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Despite the fact that I have had a computer since I was 15 (a TI-994A, thank you Dad) I have never purchased a desktop system off the shelf. Rather, I have always built my systems by hand.
Until now.
A couple of weeks ago, during the installation of a webcam, my motherboard suffered a disastrous crash and I suspect took my entire IDE bus with it. The motherboard beeps told me things were not good so I was looking at a messy repair. However, I had been running an Athlon XP 1.7 chip and older PC2100 DDR memory. After a quick check with CompuUSA, I realized that I would need a full motherboard, processor and memory upgrade. Add to the fact that I plan on upgrading to Windows Vista at some point, it was going to be a costly upgrade.
So I thought, why not just get a new system? Our monitor had begun to waver and I've wanted a flatscreen to clear up some deskspace. So after some time at the big box stores, I settled on a HP Dual Core 3800 with 1G of DDR2 Ram. It also uses Microsoft Windows XP Media Edition with the Media Center (which I really enjoy). The best part was how Best Buy does their package deals. The 17" m0nitor that comes with the HP bundles, well, sucks. It's fuzzy at any resolution and I hated it. The salesgirl told me that I could pay the difference for the full price of the monitor and substitute something else. So for another $25 I got a 19" LG widescreen flat panel. VERY NICE.
Pros: Nice system, AMAZINGLY quiet! I can barely hear the fan at all. Media Center is a joy and so intuitive my 3-year old can find his pics and videos to watch.
Cons: Comes with Norton's Facism Pack. Why anyone uses this piece of shit, reactionary virus protection is beyond me. Video is not the best and will require a better card at some point along with a bigger power supply. Suffices for now.
Now, the big problem is that I lost one HD and of course it's the one with my kids pictures on it. I have to find someone to do data recovery. :(
Until now.
A couple of weeks ago, during the installation of a webcam, my motherboard suffered a disastrous crash and I suspect took my entire IDE bus with it. The motherboard beeps told me things were not good so I was looking at a messy repair. However, I had been running an Athlon XP 1.7 chip and older PC2100 DDR memory. After a quick check with CompuUSA, I realized that I would need a full motherboard, processor and memory upgrade. Add to the fact that I plan on upgrading to Windows Vista at some point, it was going to be a costly upgrade.
So I thought, why not just get a new system? Our monitor had begun to waver and I've wanted a flatscreen to clear up some deskspace. So after some time at the big box stores, I settled on a HP Dual Core 3800 with 1G of DDR2 Ram. It also uses Microsoft Windows XP Media Edition with the Media Center (which I really enjoy). The best part was how Best Buy does their package deals. The 17" m0nitor that comes with the HP bundles, well, sucks. It's fuzzy at any resolution and I hated it. The salesgirl told me that I could pay the difference for the full price of the monitor and substitute something else. So for another $25 I got a 19" LG widescreen flat panel. VERY NICE.
Pros: Nice system, AMAZINGLY quiet! I can barely hear the fan at all. Media Center is a joy and so intuitive my 3-year old can find his pics and videos to watch.
Cons: Comes with Norton's Facism Pack. Why anyone uses this piece of shit, reactionary virus protection is beyond me. Video is not the best and will require a better card at some point along with a bigger power supply. Suffices for now.
Now, the big problem is that I lost one HD and of course it's the one with my kids pictures on it. I have to find someone to do data recovery. :(
posted by Mkae at
7:48 AM
7 Comments:
It shouldn't be too terribly difficult to get the pics/data back. If it was just the motherboard that was blown then someone should be able to hook the HD up to a bench system and simply xfer the files to a different drive as needed.
As for the new computer, what specifically prompted you to go with a pre-made system this time vs. homemade? Total package price? I'm just curious because my cpu's over 3 years old now and I figure it's on borrowed time.
By
Unknown, at 8:40 AM
Sounds very smiliar to the machine I just bought a couple months ago. Then I realized it had an integrated video card, so there'll be no upgrading to something that can actually run a game I'd ever want to play.
By
Jason, at 10:00 AM
Jason,
I have no idea what you're saying. You can add a video card and disable the integrated easily.
Bygood,
I just didn't feel like doing the research and chasing down the pieces. This was already put together, and running the software I wanted. As for my drive, it's not just a matter of hooking it up and transferring the data. The drive is not spinning so the controller is fried. It's going to require transferring the plates to another drive, I suspect. That's a bit beyond me.
By
Mkae, at 2:11 PM
no mac??? I thought you were itching to get one?
By
Dave(id), at 9:58 PM
Actually in a good number of store-boards, you can't fully disconnect the integrated board. I found that out the hard way just over one year after I bought my last store bought computer.
It SAYS you can disable the video card, but the other video card just doesn't work all right, because the motherboard won't let it.
I wish you the best of luck on this computer, but don't be surprized if you can't upgrade the video evar.
By
BubbaJoe, at 1:14 PM
Thanks for that cheery, best of luck to you, perspective bubba.
By
Mkae, at 6:47 PM
Facism Pack...so true!
By
Ben, at 4:03 PM
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