Deciding on a Graduation Gift (for a friend)

[DLM_012]

I was originally going to buy him a PS3 but he bought one recently so that's out of the question. 

 

Now I'm at a toss up between buying him a slim Vita (when it reaches the US) or throwing together a $300 budget build for him. A few things worth noting are that his laptop kicked the bucket a few months back and he has to share his parents.' My friend does not know how to assemble computers so I figured buying him some compatible hardware and leaving him to buy the OS would be cost effective and a great learning experience. He would finally have something capable of entry level gaming and light video editing. Maybe I can use this as a Trojan to get him into PC gaming.

 

Then there's the Vita... He has PS+ so he'll instantly have a few games for free. In addition, he can use it with his PS4 when he eventually buys one. As an added bonus, I'll finally have a friend who owns a Vita and can play online with him.

 

I'm torn between the two in deciding.

 

tl;dr version: Vita or computer hardware (for first build) as a friend's graduation gift?

[Levent]

i personally like vita but if it was me i would pick computer hardware any day ,just get a ssd he will love it(assuming he already has a pc)

[Drown]

300$ won't get you very far, of course it's doable but since he doesn't have a computer at the moment, he might want to wait a bit to get a real gaming computer if he's a gamer. Does he have a monitor and periphericals already? Because that alone will cost a lot. You can propose him to pay 300$ for his next computer, and have him pay the rest, if that's what he wants =P

 

Slim Vita is my choice here, even though I'm a PC guy, from what you wrote it would be a great gift for him.

[Bonsai99]

Even though I hate the Vita it is the best choice in this situation, a $300 PC won't go far.

[Youbetternot]

The Vita

[Ares]

A car

A Jet 

10 Titans

and 

a

Ice cream

[Frix]

Vita 

 

ggwp

[Puppet]

You are asking LTT whether you should buy him a PS Vita or computer hardware?

 

GTFO

 

 

 

 

 

Just kidding, your call, you would probably know them better than any of us.

[niksuto]

I'm not sure what your friend used his laptop for. But if it was just for light web browsing and stuff like that a chrome book might be a cool gift?

[DLM_012]

i personally like vita but if it was me i would pick computer hardware any day ,just get a ssd he will love it(assuming he already has a pc)

 

I was going to throw my 128GB 830 series SSD in his computer to cut costs on the build.

 

300$ won't get you very far, of course it's doable but since he doesn't have a computer at the moment, he might want to wait a bit to get a real gaming computer if he's a gamer. Does he have a monitor and periphericals already? Because that alone will cost a lot. You can propose him to pay 300$ for his next computer, and have him pay the rest, if that's what he wants =P

 

Slim Vita is my choice here, even though I'm a PC guy, from what you wrote it would be a great gift for him.

 

I planned on reusing some 1866Mhz RAM I have laying around along with a SSD and possibly my old 6850. That would drastically cut costs. I already have a decent build put together though for the $300 budget. I was thinking a 6800K, a decent ASUS motherboard, and possibly a Bitfenix Prodigy but I haven't finalized my case decision yet.

 

You are asking LTT whether you should buy him a PS Vita or computer hardware?

 

GTFO

 

 

 

 

 

Just kidding, your call, you would probably know them better than any of us.

 

I'm actually surprised by some of these answers.

 

I'm not sure what your friend used his laptop for. But if it was just for light web browsing and stuff like that a chrome book might be a cool gift?

 

Mehhh I would feel like a cheap skate getting him a Chromebook. They're decent devices for what they do but I'd only buy something like a Chromebook for my mom who doesn't know how to do much on a computer.

[Puppet]

I'm actually surprised by some of these answers.

 

Yeah definitely was just kidding in case that influences your decision, to be honest a Vita wouldn't be that bad it could be the better choice for your friend, I would probably prefer some hardware but that's me.

 

Any possibility in getting a gift card for somewhere that sells both? or is that not thoughtful enough?

 

Edit: Just thinking a Nvidia Shield could be a compromise if hes getting hardware down the line, slightly over budget though...

[gibbsy81]

I was originally going to buy him a PS3 but he bought one recently so that's out of the question. 

 

Now I'm at a toss up between buying him a slim Vita (when it reaches the US) or throwing together a $300 budget build for him. A few things worth noting are that his laptop kicked the bucket a few months back and he has to share his parents.' My friend does not know how to assemble computers so I figured buying him some compatible hardware and leaving him to buy the OS would be cost effective and a great learning experience. He would finally have something capable of entry level gaming and light video editing. Maybe I can use this as a Trojan to get him into PC gaming.

 

Then there's the Vita... He has PS+ so he'll instantly have a few games for free. In addition, he can use it with his PS4 when he eventually buys one. As an added bonus, I'll finally have a friend who owns a Vita and can play online with him.

 

I'm torn between the two in deciding.

 

tl;dr version: Vita or computer hardware (for first build) as a friend's graduation gift?

Build him a little mini itx system.

[TechTheWorld]

Get him 600 gumballs.

[Exyn0s]

ps vita ftw!

[Matsy]

Why is graduation such a big deal over there?

 

Anyway....a vita.

[DLM_012]

Yeah definitely was just kidding in case that influences your decision, to be honest a Vita wouldn't be that bad it could be the better choice for your friend, I would probably prefer some hardware but that's me.

 

Any possibility in getting a gift card for somewhere that sells both? or is that not thoughtful enough?

 

Edit: Just thinking a Nvidia Shield could be a compromise if hes getting hardware down the line, slightly over budget though...

 

I feel that a gift card is impersonal. I'd give someone money before buying them a gift card. And shield is completely out of the question.

 

Build him a little mini itx system.

 

That's what I was thinking especially since Gigabyte recently came out with a FM2 mITX board

[DLM_012]

Why is graduation such a big deal over there?

 

Anyway....a vita.

 

Some people make it a big deal. I don't... Not really. I asked specifically not to have a graduation party last year despite me being able to rake in butt tons of money for doing so. I'm only buying my friends grad gifts because I like doing nice things for them every now and then. I don't expect nothing in return from them in terms of repaying me in the future with a gift but I think it's just thoughtful.

[zerouplol12]

a vita

 

i would say a nivivdia shield but you need a good graphics card to use it with pc games so he would be bowned to using android games

[TheDigitalRealm]

Buy him the second generation Nexus 7.

 

I'd have to agree on this one. Since tablets have gotten to the point where there are some really quite graphically intensive games out there, for example shadow gun THD and Dead Trigger. For mobile gaming I think I'd actually choose a 2013 Nexus 7 over a PS Vita. Games a a ton cheaper for starters. You'd be able to load a good few on there for him.

[Samdb]

Vita and marshmallows.

[Biased Opinion]

$300 worth of small pink musk pellets, those things are awesome.