desktop 2. what do i need? not a lot...
my monitor died last fall. i replaced it with something that has a poor resolution for cubase, but is good for general browsing. so, i'll use that monitor for the new desktop.
what i want is a square monitor that is not too big. 15-19. 20 is too big. can i find one?
not really. i sort of knew that, already.
there are some refurbished square models at best buy, but for three-four times what i'd pay in a pawn shop. amazon is the only place that sells them at the aspect ratio i want,and they're not that expensive for new monitors, but i'm kind of not keen on paying out. for monitors, i'd rather sort through pawns shops.
i'm willing to pay, at most, $50. $30 is more realistic.
the only other thing i'm going to need for this machine for right now is a new hard drive. i just bought a new hard drive, right? but, i'm going to be slowly replacing them out. i will take a 250 gb out as backup when it's full. if i can get back on track, it won't be long. this is a good idea.
in the long run, what am i doing with it, though? well, i've had no reason to seek an upgrade - except some minor annoyances about ram. but, i'd have to upgrade to 64 bit before i can think about that. this is really at the crux of the pull back. and, of course, there's driver issues.
i guess i'm going to eventually ease into it by dual-booting into a 64-bit OS. my RAM is functional; it wasn't supposed to be. i was supposed to have had to upgrade by now. that will be the next step, after 64-bits: i'll take the ram out two sticks at a time, as they fail, until i'm maxing the board, which happens at 8 gb. 4x1---->4x2. i'll want to move the 64-bit OS onto an ssd or sshd and move the 32-bit onto a second partition of it while i'm at it. it can be a smaller drive, even. but, this could be ten years from now. you can do a lot with a dualcore, 4 gb of ram, cubase and an n-lited xp. i'm not anywhere near feeling the pull to upgrade, and i don't know what i'll upgrade to, if i do. as of today, it would be 64-bit xp.
so, i don't want to spend money on parts that could sit for years, and that i'm not even sure how i'll use. i mean, there's some logic in putting the money down now, sure. but, this is something that's going to cost me $50-$100, here and there, over a long period and it's better if i space it out than drop $700 on it and let the parts rust. the ram, for instance, will already be quite cheap to replace when it finally dies. but, why replace it when it works?
there was a time when i wanted a mac as backup for sound recording just in case, but that era has passed.
my primary task when i get to it will be backing up files to blu-ray. so, i should check the price on bd-rs. it's around $40 for 50 printable discs, either at amazon.ca or best buy - they both beat amazon on this one. but, i may or may not buy at all from either. i may get an amazon gift card just for the ps/2 to usb, in which case getting blank media would make sense.
i have lots of printable cds, but i only have lightscribe dvds. so, i should get printable dvds too, i guess. best buy wins, hands down: 50 printable for $12. well, why not get cds, too, i guess? to keep it under $100 on media, let's stick with 50 for $25 from amazon.com. & that means i need 200 jewel cases, too. staples finally wins at something, here: $80 for 200. these are overhead costs, under the hope that i actually sell some media. it's there, now. i have plenty of paper, but won't buy ink ahead.
the drive is a 2 tb seagate in a generic packaging. so, let's see what i can get out of this...
i can't tell any difference between these two drives:
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?CompareItemList=14|22-148-910^22-148-910%2C22-178-993^22-178-993
if anything, the cheaper drive seems to be a few years newer. if there's a difference at all, it's that the more expensive drive comes in a box and with some software i'd never, ever install. the cheaper one is also only available online.
i didn't do a lot of research into the more expensive drive when i bought it a few months ago. i was walking in the direction of staples. i wanted to bring it home on the day of purchase. i haven't tested it much, yet, frankly.
but, if i can save myself $20 and get a newer drive at the expense of a box and bloatware, i'll do it.
and, you know, it's not like i'm running raid. i don't really need matching drive types. i should focus more on cost.
...but, it does turn out that these seagates are cheaper across the board. they must have really taken a hit, recently. i don't believe one brand is better than the other. i'll take advantage of it.
but, it's again not clear whether i'm better off with amazon or best buy. they're both around $105. i'll have to work that out the day of.
updated total:
phone (amazon): $105
battery (amazon): $27
2 gb laptop ram (amazon): $2x15 [ships to canada]
8 gb sd ram for mp3 player (amazon): $13 [ships to canada]
4 gb laptop ram (amazon): $2x32 [ships to canada]
2 tb external drive(amazon) : $117 [ships to canada]
50 cd-rs [amazon.com]: $25 [ships to canada]
500 gb sshd laptop drives (best buy or amazon?): $2x80-85 [ships to canada]
2 gb internal drive (amazon or best buy): $105 [ships to canada]
50 bd-rs [amazon.ca or best buy]: $40
ps/2 to usb connector [amazon.ca]: $5
100 dvd-rs [best buy]: $30
200 jewel cases [staples.ca]: $80
square monitor (pawn shop): <$50
< 140 gb ide hds (found, not confirmed) (kijiji): $2x10
==================
$871-881
total phone: $105
total mp3 player: $13
total laptop 1: $137-142 + usb sound card
total laptop 2: $149-154 + $117 (external) + editing software?
total desktop 1: $20
total desktop 2: $155
total desktop 3:
total optical media: $175
it adds up, but when you look at it, it really isn't a lot: $150 on three machines each, $100 on a phone, $100 on an external drive and $200 on optical media, which is something unique to what i do.
minus the media, which i hadn't budgeted for, and the external, which i was going to get anyways, it's about what i expected: around $500 to max out and fix up my four existing machines.
i haven't eaten yet today. but, i'm going to get to actually designing the new desktop when i get back. i'm expecting it to run around $700-800, if i go overboard. the hard part is going to be finding the right board.