Computer Stuff.

New (used) Computers Configured!

See the blog for an explaination.

This is about the rigs.

I'm going to start by listing the machines I use in my network and describe them.
Please keep in mind, I'm not cutting edge.

Main Machine

Recently wiped out by a bad Fan choice and rebuilt
(Don't ever hook up a case fan to the cpu fan slot on a motherboard!)

Microsoft Windows XP Professional sp.3
New 450 watt Power Supply
New3.4GHz P4 HT Prescott
1Gig ddr2 667
Abit 775Twins MB
Western Digital Caviar 250 gig HD (pulled from a DirectTV/Tivo box)
Maxtor 60 gig HD
DVD and DVD+R/Rw
Antec Sonata Case
NewNvidia GeForce 9500 video card with 1gig DDR2
Creative Inspire 5900 5.1 surround sound speakers
Logitech QuickCam Pro3000
Logitech Click! Optical Mouse
New! Saitek Eclipse keyboard
Logitech Headphones with boom mic
Emerson Digital Stereo Headphones
Iomega Zip 100 USB
New CTL 22" HDCP Wide Screen Monitor
Dell 17" LCD Monitor
8-in-1 internal USB media adapter 200 watt stereo system with turntable
(for burning MP3s from Vinyl
and for sampling)
Canon PIXMA iP4300 printer
Memorex USB Scanner

Laptop

Purchased June, 2006 from DELL

Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition sp.3
Intel Core Duo T2300E, 1.66 mhz
1gig dual in-line memory
SigmaTel Hi-def Audio/Creative Labs
Seagate Mercury 2 80gig SATA HD
CDR-RW/DVD drive
Dell Inspiron 6400 15.4 WXGA LCD
CoPilot Navigator GPS unit
Intel PROSet Wireless WiFi a/b/g
Wireless Headphones

Shop Machine

$19.99 plus $3.99 for software from two Goodwills over 2 years.

A Gateway Machine

Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition sp.3
2Ghz Intel Pentium 4
512 megs pc 2100 ram
350 watt power supply
80 gig HD
CDR-W
DVD drive
Floppy
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live! Value
200 watt stereo
nVidia GeForce 7300 512meg Agp Video
Dell 17" LCD
Logitech QuickCam

UbuntuBox

Ubuntu 10.04 and Microsoft XP Home Edition
3GHz Intel Pentium 4 HT Northwood
1 gig ddr 3200
450 watt Power supply
160 gig SATA HD
60 gig HD
DVD+R/Rw
Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live!
Output to 200watt Stereo
nVidia GeForce 6800 256 ddr2
Realsync 17" LCD Display

Livingroom Machine

Gateway
Windows XP Home
3.2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 HT
1 gig DDR2 3200

400 Watt Power Supply
160 gig SATA HD
DVD+R/Rw
CD-RW
Memory Card Reader
Onboard Audio
nVidia GeForce 6600 128megs memory
Toshiba 37" LCD 1080P HDTV as a monitor


New BEC 7300n Broadband Router

New Rosewill 8 port network switch

Use and Personal Development

In the normal "at home" configuration, the 2 monitors of the Main Machine and that of the Laptop are placed together. Above that is the monitor for the UbuntuBox and the three computers are linked together with the awesome, awesome, awesome program called Synergy which allows one to use multiple machines with one keyboard and mouse.

Note: Currently this has changed to one Dell 17" LCD and the CTL 22" wide screen. Unfortunately, that lovely antique tile on the left is no more. :(

I've also installed a drawer under the keyboard to hold the keyboard to the Ubuntu Box. The new photo has been taken, but not uploaded.

It really comes in handy while writing for the web, when on the middle screen I'm writing the text in HTML-Kit and on the rightmost screen I am gathering links from IE7. The Laptop is previewing the page. That's a lot of manageable "real estate". It's such a great development environment that if the Laptop wasn't here, I would have to put another machine here instead.

Another situation:
UbuntuBox is connected as the CD player in the stereo system. It becomes another theater solution for viewing DVDs or web casts or for checking pages while doing something else with the MainMachine.

The Laptop Running Firefox and ReloadEvery it's really nice to have it auto refresh the "Selling" page on eBay when you want to monitor items you are selling while playing Halo on the Main Machine.

I've only been into computers for the last nine years. I tought myself how to take them apart, put them together, and try to determine why they didn't work. I did this by buying old machines at second-hand stores and researching in repair books and on the internet what their ailments might be.

Some friends and family have given me their old stuff, adding to the parts list.

The rigs described above are still in great working order and should be usable for years to come.

So I know about the machines. But I'm not enough of a geek to know much about coding.

Latest News

I just removed all wireless systems from our household and opted for a wired system instead. More reliable,faster and more secure. With 6 systems, putting in a network switch and wiring everything is the best way to go.