Wow so it’s been quite a bit since I’ve posted on here. I really meant to post something when my netbook died two days after ZNet-III but I never got around to that. Anyway, nothing exciting has happened in the past few weeks, oh wait my netbook died. Two days following ZNet-III my little Acer Aspire One’s solid-state drive gave out. It was a sad moment indeed for quite a while… that is until my mom no longer needed her 3G-equipped HP-Mini. I must say, Netbooks aren’t too bad as long as you have a HDD… not an SSD. The Aspire One was painfully slow. So much potential lied within it, yet none was seen because of its drive that felt slower than a Class 6 MicroSD card.
Anyway, as I said in the last post, I was due to be getting a new HP desktop. Yeah that didn’t quite work out at first, which is why it took me so long to be back on a desktop. You see, I ordered an HP Pavillion Slimline at first, not realizing it was a slimline. It got it and the case was half the width of an average video card. Disappointed I was, because that meant running on horrible integrated graphics. So I sent it back and spent an extra $80 bucks to move onto a “normal” sized Pavillion. Just got it yesterday and I’m presently loving it.
Versus the Slimline I described in the last post, this machine boasts…
- An Intel Core 2 Quad Q8300 Processor @ 2.5Ghz
- 6GB DDR3 RAM
- 640GB HDD
It’s quite a significant step above the last, especially being I was able to pack my own power supply and video card into it, giving me a perfect Windows Vista Experience Score of 5.9 across the charts. Was very happy to see that and also am excited for the free upgrade to Windows 7 when it comes out.
Yep, that’s right. Free. That’s the major reason why I went with an HP computer rather than throwing one together myself. No, it wasn’t free, but in a way, half of this thing was. After $300 of instant rebates, free upgrades to more RAM and larger hard drives, I ended up grabbing this beast for $549. (before tax)
I haven’t gotten to doing any rendering on it yet, but I’m sure I’ll be pretty pleased when I do get around to it. So far its been really speedy doing my regular tasks, however I feel Vista is hating on Spherack’s server.
OH, and about that. Currently I’m unsure on whether or not I can use this as a flagship for Spherack’s server. Yeah, it’s got more than enough power to do it, but after doing some testing on it tonight, the server programs keep dropping connections like crazy and I have no clue what’s up with that. Anyone feel like dedicating their machine’s 24/7 operating time to a very lightweight program? That’d be awesome and I’m sure a community of five players will be grateful.
So yeah, that’s about it on what’s new with my computer adventures.
But wait, there’s more!
I got a new car while I was waiting for the computer! Okay, so it’s not new and has 128 thousand miles on it… it’s still awesome though! Its previous owner was “nice” to the car and kept it in great shape. It’s been in the shop the past few weeks getting fixed up before the dealer turns it over to me Monday. Pretty excited for this.
I’m looking to expand my freelance computer technician shindig beyond people I know in my local neighbourhood… still sort of restricted to people I know but hey, I’ll have a much larger audience now once I can get the car. We’ll see how that goes, taking requests, building computers for people, fixing them, etc.
Well then! Recap of what’s happened the past few weeks, shall we?
- ZNet-III’s motherboard fried
- PCS-Aspire’s solid state drive fried
- The “HP-Mini” Netbook is a good buy
- HP Slimline Computers are not DIY-Friendly
- Spent a lot of money
- Got a car
- ZNet-IV Welcomed to the Fleet
- I typed this.
And that just about covers it. I’ll be writing an article on ZNet-III’s well appreciated service in the near future so stay tuned for that!