My old computer started going on the fritz a month and a half ago. Random failures, and the occasional reboot loop when I tried to start up. At first I thought it was a Windows bug, and I tried to format and reinstall everything, and the same problems resumed. I finally figured out it was either a bad power supply, video card, or motherboard. Either way, it would be cheaper to replace the entire computer than it would to fix it. My boss was looking for an upgrade to his computer, and he offered it to me for $300.00. So I gave him the cash, and then he said let’s go to EBay and find him a new one. We found a computer for him, but the only catch was that he forgot his EBay password, so I had to buy it for him. So, his money got put back into my account, and I hit the ‘buy-it-now’ button, and placed the order. After 4 days, I contacted the seller, and asked why it hadn’t shipped. The seller responded by giving me my money back (along with a message of something about a defective motherboard). So. my boss and I went back to EBay again, and we didn’t find anything for him. But I found something I wanted. So I ordered it. It took 10 days to ship it (a look at the system log indicates that Windows wasn’t even installed until a week after I won the auction). But long story short it arrived and I’m now all moved in (all my software and games). Here are some features/differences:
- First, a P4 (3.0 gigahertz processor) vs, a P3 (866 megahertz). Stuff is a lot faster now.
- 2 gigabytes of memory (my old one had only 512 megabytes).
- The front side bus is fast (my other one was only 133 megahertz). I don’t how fast it is, but I’m willing to speculate that it’s close to my old computer’s processor.
- A PCI-e slot. My old computer had an AGP port, that I was running a Radeon 9250. A crappy and Piss Poor card, but it had one advantage: I could run two monitors. I don’t have a PCI-e card, yet. So I guess I have to make do with the 512 mb onboard graphics, which isn’t bad. But, it only drives one monitor….
- Windows XP Pro. My last computer came with WinME installed on my computer, and I very rapidly became acquianted with all of Gateway Tech Support staff. I also learned the hard way how to fix most computer problems. Which does come in handy. When you call most Tech Support departments, your call is routed to India. My boss is from India. He now comes to me for all his IT needs. But this is still kind of like learning to swim by diving straight into the ocean….. I did eventually upgrade to XP home after a year with ME, but still I like to have XP Pro.
- I could also go on about the 250 gig hard drive, but the only caveat is that the new drive is SATA, whereas all my other hard drives where IDE. I see an empty slot that looks like it’s for a ribbon cable, but I just bought this computer, and I don’t want to break it at least until I pay it off (although it is ironic that my old computer broke right as I paid it off….).
And some issues I see with it already:
- Only two PCI slots. Granted the sound, graphics, and network are onboard the motherboard and are integrated, that still leaves very little room for adding future components. Then again, I don’t think there’s very much more to add. I’ve already put my old TV tuner in, and my add my old WI-FI card, too.
- It was advertised with MS Office. This is a non-issue for me, since I had Office XP Standard. But when I got my computer, I noticed that Office 2007 had been installed. I suspect that it may be pirated, but I’ve also taken it through Microsoft Update, and The Anti-Christ hasn’t given me any rude warnings about it. I’ll just continue using it, and keep my previous version of Office (which was legally purchased from a reputable retailer), in case it becomes an issue. Anyway, it didn’t come with a reinstall disc, so it’ll be gone at the next system wipe. In fact, the only back-up I got was the windows disc, and a driver disc for the motherboard).
