Just need some experienced users advice.

[bonerpanties]

Hey guys!

I have been lurking in these forums the last couple weeks and reading up on alot of information that has been posted.

I am interested in mining as a hobby but pretty much only if it able to pay itself in a reasonable amount of time and is not overly bothersome to maintain. From reading what has been posted I know that mining is not very profitable at the moment but I am not overly bothered by profitability rather just an easy way for me to get bitcoins and learn about bitcoins as well. I need bitcoins for transactions online and have been mostly buying them online as well.

This is the mine I am looking to buy http://www.kijiji.ca/v-servers/edmonton/bitmain-antminer-s2/1012832645?

EDIT: "Free" electricity.

[railzand]

S2 is a pita to keep up and running.
suggest an S3

[bonerpanties]

S2 is a pita to keep up and running.
suggest an S3

Like how much of a pita? I will be a student so I have a fair amount of time to spend.

[Syke]

That S2 is overpriced. Get a few S3s for less money and higher hashrate.

[thefunkybits]

From reading what has been posted I know that mining is not very profitable at the moment but I am not overly bothered by profitability rather just an easy way for me to get bitcoins and learn about bitcoins as well. I need bitcoins for transactions online and have been mostly buying them online as well.

This is the mine I am looking to buy http://www.kijiji.ca/v-servers/edmonton/bitmain-antminer-s2/1012832645?

EDIT: "Free" electricity.

I would definitely look into buying some coins (especially at these prices) as well getting a hobby rig running.

Buying bitcoin has always been more profitable than mining, especially when the price has bottomed out. You should find that if the price jumps significantly then the difficulty will follow along with it and you're left with a piddly hashrate in comparison to what you had. Personally, I would just go for the coins if you're looking to experiment, maybe buy a small miner or two to experiment.

[philipma1957]

okay  first you need to be able to get bitcoins.  so find a Canadian service that will sell you bitcoins and will buy bitcoins.



 here in the usa www.coinbase.com is the gold standard

second that is an overpriced miner  get an s-3 .  better yet get 2 or 3 s-3's


this runs 2 s-3's


http://www.ebay.ca/itm/EVGA-SuperNOVA-1300-G2-80-PLUS-GOLD-Certified-1300W-Active-PFC-ATX12V-v2-31-EPS-/201079203318?pt=PCA_UPS&hash=item2ed14125f6&_uhb=1

s-3's are set it and forget it.    much better then s-2's

[Korbman]

That S2 is overpriced. Get a few S3s for less money and higher hashrate.

This ^

But along with cheaper and faster, the S3 also uses less energy. While free electricity is nice, be sure to take into account the heat and noise. From what I've heard, the S3s aren't so bad in this regard, but it's still something to be aware of.

[crocko]

Hello !

Do you want a mining experience ?
Spend only few money, purchase a little Bitcoin, then join a cloud mining, like CEX.io
I am not affiliate with this company but believe me if you want to know how mining it is, you will do it.
You will learn how to trade your resources and how hard the mining for BTC it is. You will learn to have patience and watch how tiny bits of coin are pile up.
If you can do this, you can go to the next level, purchasing of one or more ASICS.
BTW you can resign and recover your money by selling your GH/s purchased with Bitcoin on CEX.io anytime.

[bonerpanties]

I have no interest in cloud mining. (I dont like the risk). At the moment I usually buy 1 BTC every couple months. I want this to be a hobby but I also want to invest enough to make sure I walk out with more than I invested.

Where would you guys recommend me to get some S3s?

[Korbman]

Where would you guys recommend me to get some S3s?

BitMain's site for starters - https://www.bitmaintech.com/product.htm

Though their latest batch won't be shipping until next month, so until then you can check out resellers on eBay or Amazon. I'm sure there are others around here that have them in stock as well.

[DrG]

Hello !

Do you want a mining experience ?
Spend only few money, purchase a little Bitcoin, then join a cloud mining, like CEX.io
I am not affiliate with this company but believe me if you want to know how mining it is, you will do it.
You will learn how to trade your resources and how hard the mining for BTC it is. You will learn to have patience and watch how tiny bits of coin are pile up.
If you can do this, you can go to the next level, purchasing of one or more ASICS.
BTW you can resign and recover your money by selling your GH/s purchased with Bitcoin on CEX.io anytime.

What!  What?  What!!!! You cannot recover your money - you can recover the residual value that the GH/s converts to - which is almost always less than what you bought it for.

The only saving grace of CEX.io is that it hasn't gone belly up like lunamine - that's not really a selling point.

You've been here for almost a year and recommending cloud mining?  Jeebus.

Either commit to a small miner and learn or just focus on the bitcoin economy and skip mining - no need to enrich companies that centralize the network.

[philipma1957]

I have no interest in cloud mining. (I dont like the risk). At the moment I usually buy 1 BTC every couple months. I want this to be a hobby but I also want to invest enough to make sure I walk out with more than I invested.

Where would you guys recommend me to get some S3s?

at the risk of self promotion I live in New Jersey  so if you are in the USA I can sell you 1, 2, 3  with or with out a psu. 

they are in house no waiting.

I can set them to a pool of your choice and mine for you until they ship out on tuesday the 26th of august.

[bonerpanties]

Unfortunately I am in the great white north

[philipma1957]

Unfortunately I am in the great white north

 


Canada correct?


 yeah shipping kills any savings I can offer you.

I have the 4 s-3's      1480 watts

I have 10 gridseed blades   950 watts



and I have one AsicMIner tube 800gh = 800 watts

on the way.


that will be 3230 watts

this will kind of max me out heat wise as temps won't cool here until OCT.

[madken7777]

If you are just trying for hobby for the 1st time, you should probably get usb asic miner rather than antminer s3.

Cheaper way to try new toy without wasting time trying to figure out how to set up and get things running.

[bonerpanties]

Hey guys if I was able to get 5 antminer S3 for ~1500CAD shud I grab it?
https://www.bitmaintech.com/productDetail.htm?pid=00020140813125800214NBU85kWt0672

[Korbman]

Hey guys if I was able to get 5 antminer S3 for ~1500CAD shud I grab it?
https://www.bitmaintech.com/productDetail.htm?pid=00020140813125800214NBU85kWt0672

That's the equivalent to, what, ~BTC0.55 each at the current BTC/CAD rate? Assuming they're not a scam and have them in stock for immediate shipping, it sounds like a decent deal.

[bonerpanties]

Yeah we agreed to use an escrow service to avoid any trust issues.