New PC
So I decided a while ago it was time to invest in a new PC. I use my mac for about 70% of the stuff I do, but I’ve found that having another box on the side is a very functional arrangement for me. (This is how I have things setup at work) This all started when I noticed how slow my PC was when playing some video, but when I started thinking about it I realized the problem. I had bought the PC when I still lived in my condo, which is something like six years ago now.
My first thought was go to order a $500 PC from Dell and call it good. So I started looking at the Dell site and it basically gave me a headache. Very hard to compare stuff and the prices seem to change everytime I went to the site. But there stuff is decent quality, their support is good and prices OK. (But I feel sorry for people who don’t know much)
So to make a long story short, I bought a Lenovo $500 PC tonight at Fry’s. I felt a little weird about it, but it was cheaper then a similar box from Dell (because no shipping cost) and I got it tonight rather then a week from now. Here are my first impressions:
1) The new cases are pretty slick. This one has a CF card, SD card and a bunch of other media readers in the front. There is also audio connections in the front and two USB ports. (plus a ton of USB ports in the back).
2) It came with Vista Home Premium, which is the first version of Windows I’ve bought since leaving MSFT. I’m still not impressed. The box has 6GB of ram and it is sitting here with one IE window open and I’m watching it hitting the HD swapping.
3) It is fun to refuse to click OK to the EULA for all the crapware on the box. :-)
More later….