Computers

This page is a bit out of date at the moment - but the main PC setup isn't THAT different,
apart from some of the peripherals and parts still being in storage and not currently in use. @ 28/09/2007

Yes, it's that sort of relationship!

Main AMD Machine
Motherboard : Gigabyte RZ Series 7VT600P-RZ VIA KT600 chipset
Processor : AMD Socket A 2.3+ GHz
Memory : 2GB of RAM
Drive C: MAXTOR 6L200PO 200GB
Drive D: TSST corp CD/DVDW SH-S162A
Drive E : MAXTOR 6 V300FO SATA 300GB
Drive F: varies - Removable ATA hard disk rack
Modem : WebExcel 56000 External
Video : AGPx8 Inno3D GeForce FX 5500 256MB
TV : V-STREAM Expert TV - PVR 713x PCI
Sound : Creative SB Live! Series (WDM)
Speakers : Typhoon desktop stereo (salvaged from a skip!)
Monitor : Dell 19" ( @ 1024x768)
Mouse : Intellimouse Explorer
Keyboard : Generic 'Intelligent'/( BTC 5113 Multimedia Wireless )
Scanner: Canon CanoScan LiDE 30
Network Card : on board
WebCam : Logitech QuickCam V5.2.0.2099
DigiCam : 2.1 megapixels
OS : Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP2

Living Room Intel Machine
Motherboard : ASUS P4VP-MX
Processor : Intel Celeron D Processor 320 - 2.4 GHz
Memory : 1GB of RAM
Drive C : 200GB
Drive D : Matshita DVD/CD-ROM
Drive E: varies - Removable ATA hard disk rack
Modem : Internal
Video : AGPx8 Inno3D GeForce MX 4000 128MB
TV : V-STREAM Expert TV - PVR 713x PCI
Sound : Creative SB AudioPCI
Speakers : Sirius
Monitor : PIONEX 17" P70DP ( @ 1024x768)
Mouse : Intellimouse
Keyboard : generic
Network Card : on board
OS : Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition SP2 (OEM)

Useless Laptop
Toshiba Satellite 110CT
Network Card : Combo PCMCIA Ethernet
OS : Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition

My first home computer was an Amstrad 1512 with only a single 5.25" floppy disc drive. I bought it early 1991 secondhand for £400 and can remember subsequently spending something like £250 to buy it a 20MB 'hardcard'. That was an early lesson in the dangers of trying to keep pace with the rapidly emerging technology. The system I have now is largely as a result of donations of bits and pieces from my good friend Dave, stuffed into a mini tower case. My only problem is that I really do not understand the hardware side of PCs too well and am sure that as a result, my machine is not tuned to do it's best, although it seems to get by ok most of the time. There is something to be said for buying a complete off the shelf system with help line support!
Whilst I am sure that if I did lose all my data I would be heartbroken, I do not bother trying to keep back-up copies of anything because of the cost and inconvenience of doing so. A good thunder storm or hard disk crash would see me losing everything and starting from scratch.
The Zen guide to home PC use, perhaps?