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  GEEK

I love everything about computers. I enjoy reading and talking about them. And I love spec'ing and building systems for myself and others.

Physically assembling a computer is not difficult; it's a task anyone can learn. But there is an art to selecting the right combination of components and doing a quality job of assembly and installation.

I'm a big advocate in getting the most out of technology purchases, so I always try to select high value components. Of course, that also means I (usually) don't end up with bleeding edge hardware, but that's fine as I'd rather get my money's worth than overpay for power and/or features I won't utilize.

Here are my current systems:

DEE is my current everyday, all-purpose desktop computer. It's got good power, plenty of storage and is on the pleasantly quiet side.

VENUS and AMICK are my previous desktop computers. I'm thinking of upgrading the video card and turning VENUS into my new gaming system.

THIVISOL is my Home Theater PC and performs digital video recording and audio & video editing duties. It allows me to record TV and radio programs, so now I'm able to archive my favorite TV shows and Howard Stern.

LENZ is my Gaming System. It's dated because I don't have much time to game. And the only game I really play is Grand Theft Auto 3, so it's fine for now.

TSIANINA is my current notebook: a Dell Inspiron 700m. It's petite, fairly light (at about 4.5 pounds) and a dream to use away from home.

DEPRISE is my older notebook. A future project is to install Linux on it.

 

   
 COMPUTERS
 NEW GEAR
Philips 8" Digital Picture Frame (Metal) 9FF2CME/37
Nikon D80 10.2 Megapixel Digital SLR Camera (Body only)
Nikon 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6 G ED-IF AF-S VR DX Zoom-Nikkor Lens
Nikon SB-600 Speedlight Flash
A Short Course in Nikon D80 Photography by Dennis Curtin
Lowepro SlingShot 100 All-Weather Digital Camera Backpack (Black)
Lowepro Transporter Camera Strap
SanDisk 2 GB Extreme III SD Memory Card
B & W 72mm UV (Ultra Violet) Haze Multi Coated (2C) Glass Filter #010
Logitech VX Nano Cordless Laser Mouse for Notebooks
Linksys WET54G 54Mbps Wireless-G Ethernet Bridge
Sanus VisionMount SD103 LCD Monitor Mount, Black
Wood Technology FGH-8E Solid Hardwood Ebony 8" Speaker Stands
Ergotron DS100 Horizontal Dual-Monitor Desk Stand
Logitech Harmony 550 Advanced Universal Remote
Logitech Harmony Advanced Universal Remote for Xbox 360
Microsoft Xbox 360 Wireless Controller
Logitech diNovo Cordless Desktop
Netgear GS108
TRENDnet TEG-S80TXE
Brother HL-5250DN

 

 

 
Type Desktop HTPC
Name (Build Date) DEE (2007) THIVISOL (2004)
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz (Conroe) LGA 775 AMD Athlon XP 2500+ 1.83GHz (Barton) Socket A
Heatsink Zalman CNPS 8000 Integrated Cooling Engine (ICE)
CPU Fan integrated 92mm fan included 80mm fan on radiator
Motherboard Intel DP35DPM ATX
(Intel P35 + ICH9R)
Shuttle FN41
(Nvidia nForce2/MCP-T)
RAM 4GB: (4x) Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400 1GB PC2-6400 DDR2 SDRAM 2GB: (2x) Kingston ValueRAM KVR333X64C25K2 1GB PC2700 DDR 333 SDRAM
HDD 1 Western Digital Raptor WD1500AHFD 150GB 10,000RPM SATA Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3500641A 500GB 7200RPM ATA100
HDD 2 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750GB SATA  
HDD 3 Seagate Barracuda ES ST3750640NS 750GB SATA  
CD/DVD Plextor PX-800A/SW 18x Double Layer DVD±RW Sony DW-U18A 8x DVD±RW
Video EVGA GeForce 8600GTS Superclocked 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 HDCP PCI Express x16 256-P2-N765-AR onboard GeForce4 MX 32MB
TV Tuner   Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150
Sound HT Omega Claro plus + onboard Realtek ALC650
NIC onboard Intel 82566DC Gigabit Ethernet Controller onboard Realtek 8801
Case Antec Performance One P180B Shuttle XPC SN41G2
Power Supply Corsair CMPSU-620HX 620W (PFC) Shuttle SilentX PC40 250W (PFC)
Case Fan (3x) Antec Tricool 120mm,
Scythe SFF21D 120mm
Panasonic Panaflo FBA08A12M 80mm
Storage Rosewill RCR-103 USB 2.0 Internal Card Reader  
OS Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP3 Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP3
Keyboard Logitech diNovo Cordless Desktop ACK-595 PS/2 Black Mini Keyboard
Mouse Logitech VX Nano Cordless Laser Mouse for Notebooks Logitech V450 Laser Cordless Mouse for Notebooks
Mouse Pad fUnc sUrface 1030 fUnc sUrface 1030
Monitor 1 Dell 2407WFP 24" Widescreen LCD Dell 2001FP 20.1" LCD
Monitor 2 Dell 2001FP 20.1" LCD  
Audio Amplification Cambridge Audio A500
65 Watt Integrated Amplifier >>
>>
Speakers NHT SuperOnes Bookshelf Speakers >> >>
UPS APC BX1000 Back-UPS RS 1000VA >> >>
Other Ergotron DS100 Horizontal Dual-Monitor Desk Stand 33-092-200 Sirius Starmate Replay ST2 Satellite Radio Tuner
  Sony SLV-D360P Progressive Scan DVD Player/Hi-Fi VCR Combo  
 
Type Desktop Desktop
Name (Build Date) VENUS (2005) AMICK (2002)
CPU Intel Pentium 4C 3.0GHz (Northwood) Socket 478 Intel Pentium III 1200MHz (Tualatin) Socket 370
Heatsink Thermalright XP-120 Thermalright SK-6
CPU Fan Vantec ThermoFlow TF9225 120x25mm Vantec Stealth SF6025L 60x60x25mm
Motherboard Asus P4C800-E Deluxe ATX
(Intel 875P + ICH5R)
Asus TUSL2-C ATX
(Intel 815EP)
RAM 1GB: (2x) Crucial Ballistix BL6464Z402 512MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM 512MB: (2x) Mushkin HI PERF REV3+ 256MB PC133 SDRAM
HDD 1 Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB 10,000RPM SATA Western Digital WD1200JB 120GB 7200RPM ATA100
HDD 2 Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6B300S0 300GB SATA  
HDD 3 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3750640AS 750GB SATA  
CD/DVD NEC ND-3500A 16x Double Layer DVD±RW Lite-On LTR-48125W 48x12x48 CD±RW;
Toshiba 16x SD-M1502 DVD-ROM
3.5" FDD Sony MPF920 Samsung SFD321B/KEB
Video Matrox Millennium P650 64MB AGP Matrox Millennium G450 32MB AGP
Sound Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo II
NIC onboard Intel PRO/1000 CT Gigabit LAN Intel Pro/100 S PILA8460C3
Case Cooler Master ATC-710-SX2 Cooler Master ATC-201C SX1
Power Supply Antec NeoPower 480W (PFC) PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 (PFC)
Case Fan (4x) Panasonic Panaflo FBA08A12M 80mm (2x) Enermax Thermal Control 80mm, (2x) YS Tech 80mm
Storage Koutech F7209-B USB Memory Card Reader/Writer AcomData multi-Flash! MF6 Memory Card Reader/Writer
OS Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP3 Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP3
 
Type Notebook Notebook
Name (Purchase Date) TSIANINA (2004) DEPRISE (2002)
Make & Model Dell Inspiron 700m Dell Inspiron 4100
CPU Intel Pentium M 725 1.6GHz (Dothan) Intel Pentium III-M 1.13GHz/733MHz (Tualatin)
Screen 12.1" WXGA 1280x800 Widescreen TFT 14.1" SXGA+ 1400x1050 TFT
Motherboard Chipset Intel 855GM Intel i830MP, Rev A4
Southbridge Intel 82801DBM Intel 82801CAM (ICH3-M)
BIOS A07, 03/27/06 A08, 05/21/02
RAM 2GB: (2x) G.Skill F1-2700CL3S-1GBSA 1GB PC2700 DDR 333 SO-DIMM 512MB: (2x) Crucial CT235658 256MB PC133 SDRAM SODIMM
HDD Western Digital Scorpio WD1600BEVE 160GB 5400RPM ATA-6 Hitachi DK23DA-30 30GB Ultra ATA
CD/DVD Sony CRX830E 24x CD±RW/DVD-ROM 8x DVD-ROM
FDD   Modular 1.44MB 3.5"
Video Intel Extreme Graphics 2 M Nvidia GeForce2 Go 32MB
Sound SigmaTel C-Major Crystal CS4205
NIC Broadcom 440x 10/100 3Com 3C920 10/100
Wireless NIC Intel PRO/Wireless 2200 (802.11b/g)  
modem Conexant D840 MDC V.92 Conexant By Actiontec MD56ORD V.92 MDC
OS Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP3 Microsoft Windows XP Home SP3
 
  Additional Equipment
External Storage Infrant ReadyNAS NV+ RNV2-S2-0000 (with 4x Seagate Barracuda ES ST3500630NS 500GB SATA Hard Drives in X-RAID config), 1.3TB of storage space
External Storage Addonics ST4US Storage Tower, 4 USIB ports (with Addonics AAUSB308-4C Bundle of 4 USB 2.0 USIB cables and Lian Li EX-34A Expansion HDD Kit)
Cable Modem Linksys BEFCMU10 EtherFast Cable Modem
Wireless Router Linksys WRT54GS v1.0 802.11g Wireless-G Broadband Router with SpeedBooster
Switch TRENDnet TEG-S80TXE 8-Port 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Switch
Switch Netgear GS108 Prosafe 8-Port 10/100/1000Mbps Gigabit Switch
Bridge Linksys WET54G v3.1 54Mbps Wireless-G Ethernet Bridge
Printer Brother HL-5250DN Network-Ready Laser Printer with Duplex
Printer Epson Stylus Photo R200 Inkjet Photo Printer
Printer Epson PictureMate Photo Printer
Scanner Epson Perfection 1240U Photo
Surge Protector APC Professional SurgeStation Pro8
KVM IOGEAR GCS84A MiniView SE 4-Port PS/2 KVM Switch Kit with Cables
KVM IOGEAR GCS1734 MiniView Extreme Multimedia 4-Port USB/PS2 KVMP Switch with Cables
FDD Mad Dog Multimedia MD-ED1F Dominator 2x External USB Floppy Drive
Webcam Microsoft LifeCam VX-6000 1.3MP Webcam, 68C-00001