What do you do with your computer(s)?

[SNGX1275]

I've recently shaken up my computer setup a bit and decided I'd post what I've got and what they do for me.

Main PC:
Windows Vista, its the main pc in my profile. I do some (not much) gaming with it, and if I'm going to watch any videos on a PC that is the computer I do it on. If I'm sitting in my office it is the computer I'm at.

PowerMac G4 (torrent machine/media server):
This one is my 'feel good' story. I bought it off of eBay a couple years ago, it is a Digital Audio 550Mhz G4 system. It does use IDE (rather than SCSI), but it has a HD capacity limit of 137? gigs. I considered buying a PCI SATA card for it, but they are pretty expensive for Macs and I didn't think it was worth it.

So I bought a USB 2.0/FW400/eSATA enclosure and one of those 1.5TB hard drives. Hooked that up over FW400 and I have partitioned it to a torrent drive and a media drive. I have ripped DVDs on it, hd movies, and all my music. It does manage to be able to stream out at least 720p video over my network wirelessly to my Mini (more on that in a bit).

Secondary PC:
This one is the PC I built when I was too cheap to jump on the PCIe bandwagon and wanted a C2D processor. It doesn't do much for me, I run Windows 7 on it and also Fedora 11. Its sort of a test bed for any whim I get.

Laptop:
15" Powerbook G4, this was the last Powerbook model ever made, has the awesome yet odd resolution of 1440x960. This computer gets a ton of use, and sits on my coffee table in my living room most of the time. I use it for browsing, chatting while watching TV. It also gets brought into school/work with me for getting actual work done too.

Media/HTPC:
This is my newest, it is one of the new Mac Mini computers. A 2.0Ghz Core2Duo, I've upgraded it to 4GB of RAM, and will upgrade the HD if I feel necessary (It was intended to be upgraded, but an ordering mistake on my part has delayed that) It replaces an older CoreDuo Mac Mini.

It is connected to my HDTV through a MDP->DVI adapter then a DVI->HDMI cable. Optical audio out is ran to my HT Reciever. It is wirelessly connected to my network and I use Plex, I then play movies and such on my TV, much better experience than watching on a small monitor. I replaced the older Mini because it could not play 1080p files, the new one has a better processor and the 9400M GPU as opposed to the Intel GMA chipset which is terrible.

 

[Rage_3K_Moiz]

I use both my machines in my profile for gaming and movies, but I usually use the notebook more for MATLAB and SPICE simulations, as well as C++ programming.

I have a separate machine for dedicated torrent downloads\uploads and I also use it as a testbed for OSes like Knoppix and Ubuntu.

 

[LinkedKube]

Well, I dont know where to start, i could have more computers if I didnt break parts, not often but overclocking is a bad habit I've gotten.

Primary pc is in my specs: Gaming pc, video editing(personal stuff mostly). I am taking a class for autocad so having this machine is great...for now.

ehh, my old core 2 duos are used for testing with water, and various other torture tests.

Laptop: Dell m1710(2007) Just recently ordered an 18" desktop replacement from Asus.

 

[AlbertLionheart]

My main machine is a self build desktop based on the Q9300 quad core and I use it for all my office work - it is pretty quick and has a vista rating of 5.9.
I have a Samsung 510 17" which I take out on site visits - it has a duplicate of most of the software on the main desktop
I also have two workshops machines both P4 3 Ghz. One runs XP Pro and is the hack machine for plugging in drives and so on for testing, The other has W7 for messing about with - other than the utterly stupid sharing processes I am impressed with the new OS
Last but not least is a 8" CnMnetbook running Linux - does what it says on the box - no moving parts! - but a bit disappointed that I cannot get to a command prompt.

 

[LNCPapa]

Probably quicker for me to just post this link - http://www.duke.edu/~mepm/Computers/LNCPapas_Computer_Room.html

 

[nazartp]

I have three desktops, file/mail server and a laptop.

Main computer - a somewhat aged Core 2 Duo PC, runs Vista Home Premium, tons of storage primarily for photo and video editing. Bulk of photo-related peripherals connected to it.
Secondary - a speedier quad-core baby with XP Pro, my son uses it for gaming and my wife has an account on it for music recording.
Third - sits in the kitchen for a sole purpose of my wife watching movies over the internet when she cooks.
File/mail server runs Ubuntu and resides under my son's desk.
Fifth computer is a laptop dedicated exclusively for work - for security reasons, no home stuff is done on it and no work is done on any home computers.

Plan to upgrade my son's computer in the summer.

 

[AlbertLionheart]

And who was it who said that he did not see the need for more than a dozen or so computers for the whole of England by the year 2000 or some sort of similar nonsense!

 

[sllewe]

Well why not.

Primary rig is a Quad Core C2D. Main use is school. Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash. As well as Visual Studio, Oracle, Netbeans. Boots Mandriva 2008.1, XP pro, and Vista. I also play counter strike on it.

Second rig is a gaming rig, basically I wanted an excuse to give the phenom a go. Kinda disspapointed but I still use it. I play FPS and RTS.

Third rig is running debian used a Filesever, and maybe when I get around to it an email server. Sits in the unfnished part of the basement. Stores mainly torrents. I currentyl have a 1tb drive but Id like more. It runs a fanless design, in an open case. Its kind of my version of a bubba server.

I also have a HP mini that I use for looking up things on the couch when I dont feel like walking over to my other two rigs.

Id really like to get HTPC going like SNGX. Thats next on the project board.

 

[mailpup]

My main PC is gaming oriented with an Intel i7 940 and a Gigabyte EX58 mobo. It's in my System specs.

My secondary gaming PC is about 1.5 years old and has an Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 and a Gigabyte P35 mobo. I still use this to game. It has an Nvidia 8800 ultra so it is still good for most games.

My third gaming PC was built about 4 years ago and has an AMD FX-55 and an MSI K8N Neo4 platinum mobo. The graphics card is a Radeon X1900XTX. It is currently disconnected and put aside for the time being. I ran out of space for it.

My fourth "gaming" PC is an old Dell Dimension 8250 with an Intel P4 3.06. It is still set up and I use it mostly for internet surfing and it is hooked up to my only (non-network) printer. I should retire it and switch it out with one of my other PCs but I've been lazy about it.

I still have an old Dell XPS Intel PIII 750MHz Windows 98se machine. It works but is currently disconnected and put away. All the rest of my PCs run Windows XP Home.

My wife has a non-gaming PC that has a Athlon 64 X2 5200 with a Gigabyte nForce 570 mobo. It's an SLI board but I put a Radeon 2600XT in it. I could have given her one of my older gaming PCs but I just felt like building one.

 

[SNGX1275]

I had a Via C7 machine up until just before I created this thread. It was running Windows 2000 and booted off of a 4 or 6 gig IDE hard drive, then I had a 200 and 500 gig SATA drives hooked up to it (for some reason I could not get any OS to install to a SATA drive on it). The SATA drives held a backup of my music and some movies/tv shows. Once I got that 1.5TB FW set up for the PowerMac G4 I didn't really have a use for the C7 anymore so I sold it (just the mobo/processor/RAM).

I kind of miss having a 3rd PC around, but I think I'm going to remedy that soon. My old Mini which I sold to my mom, replaces her Celeron 2.4Ghz machine. That Celeron is going to my grandparents (who only check email and view wildlife pictures from their motion sensing outdoor camera) replacing their Pentium II 350. So I'll probably get the PII, I had bought it used off a guy back in about 2002 or 2003, so its like getting an old friend back. I may consider pulling out the IDE hds from my Secondary PC and replacing them with 2 SATA drives (taken from the C7) and then putting something like FreeNAS on it. Or I could just go the easy route and put 98SE on it and fire it up about once every 6 months to answer some 9x question that shows up here.

 

[iMoose]

Ok.......

I used to have an ancient Gateway E-1400. 128Mb RAM and a 20GB HD circa 1999(?)

OOOOooooOOO!! It even had ME on it! BONUS!:slurp:

I was content....for about a week. And quickly figured out why everybody hates ME, getting one virus after another whilst being tricked to go to sites I would NEVER go to willingly. I honestly got so frustrated using that thing, that I didn't actually use it much. Then I was talked into getting a myspace by a pretty college co-ed at the club a few months later. "You really NEED one!", she giggled. "Here's mine!"

And so it started.....

I really NEEDED more RAM, and to watch flash better than a slideshow. So after a little asking around for PC133, I was flooded with both laughter and RAM...and some pity too.
I "maxed out" the RAM in that dinosaur with 512Mb!!!! Then ran out of HD space trying to burn CD's! Yeah, it really was that pathetic. :dead:

"DANG IT!", I shouted. "I need MORE pc mojo!!"

So I put an ad on craigslist, explaining exactly what kind of ***** I was, and how I needed something made AFTER 2002! And sure enough, some guy out in the middle of nowhere e-mailed back,"So what are ya lookin' to do with it?"

"Watch DVD's is about the most taxing task I do. I don't game, or do any graphics-heavy stuff." I sent back.

"Well, scrape together $75 and head on out here." He responded.

That's how I got my first eMachines. A T3958 with a pirate XP Pro on it. But an XP Home sticker still on the back, which I actually already had a disc for and didn't really know why I kept around. Well, now I do. Being a pack-rat comes in handy SOMETIMES.

Hooooo doggies!!!

It was leaps and bounds better then the Gatewaste! So I gave it to mom, and she SWORE she'd learn to use it. (Yeah right! I usually check her e-mail FOR her. LOL)

Then I found ANOTHER T3958 for cheap, and quickly snapped it up as a "backup". Which then replaced mom's Gateway. I wound up just giving it to a guy at the local Wendy's for some chicken sandwiches! No lie, and he thought it was GREAT. :haha:

Two weeks later, Best Buy had an eMachines laptop for only $299. So I mulled it over about half a day, called my lil' brother up in Ohio to get his opinion about the specs, and went to my local store the next morning.

But they were all gone! "POOP!", I yelled to the clouds. Even the demo was sold!

But then I noticed a different sized box behind the eMachines LCD's on the display next to where the laptops SHOULD have been. "Sneaky bastards!", said I with glee. Some jerk had HIDDEN the last one in the store! And the BB employee said there had to be at least one more hidden elsewhere in the store, as his inventory showed two units.

Wow people suck, huh?

So that's how I got my D620-5777 with Vista. And I've been pretty happy with it, for the most part. Got a 4GB Crucial RAM kit for it back in January. That really made a difference, as it only came with a 1GB stick in it "stock". And I realize that a 32-bit Vista won't use all of that 4GB, but having "extra" doesn't hurt it any either. But hopefully I can get rid of Vista soon. It's been giving me trouble lately with updates that don't seem to like Firefox much, which I actually DO like better than IE. And feels very "bloaty". Maybe 7 is going to be better? But somehow I doubt it will be. We'll see.

So now I'm slowly but surely acquiring the parts needed to make a HTPC. Saw a friends and was just simply awed by it's practical uses. So with help from friends I've gathered some pretty good parts. Granted it's all about 3-4 years old, but when it was new it was all good stuff. But my technical abilities (computer-wise) aren't that great, so I'm taking my time and getting to know my new lil' Frankenputer.:blackeye:

So why am I sharing all of this with you guys? I don't know, just bored maybe?

Besides, maybe Kim will read it. She's SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO nice!

 

[AudioVayne]

Laptop: Everything...I take it with me almost anywhere

Extend desktop to TVs for movies, internet, mail, p0rn, music, downloading and hopefully soon, GPS
Compaq Presario 2200 Pentium M 1.3Ghz, 1.5GB RAM, XP Corporate Edition SP3

PC: Downloading, DVD burning..I don't really see why I got a PC, I do everything on my laptop but spose if I get a graphics card I could play games...

MoBo: IBM / Lenovo A48 9384, AMD 1.8Ghz64bit CPU, 1.5GB RAM, XP Corporate Edition SP3

 

[Kupoppo]

I feel like more and more of a PC collector these days. I now find myself with 3 computers. I recently bought a new one and my former one will be the perfect Media PC (XP Mediacenter, plenty of hard-drive space, 360 is set up as an extender for it). Current PC will be more of a gaming PC, and I've got an older PC yet which may serve functions as a ventrilo server and whatever other needs arise. Happy as a clam with the new setup once I get everything fully going!

 

[BorisandBailey]

My primary computer has an ASUS circuit board and mostly mid-range components with two hard drives: one for Windows XP and one for Ubuntu. I use it for designing web pages and doing graphic design. The computer case also serves as a lounging spot for our cats. Naturally, I have to blow cat hair out of the computer from time to time. My backup computer has a cheaper ASUS board and two hard drives: one for Ubuntu and one for SUSE.

 

[Technochicken]

I use my main machine for video editing, video encoding, web surfing (almost solely Techspot and Instructables), music, and a little bit of gaming.
My second computer has 128 mb of ram, an 8 gig solid state hard drive, and a 400 mhz ARM cpu. (also known as a first generation ipod touch.) I use it whenever I don't feel like booting up my desktop, or I just need to check my email. And I do more gaming on this thing than I do on my desktop.

 

[Spyder_1386]

Music, video, internet, games (some), work.

Spyder_1386

 

[MetalX]

I use my main computer for everything. Gaming, media, work, etc. Server is used for anything that I find myself wanting to have available 24/7 without needing to keep my main machine powered up.

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

I have an old(ish) P4 with Win98SE and Linux. I use it for playing old games that don't work in newer OSes and for NFS server (that's network file system, not Need For Speed) when it's booted to Linux.

My main PC (in profile) is for the usual - gaming, multimedia, teh intertubes.

 

[Justin]

I have a powerful laptop, which is my primary workstation at home. I do all web browsing, netflix moving viewing, writing, emailing, downloading, communicating, etc on it. When I travel, I take it with me. It is powerful to play any game, so it's lovely to have on road trips. It's a core 2 duo system with 4 gigs of ddr2 and an ample hard drive. it is hooked up to dual monitors.

I have a gaming rig, a quad core system that i use only for gaming and video encoding. that's it. unless i'm actively playing a game, it's turned off.

i have a a file server that also acts as a DVR and a VPN server for when i'm away from home. my home's security cameras connect to it and I can watch them or pull up videos they record (motion sensing) online. it's a via c7-D based system. it uses very little power, around 60W.

lastly, i have a media machine. it rarely gets used anymore, since i got my Roku (Netflix movie player). I will still use it on rare occasions when I want to watch shows or movies I've downloaded in my bedroom. primarily, though, i use the roku.

my girlfriend, who lives with me, has her laptop.


if I truly felt like it, I could reduce all of that to just my laptop and the file server.

 

[jtickner1]

Well my one and only computer (PC#1 in my profile) I have is used for everything. Gaming, movies, torrents, work, experimenting (different OSs and such) and whatever really. It's getting a bit old now and I'm in the process of building a new PC (again aimed at gaming and all that jazz - PC#2 in my profile). I'm thinking I might turn my current computer into a media PC running some variaton of Linux for my parents to chuck behind the TV cabinet.

 

[hellokitty[hk]]

My primary is the one in my specs, with a core2duo and 9600gt. Its what I do basically everything on, yes the computer I sit in front of for most of my life .

My second is a simple store bought computer, I rarely use it for anything aside from testing OS's, any serious messing around with I do on that computer because it really doesn't matter If i need to format and reinstall.