Saturday evening I bought myself a new computer. Well, technically I just bought the parts; they'll arrive tomorrow or Thursday. It isn't really a computer until I put them all together.
My current machine is a Dell laptop I bought in March of 2002. Her name is Delilah, and she has been a good machine for these five years. I've had no major problems with her, though I have some gripes with Dell support. (And the three-year extended warranty came in handy since I had the screen replaced not once but twice during that time.) Still, five years is five years, and she's a little underpowered for the kind of applications I want to run these days.
So I ordered parts for a new PC. This will not be a thoroughly decent machine but not top-of-the-line by any means; all the hardware is a couple of generations old. Still, the specs leave Delilah in the water.
- Delilah
- 1.13 GHz processor
- 256 MB of RAM
- GeForce2 Go video card
- 30 GB hard drive
- DVD burner
- 1600x1200 screen
- New machine
- 2.3 GHz dual core 64-bit processor
- 2 GB of RAM
- GeForce 7600GS 256MB video card (which Jeff tells me is several generations beyond the GeForce2 Go)
- 250 GB hard drive
- CD burner
- 1600x1200 LCD monitor (but rather larger than Delilah's screen)
The monitor was by far the largest splurge. It was fully a third of the total cost (not counting tax and shipping).
When I spec'd out a new computer the last time, I had rather different ideas about the new machine. For example, I wasn't planning to install Windows at all, but I've backed off that decision now. I've also changed my mind about the name, although I won't reveal my current idea just yet. That will wait until I see whether it fits.
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