Been reading for weeks, some questions from a mining newbie

[udt89]

So i have been doing some reading and plan on making the jump.  here are some questions:

1-  Am i wasting my time buying an asic miner?  i dont plan on mining bitcoin as i want to target altcoins and convert to btc.  The reason i ask if its a waste is if I buy 1-2 200gh/s units for around $4000, when BFL finally ships the 600gh and the th/s units come out, wont these units drop drastically in price?

2-  In regards to above, if i wait two months for these units to possibly ship I probably wont get one anyway.  So is the waiting game worse than buying now?

3- Can all altcoins be mined solo?  I dont really like the pool concept and would rather mine solo.  Is this the wrong idea?

4- How do I exchange my altcoins for USD or BTC?

5- Can someone post a link or something how to secure your coins?  I assume that each altcoin i mine is going to need its own wallet.  Does that mean I will need multiple usb drives to backup each wallet?

6- Where is there an accurate calculator that can show if im running two 200gh units both at 900w each, will it be profitable to even turn these things on?

I really just want to get started but I also dont want to get ripped off buying a unit or get my coins stolen.

Thanks

[Melkiah]

If you're mining alt-coins you can't use an ASIC miner.. keep reading.

Litecoin and associates don't use SHA256, they use stratum. scrypt

Thanks Raggsock, it's early in the morning here X.X

[Raggsock]

Litecoin and associates don't use SHA256, they use stratum scrypt.

[udt89]

If I wanted to mine peercoin, firefly coin or terracoin am I using asic or scrypt?

[udt89]

I feel like u gave wrong info

[energeez]

i mine solo 

[odolvlobo]

1-  Am i wasting my time buying an asic miner?  i dont plan on mining bitcoin as i want to target altcoins and convert to btc.  The reason i ask if its a waste is if I buy 1-2 200gh/s units for around $4000, when BFL finally ships the 600gh and the th/s units come out, wont these units drop drastically in price?

Apparently, there is an ASIC miner coming out for script coins, but I don't know much about it. If you are planing to mine SHA-256 coins, then I think BTC is actually the most profitable. 1 GH/s is worth less that 0.02 BTC right now, and the value is dropping rapidly. It will be worth less than 0.01 BTC in a month or two. I don't expect the price of mining equipment to drop quickly enough because too many people are willing to overpay for it.

2-  In regards to above, if i wait two months for these units to possibly ship I probably wont get one anyway.  So is the waiting game worse than buying now?

The amount of BTC that 1 GH/s can mine is dropping quickly. You need to factor that into your profitability calculation.

3- Can all altcoins be mined solo?  I dont really like the pool concept and would rather mine solo.  Is this the wrong idea?

Altcoins can be mined solo, but you won't get consistent income.

4- How do I exchange my altcoins for USD or BTC?

BTC-e, Cryptsy, and Bter are popular exchanges. Check cryptocoincharts.info for a list of alt coins and where they can be traded.

5- Can someone post a link or something how to secure your coins?  I assume that each altcoin i mine is going to need its own wallet.  Does that mean I will need multiple usb drives to backup each wallet?

Yes. Each coin has its own wallet. You need to encrypt and back up each one.

6- Where is there an accurate calculator that can show if im running two 200gh units both at 900w each, will it be profitable to even turn these things on?

mining.thegenesisblock.com is a great calculator. Make sure to enter the proper values. Don't assume the default values are correct.

[jimmyjimmy]

How do I exchange my altcoins for USD or BTC?

Easy !
just take a look at localbitcoins
that can help

[udt89]

thanks for all the help guys.  i ended up liking coinbase the best as far as buying/selling BTC.  i also liked btc-e for alt coins.

i was wondering one thing about sending BTC to people as payment for items.  if i wanted to buy something that costs 2.4 BTC, i have to buy exactly 2.4 BTC?  I cant buy 5 and send 2.4?

I read that the other day and it seemed pretty limiting for the currency as a whole.

[CornedBeefHash]

Don't waste your time mining. Just buy Bitcoins. You will never ROI buying anything at this point.

[udt89]

Don't waste your time mining. Just buy Bitcoins. You will never ROI buying anything at this point.

im going to mine altcoins.  its more of a hobby than anything else. 

[CornedBeefHash]

Don't waste your time mining. Just buy Bitcoins. You will never ROI buying anything at this point.

im going to mine altcoins.  its more of a hobby than anything else. 

Litecoins are the only alt worth mining right now. Remember, even if your using a GPU or CPU to mine it's costing you money and you need to take ROI into account.

[udt89]

I disagree but we all have our opinions.

[adworker]

i was wondering one thing about sending BTC to people as payment for items.  if i wanted to buy something that costs 2.4 BTC, i have to buy exactly 2.4 BTC?  I cant buy 5 and send 2.4?

I read that the other day and it seemed pretty limiting for the currency as a whole.

You can buy 5 Bitcoins today, and anytime buy stuff for 2.4 BTC, in wallet you will have left 2.6 BTC (or maybe bit less because of 0.0001 BTC fee).

[udt89]

Thanks for clearing that up. I read an article that said otherwise

[odolvlobo]

Thanks for clearing that up. I read an article that said otherwise

The article your read was probably explaining how bitcoin transactions work under the hood. If you have 5 BTC, and you send 2.4 BTC to an address, then what really happens is that your wallet does send 5 BTC -- 2.4 BTC to the address you specify and 2.6 BTC back to yourself. There is even more to it than that, but it explains what you read.

[udt89]

I reread it and you are correct. It also explains that to send 2.4 u need slightly more than 2.4

[nerobie]

I think BTC is actually the most profitable. 1 GH/s is worth less that 0.02 BTC right now

[udt89]

i understand BTC is most profitable etc.

but i am going to gamble and mine other coins in hopes they catch on or make a run.

think back when litecoin was under $3.  i bet people were saying same thing, not to mine litecoin and just mine bitcoin.  the movement in price of these altcoins you can make some decent gains i think.