Topic: For once, we have hardware options that aren't massive pre-orders (Read 1234 times)
Well I got bored and purchased an S3. I'm going to clear out lot of my older inneficient miners and just keep this one S3. I know it will most likely loose money but it will look so much better than the cable mishmash for the 437GH/s I have now.
S3s are NOT preorders, they're sensible batch manufacturing and I fully support it. You simply can't manufacture, test and ship 1000-3000 units instantly, so you have to stagger it over a week to 10 days. That means you have to provide a worst case scenario of dispatch. And you have to arrange payment in advance of the earliest shipping.
= 2 day to 3 week window.
= 2 day to 3 week window.
As soon as the first one ships I'd agree (and full disclosure, I had great experiences with my S1s and bought some S3s the day they were available to buy).
Big point is, while a lot of people are talking doom and gloom, it seems to be it's never been better for the small miner!
S3s are NOT preorders, they're sensible batch manufacturing and I fully support it. You simply can't manufacture, test and ship 1000-3000 units instantly, so you have to stagger it over a week to 10 days. That means you have to provide a worst case scenario of dispatch. And you have to arrange payment in advance of the earliest shipping.
= 2 day to 3 week window.
= 2 day to 3 week window.
I started mining almost a year and a half ago, and in that time I've almost given up a number of times. Not because of cost, or because of difficulty increases, but just because at times there was nowhere to go for newer hardware!
But now it seems like for the first time in...well...quite some time, we actually have options!
Bitmain is launching their S3, which while technically is a preorder (albeit one that's supposed to be getting ship in the next week).
There are a number of AM3-based solutions from Rockminer, BTCGarden, etc.
Technobit has a number of options based on a variety of chips, including BA's Minion that's pretty impressive in the GH-per-chip area (ignoring BA's own complete failure to launch)
Even BA's X1 seem to be shipping finally giving yet another option.
Then there's stores like minersource.net (I know, some of you love em, some of you hate em), ASICPuppy (which I just ordered a couple of BTCGarden rigs from and can speak highly of) both shipping almost immediately even for people needing to pay in cash instead of BTC.
So yes, while it's getting harder for the little guy in terms of ROI and crazy difficulty increases (which seem to be going less insane if the estimates are to be believed), it's getting easier to actually get gear without throwing it at some not-yet-produced hardware that may or may not actually ship in 6 months...
But now it seems like for the first time in...well...quite some time, we actually have options!
Bitmain is launching their S3, which while technically is a preorder (albeit one that's supposed to be getting ship in the next week).
There are a number of AM3-based solutions from Rockminer, BTCGarden, etc.
Technobit has a number of options based on a variety of chips, including BA's Minion that's pretty impressive in the GH-per-chip area (ignoring BA's own complete failure to launch)
Even BA's X1 seem to be shipping finally giving yet another option.
Then there's stores like minersource.net (I know, some of you love em, some of you hate em), ASICPuppy (which I just ordered a couple of BTCGarden rigs from and can speak highly of) both shipping almost immediately even for people needing to pay in cash instead of BTC.
So yes, while it's getting harder for the little guy in terms of ROI and crazy difficulty increases (which seem to be going less insane if the estimates are to be believed), it's getting easier to actually get gear without throwing it at some not-yet-produced hardware that may or may not actually ship in 6 months...
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