Thursday, February 17, 2005

My New PC

It has been ages that I haven't posted anything on blog. That's mainly because I was caught up into critical bugs (and am still struggling with one). Well, I don't wanna talk about that right now. The other secondary reason is that I got a new PC @ home and whatever time I could spare, I spent in making it more usable everyday, and today I've got it to the point that I can post thro my new PC with net connected over IrDA link to my mobile phone [Nokia 6610i], acting as a modem, which transfers data over GPRS! Yes, as exotic as it sounds, it was a REAL PITA to get all these links working right! Especially when you have M$FT Windoze XP to install your drivers on with absolutely no manual to RTFM! 2/3, Sleepless nights, a few unending-always-on-hold calls to Airtel customer care, digging net like hell, and BINGO! Things started working! Needless to say, I bothered a buddy or two as well! Phew! Finally I'm done (I cross my fingers and think so!)

Just to show-off ;-) I've posted the snap of my new PC here. I have tried to get a configuration that will survive at least 5+years of my computing needs!
1. Intel Pentium -4 2.80 GHz, 800MHz FSB, 1MB L2 Cache, LGA775.
2. Intel D915GAV Motherboard
(Something striking about this mobo is that its has got built-in 5.1 Intel High Definition Audio system, implying on-board support for DTS, Dolby, etc. Grantsdale, as this mobo is called, features multi-tasking audio ports, implying that it can sense whether you have plugged in a mic, speaker, or something else and switch to appropriate functionality without human intervention. Features GMA900 onboard graphics subsystem. Also has PIC-X slots. And hell lotta technical innovations)
3. 17" Samsung LCD/TFT Monitor (710N) [CRTs suck!!!]
4. 120 GB Seagate SATA HDD [Barracuda 7200.7 SATA - ST3120026AS]
5. 1GB (512x2) DDR 400MHz RAM
6. Creative Inspire 5200 (5.1) 6-speaker system
7. Sony CD-RW/DVD-RW (Sony DRU-710A)
[review 1, review 2]

Yes, you read it right! It's DVD RW, remember ... about meeting 5 years of computing needs!!! Items 6 & 7 weren't planned for when I started researching about the PC. They did add to my total cost significantly, but I don't repent putting in extra money. Inspire 5200 rocks my room at mere volume of 5! I spent significant amount of time shortlisting each of the components. I almost stopped reading my novels after I started taking brochures/manuals/reviews back home to go through the nights!



I haven't installed Linux though, as I'm yet to get my hands on the distro I want: Debian Sarge! Well, I can keep writing about new PC and how I went about shortlisting each of the components, but I don't wanna bore you chaps! So I'll cut if off here!