Computer Stuff.

This is about the rigs.

I'm going to start by listing the machines I use in my network and describe them.
Please keep in mind, I'm not cutting edge.

But I seem to have an unusual amount of equipment.

Changes Are Here!

Santa delivered a newegg gift card so I bought a new motherboard, more memory, and a case.

Main Machine

Created in Jan, 2012.

This Computer is my main computer. It's for gaming and everything. I am currently playing Battlefield 3.
I do our website editing main browsing in this machine. I'm Very happy with it.


Microsoft Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
450 watt Power Supply
2.4GHz Core 2 Quad 6600 G0
G.Skill Ripjaws 8 gigs DDR3 1333
MSI G41M-P25 Mainboard
Western Digital Blue 320 gig HD
Maxtor 320 gig HD
Sony SATA DVD-RW+R/Rw
Thermaltake V3 Black Edition Case
Creative Labs X-fi Extreme Gamer Soundcard
Nvidia GeForce GTX 560 with 2 gigs ram
Creative Inspire 5900 5.1 surround sound speakers
Microsoft Sidewinder X5 Laser Mouse
Saitek Eclipse keyboard
Koss SB/45 Headset
CTL 22" HDCP Wide Screen Monitor
Dell 17" LCD Monitor
Canon PIXMA iP4300 printer

New Laptop! NEWDELL

Traded for computer Work Oct. 2011

Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Intel Core 2 Duo T4400, 2.20 GHz
4096mb Ram
Mobile Intel 4 Express Video
IDT High Definition Audio
Seagate Mercury 2 80gig SATA HD
DVD-RW/R drive
Dell Inspiron 1545 15.4 WXGA LCD
Dell Wireless 1397 WLAN Mini-Card

Laptop

Purchased June, 2006 from DELL

A bit out of date, it gets used rarely.


Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition sp.3
Intel Core Duo T2300E, 1.66 GHz
1gig dual in-line memory
SigmaTel Hi-def Audio/Creative Labs
Seagate Mercury 2 80gig SATA HD
CDR-RW/DVD drive
Dell Inspiron 6400 15.4 WXGA LCD
CoPilot Navigator GPS unit
Intel PROSet Wireless WiFi a/b/g
Wireless Headphones

Shop Machine

Windows XP Profesional sp.3
3.4Ghz Pentium
2 gigs ram
350 watt power supply
nVidia GeForce 6800 256 ddr2
Hauppauge TV Tuner Card
2x Western Digital 80 gig hdd
Gigabyte Technology G31M-ES2L mainboard
17" LCD monitor
Output to 200 watt stereo
New! HP Photosmart 7960 Printer

Samsung Fascinate

I finally entered the Modern Cell Phone Age with an Android.

SecondMachine

Built from the upgrade and the old UbuntuBox

Microsoft XP Home Edition
Intel DG965OT Mainboard
3.2GHz Pentium D
4 gig ddr3 800
450 watt Power supply
160 gig SATA HD
60 gig HD
DVD+R/Rw
Creative Labs Audigy 2 ZS
200 watt stereo system with turntable
(for burning MP3s from Vinyl and for ripping samples and sound output.
nVidia GeForce 8600 GS
Dell 17" LCD Monitor
Dell 15" LCD Monitor

Livingroom Machine

My in-laws gave this to us when they upgraded. I did a reformat/clean install
and use it almost exclusively for videos on the tele.


Gateway
Windows XP Home
3.2 GHz Intel Pentium 4 HT
1 gig DDR2 3200
450 Watt Power Supply
160 gig SATA HD
DVD+R/Rw
CD-RW
Memory Card Reader
Onboard Audio
nVidia GeForce 6600 128megs memory
Toshiba 37" LCD 1080P HDTV as a monitor

XBox 360 w/Kinect

Cisco/Linksys WRT54G v.4 router running DD-WRT Full

Rosewill 8 port network switch

Not all the devises fit on the WRT54G

Dynex 5 port switch

This is for the two devices in the livingroom.

Netgear 4 port switch

And this allows me to have more than one device in the shop

Use and Personal Development

The 22" monitor in the middle and the 17" Dell monotor on the right belong to
the main machine. The monitor on the left belongs to the UbuntuBox and the two
computers are linked together with the awesome, awesome, awesome program called
Synergy which allows one to use
multiple machines with one keyboard and mouse.

Th lower keyboard is on a drawer. It is tucked away and is used for emergencies.
It belongs to the Ubuntu Box.





This configuration really comes in handy while writing for the web, when on the
middle screen I'm writing the text in HTML-Kit
and on the rightmost screen I am gathering links from IE8 or Google Chrome. The
UbuntuBox is previewing the page. That's a lot of manageable "real estate".
It's such a great development environment.

Another situation:
UbuntuBox is connected as the CD player to the stereo system. It becomes another
theater solution for viewing DVDs or web casts or for checking pages while doing
something else with the MainMachine. It is also a television.

I've been into computers for the last fourteen years. I tought myself how
to take them apart, put them together, and try to determine why they didn't work.
I did this by buying old machines at second-hand stores and researching in
repair books, and on the internet, to try to discover what their ailments might be.

Some friends and family have given me their old stuff, adding to the parts list.

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Latest News

We use a wired system mostly. It's more reliable,faster and more
secure. With 7 systems, putting in a network switch and wiring everything is
the best way to go.
I recently reinstate WiFi for the two laptops.