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Consolidating my electronic entertainment stuff and outdoor gear for Alaska!
HyperAquaBlast
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
So I am transferring to Kodiak Alaska this summer and will be there for two years(hopefully). Had I been moving to a normal U.S. city this summer, my original plan was to upgrade all my current stuff once I arrived for nice a PC office and home theater room. So since that isn't happening, my new plan is to live really light entertainment wise compared to what I have now. Also need to gear up my person too.
TL;DR
So help with the tech stuff following:
- Find a 23" to 32" monitor or TV for HDMI/DVI/Component connections. Needs to work best as a PC monitor first and a console player second. I have had issues before with LCD TVs not working well with PC resolutions changes and getting locked out for being out of perimeter but don't know if that’s gotten better.
- A way to get PC and console audio to come out of one source with little or no physical cable swapping. Consoles will be using HDMI.
- A nice desk to fit all these things. Preferably L-shaped with seating in the center if those exist.
- PC high end upgrade now or lower tech purchase? Own lots of Steam games but use the PC for very very little non-internet stuff.
Outdoor stuff help
- A mountain bike for a 6'2 male with sub-intermediate bike skills. Haven't mountain/trail biked in a decade but normal biked here and there since then. Bike equipment too (clothes and tools).
- What should I look for in rain gear? Like rain boots with thermal insulation, do I find sizes bigger then what I wear or are they made already with that in mind? Rain pants same thing?
- How much is too much or little for good hiking boots?
- I am betting the night skies are awesome there so maybe I should get a nice star gazing scope or some binoculars?
- Short term back packing gear kit.
They probably have all this stuff in the little Kodiak town but it’s a lot cheaper to get stuff now then out there so that’s why I ask.
Thanks in advance for the advice and suggestions!
Extraneous info
Couple of reasons for this is because of time, distance and location. I will only be in Kodiak for 2 years which should speed by quickly and I want to make the transfer in/out easy with little damage across the country (I'm in Virginia now). Due to Kodiak being an island off of Alaska it gives it the added benefit of extra shipping costs and time from my favorite online stores. Not a big deterrent but I'll take it as something keeping me from getting new toys. I want to change my lifestyle to take advantage of the area for hiking, mountain biking and become a gym rat since the place looks like a paradise for it. 3Mbs max internet connection for a $130 a month might also force me to leave internet alone a lot more which can be good too. Although the place isn't extremely bad environmentally from what I hear but it does rain a lot, gets rather cold and little sunlight some of the year so being home often will happen when not working. I can't totally throw away my main hobbies cold turkey.
Right now in my living room I have a Samsung 46in LCD connected to a Onkyo receiver for surround sound along with all the current gen systems hooked into it. A awesome set up if I do say so myself for games and blu-rays. I had already decided awhile ago to upgrade the TV and receiver so I am shipping that to my father along with the receiver as a gift/hand-me-down. So as to not welch on him they will be gone soon even though they won't be replaced with better things.
In my PC area I have a 2008 based mid-range gaming computer. It was hastily built together cheaply as my gaming laptop died that year and I was sort of shifting towards becoming a console person so not much thought was put into it other than to play games a-ok along with internet and porno of course. Told my PC-less out of work buddy that he could have it as charity/karma on my part. The monitor is a shitty 22" Acer that has bad viewing angels and bleed through. I have 2005 23" Samsung tv I use as a second monitor sometimes for watching Netflix but its bezel is huge and has ghosting so those two will be going away too.
A lot of nice things that are gone but now I want to minimize it all that I had to fit on to one desk.
Couple of reasons for this is because of time, distance and location. I will only be in Kodiak for 2 years which should speed by quickly and I want to make the transfer in/out easy with little damage across the country (I'm in Virginia now). Due to Kodiak being an island off of Alaska it gives it the added benefit of extra shipping costs and time from my favorite online stores. Not a big deterrent but I'll take it as something keeping me from getting new toys. I want to change my lifestyle to take advantage of the area for hiking, mountain biking and become a gym rat since the place looks like a paradise for it. 3Mbs max internet connection for a $130 a month might also force me to leave internet alone a lot more which can be good too. Although the place isn't extremely bad environmentally from what I hear but it does rain a lot, gets rather cold and little sunlight some of the year so being home often will happen when not working. I can't totally throw away my main hobbies cold turkey.
Right now in my living room I have a Samsung 46in LCD connected to a Onkyo receiver for surround sound along with all the current gen systems hooked into it. A awesome set up if I do say so myself for games and blu-rays. I had already decided awhile ago to upgrade the TV and receiver so I am shipping that to my father along with the receiver as a gift/hand-me-down. So as to not welch on him they will be gone soon even though they won't be replaced with better things.
In my PC area I have a 2008 based mid-range gaming computer. It was hastily built together cheaply as my gaming laptop died that year and I was sort of shifting towards becoming a console person so not much thought was put into it other than to play games a-ok along with internet and porno of course. Told my PC-less out of work buddy that he could have it as charity/karma on my part. The monitor is a shitty 22" Acer that has bad viewing angels and bleed through. I have 2005 23" Samsung tv I use as a second monitor sometimes for watching Netflix but its bezel is huge and has ghosting so those two will be going away too.
A lot of nice things that are gone but now I want to minimize it all that I had to fit on to one desk.
TL;DR
So help with the tech stuff following:
- Find a 23" to 32" monitor or TV for HDMI/DVI/Component connections. Needs to work best as a PC monitor first and a console player second. I have had issues before with LCD TVs not working well with PC resolutions changes and getting locked out for being out of perimeter but don't know if that’s gotten better.
- A way to get PC and console audio to come out of one source with little or no physical cable swapping. Consoles will be using HDMI.
- A nice desk to fit all these things. Preferably L-shaped with seating in the center if those exist.
- PC high end upgrade now or lower tech purchase? Own lots of Steam games but use the PC for very very little non-internet stuff.
Outdoor stuff help
- A mountain bike for a 6'2 male with sub-intermediate bike skills. Haven't mountain/trail biked in a decade but normal biked here and there since then. Bike equipment too (clothes and tools).
- What should I look for in rain gear? Like rain boots with thermal insulation, do I find sizes bigger then what I wear or are they made already with that in mind? Rain pants same thing?
- How much is too much or little for good hiking boots?
- I am betting the night skies are awesome there so maybe I should get a nice star gazing scope or some binoculars?
- Short term back packing gear kit.
They probably have all this stuff in the little Kodiak town but it’s a lot cheaper to get stuff now then out there so that’s why I ask.
Thanks in advance for the advice and suggestions!
HyperAquaBlast on
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Posts
MTB - Price range?
Also I guess you make your own trails
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3eiP66FhmLM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hvfy4NPi4Tw
http://www.iofast.com/product_info.php/products_id/1855
I just bought one last week, works great, and its really cheap. I strongly recommended buying any cables you need from that site as well, it is very cheap, but you get screwed in the shipping. Try and order everything from as few warehouses as possible. Also, a 3.5mm extenuation cable is highly recommended with that, unless your tower is behind you monitor. Like, right behind your monitor. From my sub-woofer I have the basic cord, plugged into that splitter, and then the extension cable plugged into my monitor. Works great, I just have to turn it up fairly loud because my monitor sucks, and has no volume control I can find.
As for the desk, I am currently in the process of designing and building my own L-shaped desk. I have done a bit of research into this. Ikea has the Galant series, which is pretty much just a horizontal surface to put your stuff on. You can pay extra and get cable management, basic shelving and things, but the prices rack up quickly. Try Craig's list first hand, I know that near me is a desk just like you want, that is metal, for $25. I would buy it, but I can't mount an ethernet switch, drill a monitor stand into, or mount shelving for my PS3 and 360 under a metal desk. Building it yourself is always a very good idea, because you get exactly what you want, for as much as you want to pay, pretty much, but that requires some craftsmanship and quite a bit of work.
http://www.amazon.com/Bestar-Hampton-Office-Computer-Tuscany/dp/B001UHM6VS/ref=pd_sbs_op_6
There is one to look at, but at $340, that's a little expensive.
Kodiak is also a major crab harbor, so if you like King Crab, you will find it there. At the end of May Kodiak has a crab festival, it's a great event that the entire community gets involved with. There is a "club" or two in Kodiak, but don't expect anything. Everyone dresses down across the island, if you dress "up", you will definitely stand out.
Don't skimp on raingear or hiking boots. I would recommend just grabbing some heavy duty HH and layering beneath it. As for boots, something that will last, and waterproof. Kodiak has some interesting weather patterns, so catching the night sky can be frustrating - don't expect much.
Short term backpacking kit? Well - on Kodiak unless you take a boat or flight, you most likely are going to be somewhere near a road, but still. Fire starting gear, water purification, first aid kit, a bear bell and bear spray, leatherman, compass, map, gps, food, on and on. Personally, when I hike in Alaska I pack like I might have to spend 24-48 hours hunkering down.
I could go on and on, but I don't know why you are going down - if you have access to people who are currently there, use them and ask away.
Anyways the main topic is actually the all in one game spot and I think I may have figured it out.
Acer 27"
It has a audio in and a headphone out. So say I get it and plug in the 360 to it via HDMI, I should be able to utilize the headphone out for sound with the adapter Bigbluefoot suggested and then with a double male from monitor to pc on the audio in jack for when I switch back to PC from 360, right?
Its a good thing I caught my error before you bought that cable. I accidentally clicked on the output splitter, rather than the input splitter. The one you want is this one:
http://www.iofast.com/product_info.php/cPath/89_473_476/products_id/1856
You plug the speaker cable into the female side, then get a regular extension cable (M/F) to go from the splitter to the monitor, and then just plug the other end directly into you tower. Or, use the extension to computer if your speakers are all on your desk.
That monitor seems to be of much higher quality than mine is, so I don't think you have to worry about my volume problem. If you do have to worry about it, just turn your PC down, and your speakers up. That fixes it pretty well.
EDIT: Upon looking at your monitor again, it has built in sound, so you should be good without extra cables.