How I got a Desk Setup worth $800, for only $230

So this Black Friday I wanted to get a monitor. I had been looking for one for a while and I decided to go to wait until Black Friday this year so I could get a deal. I went in hoping I could find a 27in 1440p monitor for less than $200. Yes, I know, high hopes. Anyway, on November 13th, something great happened. I found a 27in, 1440p monitor for $190 called the Lenovo Q27q-10. I spent pretty much the rest of the day looking at the monitor, watching videos and all, and I decided I would get it at the end of the 14th.

However, on the 14th, I found that new deals were appearing fast and decided that it was probably better to wait until it was closer to Black Friday because there could be many better deals that come later. On November 15th, around the evening, 6ish, I again started looking at the monitor. There were quite a bit of customer reviews and videos so it wasn't that hard to spend a lot of time on those pages. Later that day, around 9:30 PM, I checked the page again. To my horror (not really, I'm stretching it a bit), the monitor deal was gone. It went up from $190 to $300! After digging a bit into Best Buy Deals I found that their "Coolest Deal Sale," ended on November 15th (time zones are different so for me it just ended up ending at 9 PM on that day.)

Honestly, I was pretty mad. Why would the BEST deals, end BEFORE Black Friday?! That was basically what I was thinking. However, I knew that me venting about it wouldn't help. So after venting some more, I decided to look for some other deals. While I was looking one of my friends said something to me. He said, "well sometimes the biggest rewards in life, come with sacrifice." Obviously, he was mocking me. Anyway, after looking for a couple of days I found another Lenovo deal. The ThinkVision T27q-20. 27in, 1440p, for $200.

Sadly, this monitor had barely any reviews and no clear warranty, and my mom and I decided we did not want to take that chance, even if it was a big brand such as Lenovo. I again went searching. I came across a couple of monitors: the AOC Q32V3, the LG 27QN600-B, but honestly, none of them worked in my budget. I then found another Lenovo deal (I honestly don't know why it's always Lenovo,) it was a 24in 1440p screen for $170. It had a clear warranty and good reviews. It was Monday, November 16th by this time. The monitor was called the ThinkVision P24q. At first, I didn't like the 24in screen, but I decided that I never saw a 24in monitor. Maybe I would like the screen. So I decided to make a model out of cardboard, to see how big the screen was. And after I was done, I found that I actually did like the screen. So hooray, I found a monitor I want. Again. I asked my mom, and thankfully she told me to wait. She also questioned why everything was Lenovo. Anyway, on Wednesday, the 18th something great happened. My uncle contacted me saying that his work buddy had a 27in Dell monitor to sell for $180. It was used but he assured me it was in good condition. So I asked him the model number, and he told me. The name of the monitor is the Dell S2716DGR.

When I searched it up to see if it had what I wanted, I was shocked. I expected it to be a 1080p monitor since Dell isn't exactly the cheapest company. But instead, I found out, it was a 27in 1440p monitor, with a 144hrtz refresh rate, and a 1ms response time! And it costs like 500-800 bucks when it's new! I was in shock and awe, obviously, I said ya get it, (he would be payed back,) and I just started cramming research about it. Eventually, my uncle confirmed that we got it and then I just realized. My friend was right. I thought back to what he said, "sometimes the biggest rewards in life, come with sacrifice." That guy was a prophet. I couldn't believe it.

Now I also had a $50 budget for accessories. I already chose the Logitech K380 as my keyboard. It's Mac and Windows compatible, a great size, and only $30. Now I had $20 to choose a webcam or speakers. I chose webcam since I use headphones most of the time, and found the Jelly Comb 1080p Webcam. Then I remembered that I actually did have a speaker. It wasn't designed for monitors but it had an audio jack, and I had the cable, so I decided I was going to use that. The speaker is called the Altec Lansing Mini Lifejacket 3. I was satisfied and happy.

So the day I'm writing this is November 20th, 2020. I'm supposed to pick up my monitor tomorrow (Saturday.) We are probably going to order the webcam and keyboard today, and those will come Fri Nov 27th, latest. That's all for my post. If you want to see the links, you can click on the product name in the text (it should be a different color too.) Please follow me here and make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel: Gadget Sector. Goodbye and have a nice day =).

*the cover page desk setup is NOT my desk setup