Bitcoin Forum

I'll post in the newbie section as that's what this forum calls for when you start out. 
What can I say, I've been watching bitcoin for a month now.  I spent weeks researching, and lots of time pooling. 
Seems mining is not worth while unless you have the startup funds (and you don't have to take them out on credit). 
I've accumulated bits of coin, just something to hold onto in case the market explodes.  Isn't that what were all doing here?  However, I'm here for tips on mining, pooling, and true accumulation.  I'm open to all ideas.

Why don't you just buy a few?

The only true way is to try them all,I myself prefer Btcguild or Deepbit but it all depends on the speed of your miners.

if mining isnt viable have you looked at other ways to "earn" btc many opportunities out there. as there is less btc to be made in mining more and more btc based goods and services are appearing.

look at the pools available, 0fee, low stales, stability and maturity is what you should be looking for imo. also mid sized and smaller pools seem to have less "ddos" problems.

Is there anything from this list that you might be interested in?
  - http://bitcoin.witcoin.com/p/269

A look at YouTipIt might spur some ideas as well.

To be honest, doing some surveys on our site (FreeBitcoins.org) will earn you bitcoins way faster than mining.

Of course, some people would rather sit back and earn (mining) than spend time clicking buttons (doing surveys, etc.) :)

I joined and tried to earn them. After 25 minutes filling in a survey I was entered into a pool to win £1000 instead of any Bitcoins. So that was a waste of time, unless I win the £1K of course.  :)

And... now I'm not going over to fill surveys...

If you want to earn bitcoins by some other way than mining, perhaps there is work you can do for bitcoins? I think more goods and services being offered for bitcoins would help the bitcoin a lot as currency.

Just buy them.

That way you will minimize the time you spend thinking about this whole misguided idea, and you can move on with your life.

PS I think the market is going to decline sharply, so why not set up an account somewhere and put in a bid for 20 at $5?

That way you'll have all the fun of owning 5 pieces of useless internet history and you're only out a hundred bucks.

Bitcoin is already a very secure means of transferring wealth due to the miners.  If you are looking into getting into bitcoin, you should consider options other than mine or buy+hold.  Some options, such as creating a webservice, have very low cost in btc/usd so it is easy for someone to get in. 

My advice, forget mining. Look around your house for some garage sale items, list them at biddingpond or some other site.

The survey provider enters you into that draw.  We give you the bitcoins.  They should be in your account :)

You can sell digital goods like mmorpg accounts or game codes.

It's not as difficult as you think to accumulate coins. A little creativity can go a long way.

Take a look at some of the services people post on BitGigs. It might give you some ideas.