filter sets me back around 25$. The difference is in quality of the products: high quality oil and filters will get you allot more milegage before you’re due again.

I would deifnitly recommend changing the oil yourself however. If you’ve never done it before, just jack your car (consult your owner’s manual to find the correct way to do it as the reinforced metal spots vary from one car to the next), slide under and find a bolt under the gas tank. Simply undo, let it drip onto a pan and put it back in. Same thing for the filter. Once you oil is drained, twist it off (it can be really hard to take off depending how tight it was put on last time) then lit it drip, screw on the new one and fill ‘er back up.

Knitting is a great way to catch the wasted moments in a day. I mean, I could spend a few hours on the train and have nothing to show for it, or I could spend a few hours on the train and have a pretty scarf at the end of the ride!

So I’m trying to get good enough to knit my own. Not quite there yet–socks mean lots of tiny little stitches!–but I’m getting there, and it’s really a case of near-necessity. Yes, I could wear men’s socks, but I don’t especially want to do that anymore!

But with knitting, you get two things in one. The act of it is a hobby, the result is something you can wear. The cost of the yarn, even nice yarn, on a per-hour basis for a pair of socks is going to be miniscule as entertainment expenses go.