I like experimenting with my computers and network gear. It is even fun sometimes when things don’t work properly at first, so long as I can work out a solution.
But even my patience with technology has its limits. Late last year, for example, I more or less “gave up” (at least for the time being) on Vista and Windows, and switched to using a Macintosh as my primary machine. What has me on the warpath now? My network… and specifically my Linksys/Cisco gear, and even more specifically my Linksys RV016 router/switch.
Our home entertainment system currently requires a lot of remote controls. One for the TV, one for the DVR, one for the amplifier, one for the Apple TV device I just bought, and one “universal” remote that tries (and fails) to control them all.
The irritating thing, of course, is that several of these remotes claim to be “universal” in some fashion. But invariably something doesn’t quite work correctly: the universal remote won’t switch the amp’s audio sources, the DVR remote won’t change the TV’s video inputs… and none of them are very elegant. I’ve been keeping an eye on the Logitech Harmony remotes for a while, and finally decided to take the plunge: I’m now the proud owner of a Harmony One Advanced Universal Remote
I’m pretty happy with my Macbook Pro. But on the day I bought it, I started planning upgrades: I’m a geek, after all.
The first thing on my list- upgrade from the default 2 GB to 4 GB of RAM. That was done about a week after I bought the machine. Second on my list: a larger and faster hard drive. 120 GB of storage on a 5400 RPM drive is nice, but 240 GB at 7200 RPM… that would be just the ticket.
I just completed a completely unnecessary and unintentionally expensive upgrade to my main gaming computer. Of course, this means it is time for something to unexpectedly break and need replacing.
I decided late last year that I was going to take the year off from the computer upgrade process. That doesn’t mean that I planned on absolutely zero upgrades, but that I would defer the “big stuff”. This came after a tremendous amount of hassle and fuss trying to get Vista and my 2006 PC upgrade working to my satisfaction, and after the satisfying experience I had with my MacBook Pro.
But things change… and the upgrade that wasn’t going to happen, did…
It started innocently enough… ah, crap, that’s how I began that other post.
Okay… here’s the deal. I’m weak. My weakness is gadgets, particularly computers. You know this if you’ve been reading this site for any length of time. It is rare that I make it through a given six month period without doing *something* that involves partly or completely gutting one or more computers.
It started innocently enough. I was considering upgrading to a larger format monitor sometime in the next year or so. I like having lots of video “real estate” and, although my ViewSonic VP201 20″ LCD display has served me well, I am starting to feel crowded.
In my previous post, I mentioned a couple of gotchas regarding my server upgrade and the Linux install thereon. A day later and things have changed again.
I seem to have reversed the forces of entropy! The new server is basically operational, and this blog is now being served by fresh, clean hardware. I’ll post something detailing the innards of the new box this upcoming weekend.
