"An-ti-ci-pa"...oh shut up and get on with it already!!

Jan 05, 2006

I placed the order for my new computer yesterday, after dithering for nearly a month. I was almost sure what specs I wanted, I was almost sure what options I wanted, but I had been out of the PC hardware ordering market for so long that I was fairly close to clueless - at least on things like processors, what is the current top speed, what is typical for memory, and so forth. I also wanted to make sure that, even if I bought the buffest configuration, that I would be able to upgrade in the future. I finally committed, clicked order, placed the order, and gave my credit card.

System specs:

3.20 gigahertz Pentium D processor

4 GB dual-channel SDRAM at 533 megahertz

19 inch flat-panel monitor

256MB HyperMemory video card

160GB SATA hard drive; 7200RPM spindle speed

3.5" floppy drive

13 in 1 media card reader

Windows XP 2005 Media Center Edition

(to be augmented with Red Hat Enterprise Linux)

Integrated 10/100/1000 ethernet

56K PCI Telephony Modem

48x CD-RW drive, double-layer write-capable

16x DVD+/-RW drive, double layer write capable

integrated 7.1 channel audio card

IEEE 1394 Adapter

1450 WLAN (802.11a/b/g) USB 2.0 DT adapter

And now I've discovered, via the support forums, that the computer company isn't shipping the OS disks any more. You have to ask for them specifically. What the fuck...!!!! Well, off to send an email and ask for them.

I last bought a home computer in 1996. (I know. Shut up.) For the first two years I was utterly happy with my computer. Then I upgraded the memory...and found that my machine couldn't handle larger capacity DIMMs. In essence, I could only have twice as much memory as the original configuration. Eh, so it's a bit less intelligent than other computers. Big deal. I'm not a gamer, didn't use it to do lots of extreme number crunching, did some graphics manipulation but not a lot (though I was sad that it wasn't buff enough to handle Bryce). I could live with this quite well.

More time went by, and I tried my hand at freelancing (which earned me much less money, but was more satisfying.) Any further upgrades of substance would require replacing the CPU and motherboard — and if you're going to do that you may as well just buy a new computer. I didn't have the money to buy a new computer. However, I was able to get my computer to do what I wanted with it...for the most part. I couldn't make it a dual-boot machine because it didn't have enough power to handle the then-current versions of Red Hat's (then-free) Linux distro. I plotted and planned and dreamed...but didn't price. That would have been a bit too painful.

Fast-forward to last January. I'm better off financially, I've stabilized other factors in my life, I can start thinking seriously about upgrading. I knew that time had gone by and improvements had been made, but I didn't realize the size of the gap. I called my local high-speed cable provider to sign up, and asked them, what's the minimum CPU speed to handle the software you want to put on the system? They responded with some number that wasn't the same as my CPU. Er. What about 133 megahertz, I asked?

That can't be right, said Cable Guy. Are you sure about that number?

But yes, yes that was the number. My machine was running 8% as fast as the low-end value boxes you could buy off the shelf at your local Best Buy. Eight per cent. Not even a full ten per cent, but a portion thereof.

Keywords: | consumer whore | computer |
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