One Piece At A Time

Forgive me, but I need to post a shopping list and here is as good a place as any. The Mighty Dell is reaching the crumbly brink of obsolescence and it is time to trade-up to a better machine. I’ve tried to be patient while waiting for a Big Sale to drop out of the electric heavens and offer me the perfect newness for ready and minimal money, but it is just not going to happen. And even if it did, I’m afraid it wouldn’t be all that I’d need. So I’ve made a list of components. Starting next month, I’ll start acquiring these pieces…

By the middle of the summer, I will have a sweet little desktop hot rod that can keep me running with the rush of technology for another couple of years. Then I can pseudo-retire the Mighty Dell to a relevant and relaxed life as a household MP3 repository. After such loyal service, it deserves no less.

And if the techish among you have any advice, feel free to comment.

January 19, 2004 – 3:04 pm | By Thomas | Posted in Observations | Comments (6)
  • h

    i’m not that techish, but i say lose the floppy. i haven’t had one in months, and i sure don’t miss it.

  • Darrell

    It’ll cost more than a dime, I reckon.

    Instead of acquiring these pieces one at a time, you should merely save your pennies until you can afford to buy them all at once. That way, when the technology staggers forward and the prices drop a tiny bit, you’ll be able to buy a step up from everything you’ve just mentioned (except the case). This way, your whole computer will be obsolete all at once (about 22 minutes after you assembe it), instead of putting last month’s graphics card with last week’s dvd burner.

    And I’m going to have to agree with the whole floppy drive thing. For Cripe’s sake. Who only has a 1 MB file anymore, anyway? That’s about 1.5 seconds of porn.

    Any desire for a Firewire card for your trusty iPod? Wireless networking? Bluetooth inside?

    Would you be interested in putting in a 2nd hard drive right from the start?

    I bet you’ll want a gig of RAM. Halo will run a lot better.

    And don’t forget those flashy USB lights that pulse with your base.

  • http://www.grabbingsand.org Thomas

    Actually, Darrell, you are one of the primary reasons why I always like to keep a floppy drive close at hand. Think back to Berry. I am sure you recall how quickly your joy turned to disbelief when you cracked open the box that contained your freshly-minted Mac laptop, only to find that no floppy drive was included in the bargain price. So to be sure, the floppy might never be needed, but it is a $10 investment that I don’t mind making.

    I could buy it all at once, certainly. But I don’t want bleeding-edge, just something this side of cutting edge. Prices for cases won’t shift much, and neither will sound cards and video cards (at least not in the next few months). Memory is a volatile market, and it should be even cheaper in the spring. That leaves the proc and the mobo, and by making that the last part of the purchase, I should be able to save quite a bit of money by buying January’s newness for May’s prices.

  • http://psycht.net jason

    Aww, the poor Dell. I’m still using mine but for how long, I’m not sure.

  • Darrell

    I can’t believe you brought that up again! Now I have to start all over again in therapy!

    But you’ve gotta get some of those flashy things. A computer just isn’t hip anymore without some mad bling bling.

  • Nikki

    perhaps some pulsing USB lights will be a birthday present. :)