What are some (realistic) things you wanted to get for a while, just for fun?

A 3D Printer, I think I'd enjoy making small "functional" things.

A Flipper Zero. I probably have the components to make something functionally equivalent, but that form factor, all-in-one nature, and simple UI look nice.

I have no need for it, I just want to tinker.

A cnc laser cutter with enough watts so it could cut thin metal but also acrylic and wood and stuff.

I would love to make rc airplanes, and medieval armor, and fun stuff like that

It might sound dumb, but I thought for a long time if it was worth to buy a tablet or not. Because I suspected I wouldn't even use it if had it. Then I found a great sale that helped me confirm my suspicion.

1. A bike. My last one was stolen off my apartment balcony
2. A kayak. Nowhere to put it though, and the balcony is out of the question thanks to 1.

E-bike. I'm faster than most of them on a road bike, and the limited range would drive me nuts, but I would like to have one for running errands

A hardcore ~$10k Xeon workstation with an Nvidia A100 GPU for AI stuff

A hidden shelf door, ie “Murphy Door”. No practical purpose for this other than maybe privacy/security for my master bedroom. I just think it’d look cool as hell to have a hidden door.

An electric bike.

Always wanted one. Will never, ever happen though. The thousands of dollars they cost will always be better spent on bills/food/meds/doctors appointments.

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A small construction excavator. I hate having to move dirt and gravel around with a shovel by hand.

A trailer. Would also come in useful for the aforementioned item.

My list of tech that I plan to get eventually someday:

1. A dragon box pyra
2. A gpd micro pc
3. Pine phone pro

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1. A stand mixer, I've always wanted one but don't have the space or the money.
2. A dreamcast, I foolishly sold the one I had and I miss it a lot.
3. An iPad just to try Procreate. I've seen videos that make it look like the bees knees and it really catches my attention.

Thermal Camera.

They're just so cool. Super useful for checking the effectiveness of stuff like insulation or heat sinks, and can be used to find hot spots you didn't know existed.

I just have trouble justifying dropping $300 on something I would only get maybe an hour max of usefulness from before it sits in a box for years.

Steamdeck. My laptop is outdated and having hardware issue; I also can't justify buying a decent PC tower. I have consoles but I miss a lot of the PC only games like the wargame series and HOI4.

As a retro computing enthusiast, I have a lot of systems with little practical value.

Fun level through the roof though.

A significant other. I’m 31. You’d think someone I’ve asked out in the past fifteen years would’ve said yes, but I’m just another loser.

I’ve given up and am no longer looking.

A pasta roller attachment for my mixer. Pasta is crazy easy to make and I think I can do that more often with the right tools

A cheap hot tub in the living room.

A (mechanical) typewriter. I have a cork board next to my desk and I've fancied replacing my handwritten cheat sheets and notes with typewritten ones. There's just something about typewritten stuff that makes it "official" to me.

A scooter/bike (electric would be fine). Never learned how to ride one, but I'd love to just take it for a ride up/down quiet mountain roads. Sure, I'd need to ride for a long time to reach somewhere quiet, but I feel that it'd be worth it.

I've thought about a racing drone. I kept with the drone racing league for a while on YouTube and thought that would be a lot of fun.

I even priced out some options (not cheap), but haven't pulled the trigger.

There is someone selling a bucyrus cable hoe (think antique excavator) not far from me but the price they want is outrageous.

I suppose a newer supertelephoto lens for my camera. I don't use it enough to actively look for it, but if someone got me an RF 100-500 as a present I wouldn't say no. Or even a EF Tamron 150-600 G2.

A side by side ATV kind of thingy for going out on the trails in our woods.

Ever since my father passed I've got his old motorcycle standing around. So first thing would be a driver's license for motorcycling. But I'm already taking classes so that's that. And the biggest lesson is what a money sink this hobby can be.

Then I'll need a motorcycle - either get the old thing working again or get a new one. Or why not both? Because the old one's 30 years old and doesn't have ABS.

And the third thing would be a Bambu Lab P1 3d printer. I don't need the speed but damn do they look good.

A mini pc for emulation. I've been following the emulation scene for years, particularly for Android over the last 5-6 years. I ride the bus to and from work, so it's always been nice to have them. For home, I have a Rasobery Pi 3B. It's nice. But it is a little outdated, and would like a boost in power. Thought about getting the RP5 if it ever comes out.

However, some companies are now starting to really go all in on mini PCs. For more modern PC gaming, it's not gonna get you the greatest experience. And I have a gaming PC right now. But I find that I prefer to run my emulators sitting on the couch. And now a lot of these minis are able to emulate up to PS3 and 360. Or at least as well as the emulators can work. However, for a model running the specs I want, I'm currently looking at anywhere from $700-900. So it might be a bit longer till I can afford one. Maybe with tax money if nothing else comes up.

A Teletype
I just like the sound and the oldschool vibe of these machines.
But the 'realistic' aspect shrinks as they are hard to get.

Yeah one of those little drones is definitely on my list. Also one of those big wide curvy computer monitors. I don't even know what I'd do with it, I just think they're neat lol

Edit: Oh yeah, also one of those giant Wacom tablets.

A lock picking set, just to play and see if I can do it

A tattoo on the inside of each forearm: On my left wrist, a wine key, all tools fanned out. On the right, a pocketknife, all tools fanned out. I'd specifically want my wine key and my (official BSA) pocketknife.

I'd love a Dreamcast or a Sega Saturn. I remember drooling over Electronics Boutique catalogues showing off the Dreamcast and wishing I had the money to buy one and play Phantasy Star Online.

I have no actual use or space for those systems and it's not like they'll actually make me feel like a kid again.

Right now, probably a Google tablet with a keyboard cover, but I'm broke and can't justify it when I have a perfectly good laptop.

An electric maxi-scooter, like the BMW CE 04. I don't want the BMW specifically, but the US market is extremely limited. It's really annoying, actually.

And the hardcore computer j4k3@lemmy.world also wants. But I'm not a developer (at least not yet...maybe later). I think it'd be cool to have a super powerful computer just 'cause.

Playdate (handheld console.)

I almost bought one, but I cancelled the order because my phone broke that evening.

A bunch of raspberry Pis to do cool stuff with. Like putting pihole/adguard home on one to set up a custom DNS server to block all ads, another one with some cool sensors, etc.

Perfect Grade RX-78-2 Gundam

I suppose a newer supertelephoto lens for my camera. I don't use it enough to actively look for it, but if someone got me an RF 100-500 as a present I wouldn't say no. Or even a EF Tamron 150-600 G2.

A side by side ATV kind of thingy for going out on the trails in our woods.

I bet you could find a Dot Matrix font for your injet or laser if you looked around.

As someone who lived through the dot matrix era, I'm just as glad that they are no longer with us. I've gotten spoiled by being able to read what I print without eyestrain. :-)

A Wii. I'm not super big into emulating it but I have a few games on dolphin. It's just the console I remember having the most fun with as a kid and I wanna experience that again. Every time I walk into a video game store the shelves are lined with Wii games so it shouldn't be hard to get into it compared to other older consoles like a GameCube or something

3D printer.

Cura Compatible.

A projector with surround sound speakers for my living room.

1. A custom gaming pc built by Digital Storm to replace my HP Omen laptop. I've done quite a bit of research. I looked at Digital Storm, AVA Direct, Maingear, Falcon Northwest, and System 76. For a while I was eyeing Maingear, then Falcon Northwest, but Digital Storm has most of the options that I'd want.

2. An 85 inch 8k tv for enthusiast purposes.

3. A three set bookcase for my room so that I can replace my old bookcase and to better store the books that I have and more.

4. A Purple queen-sized mattress with an adjustable base to replace my old bed and twin-sized mattress and also my incline pillow.

Interesting question.

1. Top of the line electric motorcycle. I think this would be the best from Zero Motorcycles, but I'd have to research (SR/S, I think).
2. A metal 3D printer. I love the abilities of 3D printing, but I'm not very excited about putting a bunch more plastic in the world. Also, plastic is not very strong and I assume metal prints could be very strong and therefore much more useful. Print a new motor for my motorcycle? Yes, please! And so much more: my own hardware store (screws, etc.), furniture, jewelry, silverware, cooking utensils, grill parts, etc.
3. Top of the line PC. $5k PC. It would be interesting to see what the bleeding edge looks like. Be nice to keep this because it would probably age well.