the phone isn't cheap because it's chinese. all the phones are chinese. and, it's the same parts - they're all the same parts. it's the great scandal, right: all the phones are basically the same thing, they just look a little bit differently.

the phone is cheap because i'm not paying for an advertising and marketing layer of parasitic western bourgeois middle people. 

it's the same damn phone that you'll pay $1000 for because you like the logo on it - same parts, same slaves, but just different capitalists.

getting back to the pc-build...

i spent the last week trying to find a sound card with a good rca dac and just couldn't pull the trigger on anything. i had a long write-up about it, but i've let it go, and i'll have to come back to it.

the new/old desktop is otherwise done, although it's less clear how i'll be arranging the audio for it

the cash is in, so i've gone ahead and bought a lot of things. i had to swap some sources around. it turns out it's easier to buy at amazon.ca than i thought, and almost impossible to buy at amazon.com.

so, i ended up buying more things at best buy and more things at ebay.

updated total:
airwalk shoes (payless): $33
bicycle repair (city cyclery): $23
3x40 gb ide hds (kijiji):  $10
2x500 gb sshd laptop drives (best buy): $2x82
2 gb internal drive (best buy): $104
100 dvd-rs [best buy]: $30
50 bd-rs [best buy]: $45
2x2 gb laptop ram (amazon.ca): $2x15 + shipping, $47
8 gb sd ram for mp3 player (amazon.ca): $13
2 tb external drive (amazon.ca) : $123
50 cd-rs [amazon.ca]: $30
ps/2 to usb connector [amazon.ca]: $5
laptop battery (ebay): $22
2x4 gb laptop ram (ebay): $2x32
ip68 phone (ebay): 125
==================
830.99

that's exact, not rounded like above.

my max estimate was 881, but it included $80 for jewel cases (which i'll have to order tomorrow in the store) and $50 for a monitor. it didn't include the $56 i spent on day one. so, i'd be at $775.64 if you take day one out, and i'd be on track for $905.64, which mostly washes out in the extra $20 i sent on the phone. i can fix that by spending around $30 on the monitor tomorrow.

this is the phone i went with, and why i went with it:

tonight:
build the new studio desktop

tomorrow:
200 jewel cases [staples.ca]: $80   <------ buy in store
square monitor (pawn shop): <$50
massive groceries overhaul: $~200

later:
tv (kijiji)
table
bookshelves
guitar interface
usb soundcard out?

right now, i'm hungry.