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Your Modern Computer

Update: Just got a new mobo on tuesday, so now I have a 64 bit 2.2 Ghz core 2 duo CPU, built in audio and video, 6 USB ports 2 gb ram 2 ide and 4 sata ports, and windows VISTA.
 
I've got a couple. My primary computer actually belongs to the school, though. It's a dell latitude D610, I forget the CPU speed (somewhere arount 1.5-ish GHz, I think), but it's a Pentium M, Win XP pro, and 2GB of RAM IIRC. I've also got a desktop running XP on a celeron 433MHz, and 192 megs of ram, 10GB HDD. Funny thing about that computer is that it's 8 or 9 years old, originally came with Win 98, a 400MHz processor, 32MB of RAM, and a 4.3GB HDD. I believe that the only thing left in the computer from when I got it is the mobo, case, and PSU. The other computer I frequently use is a PIII 1GHz, 512MB, 40GB/4.3GB secondary. This one's running ubuntu linux as an HTTP/SMTP/PHP/MySQL server. I use it as a primarily server, and sometimes for linux C development, like when I'm playing with networking or ncurses and don't want to/can't use windows. I also have some other semi-modern computers that I use occasionally, like my PII tablet that's only really useful because it's a tablet, and my PII toughbook that's only useful because it's a toughbook, which is really cool, btw. It's the fully rugged one, that you can drive over with a car and what-not.
 
I use a couple. My main desktop is a Dell XPS 400 Pentium Dual Core. 3.2Ghz with 2G RAM, 320G internal HD, 500G and 1TB external drives running Windows XP Media Center. I have an IBM Model M keyboard attached to it that I've had and used pretty much daily since 1986.

My secondary computer is a Dell Inspiron 1520 laptop, Pentium Core 2 Duo running at 2.4Ghz with 3G of RAM, 250G HD running Win XP Pro.

I also run a couple of Linux boxes (Ubuntu) including an XO laptop from the One Laptop Per Child initiative. That one I have setup to dual boot Fedora with the Sugar interface as well as Ubuntu 8.104.
 
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JCS Model 1 Custom Home-built PC
- Enlight 7200 ATX Desktop chassis with customized backplane and small cooling improvements
- 700 Watt Rocketfish Modular ATX PSU
- Abit AW9D Socket LGA 775 ATX System board, Crossfire Ready, PCI-E, on-board Audio
- 4GB of DDR-2 800 Memory
- Intel Pentium-D 3.40 GHz Dual Core 64-bit CPU
- 1.44 MB 3.5" Floppy
- 3.5" Media Bay Reader with front USB port (used for game controllers)
- Lite-On DVD and Lite-On DVD-RW drives (from GEM's PIII incarnation)
- 160 GB Seagate SATA Hard Disk drive
- NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT 512MB Video Card
- Windows XP Professional/Ubuntu 64-Bit Linux

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2006 Everex StepNote NC1500
- VIA C-7M 1.5 GHz 32-bit CPU
- 2GB of DDR-5300 RAM
- 40 GB PATA HDD, 2.5"
- CD/DVD-RW
- S3 3-D Video Card, 17" Widescreen LCD
- AC97 on-board Audio
- Windows XP Home

At work I spend a lot of time dealing with a buttload of Dells, the majority being GX-620s, T5400s, M6300's, M90's, and on occasion a near-vintage IBM PS/6000 running AIX.
 
ziloo said:
Heya Vint,

Would you please explain more about HOW you use the video capture card for
vintage computers?

Thank you very much

ziloo
Click to expand...

Ok, you asked . . so . .

My secondary PC, an eMachines T2200, has an All-In-Wonder VE PCI video capture card.

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I hook my Atari, Commodore, Apple II's, & TI, old 8-bit computers video out, to the S-Video/Composite in on my capture card.
That way you can use your PC monitor for a video display. There are several different cords available on eBay to accomplish the hookup. Here's my Commodore 128 cord setup.

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This allows both 40 and 80 column display on my PC monitor through the capture card.
Here's a somewhat more universal cord that allows me to use my Atari 800XL, my TI99/4A, Commodore VIC-20, and the Commodore Plus/4 to my PC monitor.

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Here are those machines in action when connected through my PC to my Compaq monitor.
My C-128 in 80 column mode.

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C-128 in C-64 mode.

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My Atari 600XL and my Tandy Color Computer 2 use straight RF - so I hook those (with a RCA to coax adapter), right to the analog TV input of the capture card.

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With my Apple IIe and Apple IIc I use a standard RCA plugged cord to my video in composite box connector.

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So, there you have it - (1) monitor serves a multitude of computers :)
I just don't have the space to be storing all kinds of monitors - so (1) will have to do for everything.
 
What a superb presentation Vint! Thank you very much... :)

How good is the quality of the text/graphics compared to
the one on an actual oldie monitor?

ziloo
 
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My only modern computer is an original Crapbook Pro (1.83GHz Core Duo). I'm thinking to sell and build a beater system to run Linux instead. I like OSX, but I don't see myself buying another Apple laptop until they bring back the matte screens. No, the Macbook Air (aka, the Crapbook Fart) doesn't count, because of other obvious design flaws. I expect them to upgrade that model to glossy with the next revision anyway.
 
ziloo said:
. . .How good is the quality of the text/graphics compared to the one on an actual oldie monitor?

ziloo
Click to expand...

Hard to tell. As expected the old 8-bits with RF output fair the worst with some fuzziness and even a bit of interference haze. The ones with composite signal output are fine. It's been so many years since I ran a Commodore 64 with my, then, 1702 Commodore monitor, that I can't tell you whether my PC screen is as clear or not. Perhaps someone with a nice 1084 monitor might shed some light on this. I would 'guess' that the dedicated monitors would have a crisper picture simply because they are direct and not processed through a capture card, but then that's only a guess. I'm very pleased with the composite signals. Actually the S-video going in from my C-128 in 80 column mode is a bit fuzzier than I thought it would be. (this based on the fact that I can run my old style XBOX through the capture card's S-video in and have a real nice sharp picture for my racing games :) Here's a YouTube link to my channel on YouTube where I race cars. Some with XBOX, many are PC race games. I stink as a racer, but I still like it :) I put the videos up mainly for people to see the different games available, certainly not to show my expertise in racing. All the videos were made through my eMachines PC capture card.
http://www.youtube.com/user/tubz2965a

I also like vintage TV shows and movies. To this end I've found that I can utilize the S-video 'out' on my main Compaq PC's GeForce 7300GS video card to 'clone' the screen to my living room TV. I bought a cord with A/V and S-video connections and run it from the back room where my computer is, into the living room TV S-video in. That way whatever is on my computer's screen is cloned onto my living room TV. I then go to sites like Hulu.com
http://www.hulu.com/browse/alphabetical/episodes

where I can choose from lots of old vintage TV shows and they broadcast into my living room TV. Just another little modern convenience to further my fancy for vintage stuff. By having a cloned picture of my PC screen on my living room TV, I can also slideshow vintage cars and vintage motorcycles, or even vintage family pictures, accompanied with music if desired :)
 
my main computer is a:

Dell Dimension 8400:
- 3.4 GHz Pentium 4 w/ HT
- 1 GB RAM (DDR 2)
- Geforce 7300 GS OC (PCI Express)
- Plextor 16x DVD-RW DL drive
Hard drives:
- 320 GB SATA
- 80 GB SATA (it's a laptop drive actually)
- 160 GB EIDE

nothing special, but it gets me by just fine. i generally hate using pre-built store-bought computers like Dell, and prefer building my own but specs-wise this is my best machine and i got it free when i worked at computer nerdz. a client had us throw it out and it had everything except a hard drive! i plan to invest in a quad core. (or double quad core if i have enough $$$$)

my main laptop i got a NICE deal on about a year ago. HP nc6400:
- 1.66 GHz dual core Centrino
- 2 GB DDR2
- 80 GB SATA HDD
- CD-RW

they still sell for over $1000 new last i checked, and i paid $400 for it second-hand! it was mfg. in nov. 2006.

i have a computer up in my bedroom which gets a ton of use as well, built out of spare parts also from computer nerdz. the motherboard is an MSI with a 1.8 GHz sempron chip that a client told us to throw out when we upgraded her motherboard. i have SO MUCH CRAP i got from working there it's almost criminal. (but not quite! i got all of these things legit.) :)

i have a LOT of computers i use. my next most used machine is a 486 DX2/100 with win2k :)
EDIT: ^^ the 486 i rescued from a street curb a couple years ago. poor lil thing.

after that i use my tandy 1000tx and canon notejet 486c the most. (yes it's a laptop with a built-in printer!) i have tons of other machines i tinker with as well.
 
Custom job,
Intel P4, 1.7ghz
1 gig ram
160gb over two hdd's
nvidia geforce4 MX 440
win2k pro
that's pretty much it. Nothing special with today's standards, but the OS speeds everything up being pretty lightweight considering. Mainly for school, else I'd be tunning ububtu full time.
 
ASUS P5N-E SLI
Intel Core 2 Duo 1.86GHz
ASUS ATI Radeon HD 4850, 512MB GDDR3
2Gb Ram
300 Gb Hard Drive
Ubuntu 8.10
 
Coolermaster Centurion 5
AMD 4200+ 64 X2
Asus M2N-E SLI
4 GB Kingston
4 WD 160 GB Caviar
320 GB WD external usb
Sil ATA133 HD controller
Antec 650 True Power
110 watt Dell Optiplex aux. psu
2 Nvidia 7600 GT SLI
Creative Labs 5.1
2 Vantec Vortex HD Coolers
Aspire fan controller
Liteon DVD-RW
Sony CD-RW
Viewsonic 22' wide
Logitech Marble Trackball
HP multimedia keyboard

It's basically every piece of semi modern computer hardware I had stuffed into a Centurion 5 case, chock full of lights fans and temperature sensors. It was fun to build, but I'll never do anything like it again. Way too much useless bling. Next time, plain jane beige.
 
TomFCS said:
Coolermaster Centurion 5
AMD 4200+ 64 X2
Asus M2N-E SLI
4 GB Kingston
4 WD 160 GB Caviar
320 GB WD external usb
Sil ATA133 HD controller
Antec 650 True Power
110 watt Dell Optiplex aux. psu
2 Nvidia 7600 GT SLI
Creative Labs 5.1
2 Vantec Vortex HD Coolers
Aspire fan controller
Liteon DVD-RW
Sony CD-RW
Viewsonic 22' wide
Logitech Marble Trackball
HP multimedia keyboard.....
Click to expand...

Egads, sounds really over the top! Very nice - would you have a picture of this to share?
 
Toshiba_Collector said:
How is Asus?
Click to expand...

Hi Toshiba_Collector,

I'm not sure if your question is about that specific board or about Asus in general but over the years I've owned quite a few Asus products.

Several TX97-X - Lots of different processor options on these.
A couple of P2B-DS dual processor - PII 333 mhz slot 1. First board I ever used Linux on.
TUV4X - 1.0 ghz pIII. Used this board for years. Donated it to the theater dept. at work last year. Hooked it up the the in house PA system and they now use it as a sound effects machine for the plays. Still going strong.
A7N8X Deluxe - AMD 2500+ Barton. I still have this one running XP now but only use it occasionally. Mostly games.
M2N-E-SLI - My current Linux daily driver.

I've always though they made a really good reasonably priced product. Never had a DOA. Many models also seem to include a few extras. Cabels, USB risers ect which sometimes are extra purchases with other manufactures. Also like their documentation. Well organized and usually dead on easy to setup. Only slight gripe might be setup software. Always been acceptable but not necessarily stellar. Your milage may vary of course.
 
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