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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 1 Desktop 2 Desktop 3 HTPC  
Name (Build Date) DEE (2007) VENUS (2005) AMICK (2002) THIVISOL (2004)  
CPU Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz (Conroe) LGA 775 Intel Pentium 4C 3.0GHz (Northwood) Socket 478 Intel Pentium III 1200MHz (Tualatin) Socket 370 AMD Athlon XP 2500+ 1.83GHz (Barton) Socket A  
Heatsink Zalman CNPS 8000 Thermalright XP-120 Thermalright SK-6 Integrated Cooling Engine (ICE)  
CPU Fan integrated 92mm fan Vantec ThermoFlow TF9225 120x25mm Vantec Stealth SF6025L 60x60x25mm included 80mm fan on radiator  
Motherboard Intel DP35DPM ATX
(Intel P35 + ICH9R)
Asus P4C800-E Deluxe ATX
(Intel 875P + ICH5R)
Asus TUSL2-C ATX
(Intel 815EP)
Shuttle FN41
(Nvidia nForce2/MCP-T)
 
RAM 4GB: (4x) Corsair XMS2 TWIN2X2048-6400 1GB PC2-6400 DDR2 SDRAM 1GB: (2x) Crucial Ballistix BL6464Z402 512MB PC3200 DDR SDRAM 512MB: (2x) Mushkin HI PERF REV3+ 256MB PC133 SDRAM 1GB: (2x) Kingston HyperX KHX2700K2/1G 512MB PC2700 DDR SDRAM  
HDD 1 Western Digital Raptor WD1500AHFD 150GB SATA Western Digital Raptor WD740GD 74GB SATA Western Digital WD1200JB 120GB ATA100 Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 ST3500641A 500GB ATA100   
HDD 2 Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 750GB SATA Maxtor DiamondMax 10 6B300S0 300GB SATA      
HDD 3 Seagate Barracuda ES ST3750640NS 750GB SATA Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 ST3750640AS 750GB SATA      
CD/DVD 1 Plextor PX-800A/SW 18X Double Layer DVD±RW NEC ND-3500A 16x Double Layer DVD±RW Lite-On LTR-48125W 48x12x48 CD±RW Sony DW-U18A 8x DVD±RW  
CD/DVD 2     Toshiba 16x SD-M1502 DVD-ROM    
3.5" FDD   Sony MPF920 Samsung SFD321B/KEB    
Video EVGA 256-P2-N765-AR GeForce 8600GTS Superclocked 256MB 128-bit GDDR3 HDCP PCI Express x16 Matrox Millennium P650 64MB AGP Matrox Millennium G450 32MB AGP onboard GeForce4 MX 32MB  
TV Tuner       Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-150  
Sound HT Omega Claro plus + Creative Labs Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS Hercules Gamesurround Fortissimo II onboard Realtek ALC650  
NIC onboard Intel 82566DC Gigabit Ethernet Controller onboard Intel PRO/1000 CT Gigabit LAN Intel Pro/100 S PILA8460C3 onboard Realtek 8801  
Case Antec Performance One P180B Cooler Master ATC-710-SX2 Cooler Master ATC-201C SX1 Shuttle XPC SN41G2  
Power Supply Corsair CMPSU-620HX 620W (PFC) Antec NeoPower 480W (PFC) PC Power & Cooling Turbo-Cool 510 (PFC) Shuttle SilentX PC40 250W (PFC)  
Case Fan (3x) Antec Tricool 120mm,
Scythe SFF21D 120mm
(4x) Panasonic Panaflo FBA08A12M 80mm (2x) Enermax Thermal Control 80mm, (2x) YS Tech 80mm Panasonic Panaflo FBA08A12M 80mm  
Storage Rosewill RCR-103 USB 2.0 Internal Card Reader Koutech F7209-B USB Memory Card Reader/Writer AcomData multi-Flash! MF6 Memory Card Reader/Writer    
OS Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP2 Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP2 Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP2 Microsoft Windows XP Pro SP2  
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 Notebook 1 Notebook 2    
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 1GB: (2x) PNY Technologies Optima Memory N512D27OPT 512MB PC2700 DDR SoDIMM 512MB: (2x) Crucial CT235658 256MB PC133 SDRAM SODIMM    
HDD 60GB Ultra ATA 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 SP2 Microsoft Windows XP Home SP2    
 
  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