New Computer (ADDENDUM to Linda)

It is on the way. It is newly scratched and dented. I have built computers over the years. The last Intel chip I owned was an 8080. The new computer breaks the tradition. It is the 6600 Conroe from Intel.

I priced components. What I wanted was over $850. I went by Dell and looked at the refurbished units. There was a scratched and dented that had almost all of what I wanted and a bit that’s nice but wasn’t on the list. The big item in that group was a TV tuner that does the new HDTV standard. It will be interesting to try it out. The video card is a dog but I was going to buy something in the $100 range anyway. All the DX10 ready ones are still too pricey for my taste/wallet. This one will do an adequate job until the prices drop.

The components include 2Gig of highest speed memory. The HD is 320Gig SATA. The DVD unit isn’t top of the line but the 8x for DVD’s is adequate for my needs and a 20x can be had for $35.

It has a collection of software that didn’t mean much; but, it does come with Photo Shop so that’ll be a toy to play with. I use Open Office that is freeware to write for the blog and the occasional letter; so, MS works doesn’t rattle my cage. It is coming with Vista which wasn’t my first choice but if it isn’t what I want I have an extra copy of XP.

I had a 19” wide LCD display and had ordered a 20” wide LCD. My final tube was a regular 19” and after using the LCD the crispness said it was time to go all LCD.

The old computer still had some life left. Its processor was pretty archaic but I’d upgraded Video and HD and DVD along the way. I usually give away my old computers but am going to keep this one around. Not to long ago the old power supply died and I was close to a week getting it back up. I used the laptop and did a couple of blogs with it. But, I am used to the Microsoft Natural Keyboard and have a hard time with a normal keyboard. The laptop keyboard was a horror. So, I’ll put the computer in a spare bedroom and if I need to get online it will be ready to go. I got a wireless card for it to make it easy.

As to buying a scratched and dented. Well, most would say it matches the owner. If it is truly hideous, I’ll just move it farther under the computer table. But, I imagine it will be something that I can live with. The price was certainly right. The components in that $850 spec I didn’t have as nice a processor and a bit slower memory. So, the trade-offs were quite livable in my book.

ADDENDUM:

Wow, I just read Linda’s blog. Major change. The way she did it makes you know it was a tough move. We became friends just about the time of her decision to live in a trailer – down by the river — and drive the Silver Steed. Her timing was perfect – perfectly horrid. The jacks were a new model and crippled the setup and the magagers in the service department changed regularly and the problem hit restart time and again. The housing market was on the decline. Mr. Frist went to Washington and brought off the UIGEA. Three big strikes and she hadn’t gotten out of the city limits. But, she still looked ahead to two more at bats!

I’ll miss the Bellagio along with the rest of you. It was a look that made us all insiders. Insiders in what was at times a Little Shop of Horror for her. But, being a voyeur in the room without the hassle…I didn’t mind a bit. Well, yes, I do want to consider her feelings about 28 years of torture by incomplete human beings. But, I think she’ll also say the trade off of knowing associates and players that had great human traits made it a wash.

Good luck, Linda. May the new life be all you hope it will be!

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 23rd, 2007 at 2:47 pm and is filed under Off Topic. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.