Hummm, lots of good suggestions. Honestly what I would do is get something cheap that works. Then learn what your needs are.

3D Printers are a tool, and like all tools there are cheap ones which break in 30 seconds if you are actually using them. And tools which will last a lifetime but cost a fortune.

As someone who started with the (at the time) budget printer, the MonoPrice Select Mini. My suggestions are are follows.

200mm x 200mm x 200mm heated bed. This is common for printers who are clones of the i3 and isn’t hard to get cheap.

Doesn’t require proprietary software or can use open source software. Back in the day some printers would only take gcode from their proprietary slicer software. Flashforge comes to mind. But just check if what you are buying has a profile (even community made) for you slicer. Prusa and Cura are the 2 popular ones everything else is based on.

Automatic bed levelling. Whether it’s magnets like a MK3 or a touch sensor like the ender 3. So long as it can mesh bed level out of the box it’s fine. So long have I tried to dial in my printer only for it to need to be dialled in again.

Finally check Amazon or other sites for replacement parts. This is a machine and parts wear down. You don’t need to replace everything, but belts hot end assemblies, print beds and sensors are a going to break and need replacing.

For my recommendation is for a ender 3 s1 or the elegoo Neptune as they meet my spec and look fine. Though triple check with reviews

When it comes to playing DS/3DS games the best hardware I found that can do it well is an iPad… or a 3DS.

No one is really focusing on making a good stylus for tablets and the iPad works well for DS games. And it has enough power to play and do everything else… except 3DS since Apple didn’t permit JIT.

3DS on the other hand is easy to mod, easy to run archived games and does everything nicely. Sure it takes time to setup, but it’s worth it.

Yes modern Windows is based on the NT Kernal. However to keep with compatibility with older programs, NT needs to be compatible with DOS. For most people they never saw the transition from DOS to NT, since it was quietly done with Win XP.

When I was taking cyber security, Sandboxing and Linux was one of the topics which was brought up.

https://docs.redhat.com/en/documentation/red_hat_enterprise_linux/7/html/selinux_users_and_administrators_guide/chap-security-enhanced_linux-securing_programs_using_sandbox

Not sure when I associated it with the entire OS. It appears that the Host OS can be sandboxed for added security, and some containerized applications like Flatpaks are sandboxed. But not all applications are. Like the OS provided packages in most package managers.

From a windows perspective Linux does 2 things differently which makes it more secure to Windows.

1. Like MacOS it doesn’t need antivirus software like Norton. Windows needs antivirus because DOS the OS windows is based on, had it where any program had access to anything. This is still sadly true even on Windows 11. Linux is Sandboxed, where instead of giving the program full access to everything, you just give it a sandbox with what it needs.

Unless you deliberately run a program as the admin of Linux (su or sudo), malicious code can just delete system32.

2. Linux’s is open source and while the desktop market share is tiny, there are a massive market in servers. As a result since there are a lot of eyes on the project if/when problems are found they are fixed quickly. I remember a time when a malicious actor was trying to add a backdoor into a library as a blob and it was caught.

Windows on the other hand is closed source, meaning if MS can’t find the issue, the only time it is found is when it’s in the field. To avoid downtime MS offers bug bounty programs for those who can find issues, rather than to let them exploit it.

🥲

I just want to say that the V in this specific MVP wasn’t Viable

I going to point out the V wasn’t for Viable

I went from Ryzen 1000 to intel 12000 since I need single threaded performance above all else (CAD). Plus it was a steal of a deal.

If Intel ever sorts out their drivers or it gets cheap enough I might for at 14000 chip but no further.

I like it because when I have an issue, the ones for Ubuntu and Debian also work.

I’d also recommend hot keying it to Carl shift wax for that authentic feeling

Depends on the tripod. Being able to have something more sturdy hold it is fantastic, but since it’s juts a 1/4” adapter you can adapt it to anything.

I can’t tell if I am still seeing red because I played the virtual boy too long… or if my eyes are just bleeding. I’ll check after this headache goes away

The Sims 2 recommendation is no joke. Honestly picked it up hoping it would be like he pc game. Kept it since it’s a wacky story game with aliens, cults, robots and vampires.

PixelJunk Monsters - tower defence game with a fantastic soundtrack

Patchwork hero’s - fun puzzle game where you take down giant airships

Everyday Shooter - twin stick shooter with a unique soundtrack

Persona 3 Portable - even atlus remastered this game as is.

I would also throw in GTA Vice City stories - love the story and it holds up better than liberty city stories

Got the GBA version of the game a while ago now. It’s a fun Metroidvania and feels like Wayforward used what they learned from Pirates Curse and other games to improve it.

While it’s based on the unreleased prototype of the GBA game it doesn’t feel like one of their games from the era. If this was to be released back then as is, it would be one of the best platformers on the system.

Yup, my tower still has my Windows 10 drive in it. If I need it it’s there, but for the most part I don’t need it.

Step 1) Find a Distro which you are comfortable with using. Over the years I’ve tried Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian, and Arch, and I’ve settled on Linux Mint since it’s familiar to me, but also easy to use and lots of forums with trouble shooting since it’s based on Ubuntu/Debian. Arch is my close second if you want the bleeding edge and are OK with stability.

Step 2) Find the right UI. Most distro’s default desktop environments are good, but I found Cinnamon and KDE Plasma to be perfect for me. If you are looking for a more Mac like experience Gnome is a good starting point too. Though you can customize any distro to look like any OS with enough time and effort.

Step 3) Software.

Games is a solved problem these days. Steam works natively and Proton is good enough for lie 99% of your games. You just need to enable it and you will be good to go. If you are playing non steam games, Heroic is a simple application which works, though if you are installing anything more complicated, i.e. a CD game Lutris is your friend. Not sure about gamepass as the Microsoft store is Windows exclusive.

Office Software: LibreOffice is installed by default on all OS’s and is based off of OpenOffice, but it’s actually still in development.

Photoshop: Yeah this is going to be your make or break it situation. Photoshop has no real substitute in linux. GIMP isn’t bad, but is only good for image manipulation not creation. Kirta is more of an art studio rather than Photoshop. What I personally do is a lot of work. Affinity Photo is a close second place for Photoshop but it’s Mac/Windows only. Good News, with Proton you can run it. Bad News it’s a pain in the rear to do so. I strongly suggest Bottles and the ElementalWarrior build of Wine to get it working there are some guides on how to do it. But again it’s a pain in the rear.

In some regards how I get around Windows Limitation is just have a virtual machine with windows on it to run when I need it. Doesn’t need much power and I use it when I need it. I…e backing up my iPhone or sending music files to it.

Ubuntu, I was drawn in with the 3D cube and the ability to play games. The only game I had compatible then was TF2. So I left.

Back to it full time now, almost all games work, and on Mint

Mine is just Polydryer. Keep the box low humidity keep the filament low humidity.

Need more testing to see how well this works though since swapping filament in these boxes is inefficient and the beads quickly get used before you need to reset them.

Only do this if you have money to burn, or you are doing 3d printing as a business and at scale