Finish one small task before buying the next piece of hardware

I started with a second-hand laptop. The enclosure and V100 came later, as I tried work that needed more compute. There was no complete shopping list at the beginning.

With a new tool, I still prefer to try a short recording or a few paragraphs first. Can it read the input? Can I open the result, check it and correct it? I want to go through that once.

If a step fails, I look at that step. A different GPU won’t fix a button I can’t find or guarantee that the transcript includes all the speech.

Once a task works, it becomes easier to decide whether I need more memory, a smaller model or a change to the software. There are plenty of things I could buy. Having an actual problem to guide the choice helps.

In the articles, I’ll describe the equipment, what I paid at the time and the other parts it needed. You can try a small piece before deciding whether to take the next step.