Basses, Laptops And Cars?

[skorpx1]

So on Friday I am pretty much guaranteed a job and after that I will finally be making some cash. I'll have at least $580 after my first 4 weeks and I can afford to get a nice acoustic bass for that price. With that being said, here's the first question:


If anyone here has some good acoustic basses what brand and model is it, and how much does it cost? If its an Ibanez leave it out of the answer. I had an Ibanez once and it was a pure-bred POS. Never worked like I wanted it to and had a terrible sound to it.


Second question:

What would be a good gaming laptop? I don't want an Alienware laptop because those are just way too far out of my price range and i'd like something under $400.

Third question:

What would be a good car to buy as a first car for a 16 year old with a spare 3 grand? Iv'e been looking at a '99 Firebird because they look nice and get like 18 city MPG and 24 HWY.

Not to mention its got the same engine as a Camaro. 

[Spikes]

You cannot buy a good laptop for $400.

[minke]

18 mpg? You'll spend all yer time pushing it. I'm happy with 115bhp and 54 mpg myself

[skorpx1]

18 mpg? You'll spend all yer time pushing it. I'm happy with 115bhp and 54 mpg myself

18 MPG is the best i'll be able to afford. I don't have 22k laying around for a Smart Car or a Prius.

You cannot buy a good laptop for $400.

My friend has an HP Pavillion that he got for $349.95 and its pretty nice. He can run BF3, Arma 2 and Fallout New Vegas just fine on it.

[Fish42]

If your funds are that low don't buy a car that will cost you more in fuel, rego and insurance. A little 4 banger that's not too old is good. What ever money you would have spent on the firebird, save and you will have a buffer and be on your way to a much better car.

[uptown]

If your funds are that low don't buy a car that will cost you more in fuel, rego and insurance. A little 4 banger that's not too old is good. What ever money you would have spent on the firebird, save and you will have a buffer and be on your way to a much better car.

+1

[The Fugitive]

18 MPG is the best i'll be able to afford. I don't have 22k laying around for a Smart Car or a Prius.


My friend has an HP Pavillion that he got for $349.95 and its pretty nice. He can run BF3, Arma 2 and Fallout New Vegas just fine on it.

My 99 Mustang gets in the low 20's for gas mileage. Probably better if I didn't hammer it so much, but its just so much fun!  

Your first car is NOT going to be a hot rod, it is NOT going to be a luxury car, it is NOT going to be a "babe magnet", nor is it going to be some ritzy sports car. What your going to get is a "beater" some thing that passes inspection, is easy to care for, and is cheap. If you get a year or two out of it most people will be surprised.  As a young driver it WILL get banged up! You will not take as good a care of it as you should so why get a fancy car that you WILL ruin. Get a beater.

Look on Craigs list. look for a car that is being sold from a smaller town near-by. City cars get banged around alot, a car from a small town is more likely something that was used just to get to work and back and was taken care of. Have a mechanic check it out for you before you buy it. A good mechanic can spend 15 minutes with a car and find the problems it has.

Laptop..... only buy one if you need it for school or work. As a gaming machine they are only average at best, and to get that your going to have to spend a lot more than $400.

Basses, like any instrument, name, style, looks are all unimportant. How they sound is. Even if its an Ibanez, if it sounds good then it is.

[wpeters]

+1 on waiting on getting a car. You will be looking 350-500 Dollors every 6 months for Liabillity insurance just drive Mom and Dads as long as possible. If you need to tail a girl why u dont have your own hot ride tell her you are saving that money for later and spending some of it on her. She will like hearing that.

[skorpx1]

My 99 Mustang gets in the low 20's for gas mileage. Probably better if I didn't hammer it so much, but its just so much fun! 

Your first car is NOT going to be a hot rod, it is NOT going to be a luxury car, it is NOT going to be a "babe magnet", nor is it going to be some ritzy sports car. What your going to get is a "beater" some thing that passes inspection, is easy to care for, and is cheap. If you get a year or two out of it most people will be surprised.  As a young driver it WILL get banged up! You will not take as good a care of it as you should so why get a fancy car that you WILL ruin. Get a beater.

Look on Craigs list. look for a car that is being sold from a smaller town near-by. City cars get banged around alot, a car from a small town is more likely something that was used just to get to work and back and was taken care of. Have a mechanic check it out for you before you buy it. A good mechanic can spend 15 minutes with a car and find the problems it has.

Laptop..... only buy one if you need it for school or work. As a gaming machine they are only average at best, and to get that your going to have to spend a lot more than $400.

Basses, like any instrument, name, style, looks are all unimportant. How they sound is. Even if its an Ibanez, if it sounds good then it is.

The laptop doesn't have to be stellar. I just need it to run better than what I currently have and if it can store somewhere around 15 gigs of music then so be it.


As far as the car I want goes, reality blows. Ouch. The cars I see in my area on Craigslist are usually beat to hell and cost 1-2 grand. I doubt they'll run for more than 8 months if I get into it. My friend has an '02 Mercury Sable that he bought from someone on Craigslist for about 1k and it lasted 3 weeks before the tranny blew out on him. 2 months later he scraped up the 2k to fix it and it pretty much ran like new, until the brake lines crapped on him mid-drive and he had to replace those. Still, after he fixed it, it ran like new - until the front two cylinders started to misfire.

I swear his car is cursed. If anything i'll end up buying the Eclipse GS-T that my uncle has had for a few years. Probably the only one in all of Wisconsin that hasn't been riced by some idiotic guy thinking he's gonna look cool in it.

+1 on waiting on getting a car. You will be looking 350-500 Dollors every 6 months for Liabillity insurance just drive Mom and Dads as long as possible. If you need to tail a girl why u dont have your own hot ride tell her you are saving that money for later and spending some of it on her. She will like hearing that.

My mom won't let me get near the driver side of her car. That's definitely out of the question. As far as hauling a girl around i'm keeping away from that. Women are expensive and annoying, better left as "FWB" until the mid 20's.

[Fish42]

You will always take chances with older cars. My 2nd car was a well looked after car that my Aunt had babied for years. I had it for about 1 year. In that time I replaced/fixed over $1500 on it. I sold it for $100 after the clutch died(not my fault I swear! ).
My next car was off a car lot, and it lasted 4 years before an apprentice forgot to put oil into the motor after a service. 

I now drive a very nice car, but my first 3 were... not the greatest.

[Estes]

I'm past my mid 20's and still prefer friends with benny's. 

[skorpx1]

I'm past my mid 20's and still prefer friends with benny's.  

Cant say I blame you.

You will always take chances with older cars. My 2nd car was a well looked after car that my Aunt had babied for years. I had it for about 1 year. In that time I replaced/fixed over $1500 on it. I sold it for $100 after the clutch died(not my fault I swear! ).
My next car was off a car lot, and it lasted 4 years before an apprentice forgot to put oil into the motor after a service.  

I now drive a very nice car, but my first 3 were... not the greatest.

My friend with a manual Dodge Neon (I think that's what it is) kept on redlining and gear grinding the car until it finally broke down with only 120k miles on it. Needless to say he didn't know how to drive a stick very effectively.

[sarcasm]
Also I need a cool car so I can put 20 inch subs in it, 22 inch rims, a lowering kit and some stupid looking body kit so I can be teh koolest guy on da blokz! YEAH! RICE BURNERS![/sarcasm]

[guncrasher]

Cant say I blame you.


My friend with a manual Dodge Neon (I think that's what it is) kept on redlining and gear grinding the car until it finally broke down with only 120k miles on it. Needless to say he didn't know how to drive a stick very effectively.


Also I need a cool car so I can put 20 inch subs in it, 22 inch rims, a lowering kit and some stupid looking body kit so I can be teh koolest guy on da blokz! YEAH! RICE BURNERS!

now you are getting dumb. and you started sounding like you had a good head on your shoulders.


semp

[skorpx1]

now you are getting dumb. and you started sounding like you had a good head on your shoulders.


semp

Forgot to include the "/sarcasm"


Whoops.

[icepac]

A chinese made Ibanez is not the same as a Japanese made Ibanez.

I've never seen a bad Yamaha product as long as you buy one that is at least one step above the bottom level product.