Computer Assembly and Repair

Level1Techs INBOX.deb
1

Hey Logan, Wendell and the rest of the Tek Syndicate team,

Alright, heres the situation. I'm currently doing a course for Computer Assembly and Repair (as the name suggests, this includes assembling computers, soldering, etc.) Only problem is, I have no way of getting experience in this field. Sure, I built a PC with what little money I had a while back, but its getting a bit old. And also every now and then Ive built a few friends a new PC.

So my question is:
Any suggestions about what I could do to get more experience? I really enjoy building PCs.

Could you possibly chip in and help me with the vast array of computer hardware you have there laying around?

Also, I live in Australia and most of the things you suggest to buy are on either Amazon or Newegg. Do you know of any other good, but cheap websites I could use instead? Or is there a way that I can get items shipped to me from Amazon or Newegg?

 

Any advice and help would be much appreciated, thanks in advance.

Regards, Josh

2
Websites:

  • au.pcpartpicker.com
  • pccasegear.com
  • scorptec.com
  • mwave.com.au
  • ple.com.au
  • cplonline.com.au

Experience:

  • Breadboard circuits (wires, resistors, capacitors, inductors, batteries, LEDs, diodes, amplifiers, transistors...)
  • Raspberry Pi or Arduino
  • Computer networking
  • Take apart a console and explore the inside...
3

If you're looking for experience, try canvassing local PC shops and ask for a job/volunteer your time or whatever. Bug them until they say yes. Or, alternatively you could run your own shop with pre-orders to begin with until you build up stock - like mr singularity.

 

Some more websites;

StaticIce   (parts search engine).

MSY

Umart

 

Most techies/geeks will shop locally at MSY because of their immense buying power vs cost.

Pccasegear and Scorptech are both my favourite places for PC hardware. They are a little more expensive due to their enthusiast orientated stock.

Check out whirlpool's knowledgebase for a more in depth look at the Aus PC market.

4

Are you not gaining experience in your class?

 

As far as donations, if you're in some kind of university or technical school, it's probably easier to try to get donations for the school, rather than for yourself. You could do something like set up a project with the school where they accept computer hardware donations, you assemble them, and then run something like Tor relays, or SETI or some other distributed computing project on the computers. Not only would you be gaining experience building and trouble shooting computers, you'd also be doing something to contribute to human freedom and privacy, and you'd be contributing to science. A good selling point for a school.

 

 

I want some free hardware too, and I too go to school for IT btw kthx.