Quote Originally Posted by NeoMorph View Post
I wish I could afford the things Jazz mentions but realise it’s not something I can afford and in the meantime I’m already cutting parts that are near enough perfect.
I think this sums it up quite well, I'm now at that stage where (I think) I've got the design for "my perfect machine" figured out and am now shopping around for prices. Once I know what my ideal machine will cost I'll have to decide whether it's worth it or if I'll have to start toning it down. This is where the different perspectives come in, they help greatly in understanding the trade-offs of what the possible "downgradings" of components would mean in practice. At the end of the day, I reckon all of us strive to have the best machine possible given our personal constraints (time/capability/money etc.). What's great about this forum is that I seem to be getting good advice from people with actual personal experience from whatever set-up they're using. This is what I find most valuable since it allows me to make an informed choice on where to spend my euros and also to set my expectations accordingly.

While I naturally don't like to see anyone being offended, as a novice bystander, it must be said, I still pick out good insights from the sometimes unnecessarily heated debates. As always, it's up to the one looking for advice/reading the forum to decipher the value of the information being conveyed. All in all, I'm grateful for both your and JAZZ's inputs, as I am for everyone else's who's contributed to this thread and elsewhere!

NB! Hope my reply didn't sound too much of an politician's reply, it so just happens to be how I feel about things...now I'll get back to shopping around!