Down for Scheduled Maintenance

[Ed in Tampa]

Heck Dusty you were down and back up before any of us got to talk about you behind your back.

Just kidding glad you were able to get online so quickly.

[etc92guy]

I'm with ldh.....Dusty had an underpinning....the case and a good harddrive. I have found if you build it yourself, they are useable longer, and the upgrade is usually the motherboard and some RAM. Everything else can pretty well stay the same. More bang for the buck.

[dusty]

I don't know. Maybe it would be better to go buy a new set of hardware. Are they making computers like they used to? Yes, I know. Today's computers have more power, more speed, more memory, more harddrive than ever before.

Do they have more reliability?

I am operating a Dell 220 Workstation that is about seven years old. When new, it was cutting edge and came with a long extended warranty that I never was required to use (sort of like my Shopsmith Mark V)....just keeps ticking. It is still working fine, especially now that I increased the RAM.

If I had tried to do three years ago what I just did, the memory would have cost me about $600+. I just spent $80 and have all that I need. I increased processor speed only because what I had was at the low end of what is specified as minimum requirements for XP. It was not because I needed a faster computer. I couldn't keep up with the one I had. I'm a three fingered typist....I never wait on my computer.....except when I am waiting for my (DSL) network connection. I am not a gamer and do not need the speed, increased numbers of ports (I have three with nothing connected now) or extreme graphics.

Furthermore, I have an even older Gateway out in the shed. It is the first computer I ever bought. Paid almost $4000 for it. I just might try to resurrect it. It is fully functional with more harddrive space than I have on the Dell but it has a painfully slow processor (233MHz).

Its' functionality is now limited to my ancient (Version 12) AutoCad Program.

Greatest shortcomings are speed and lack of ram. At todays' prices I can probably afford the ram. I might not be able to do anything about increasing bus speed. That would mean it is useless for anything later than Windows 98.

Then there is the older than dirt 8086 based machine in the other shed. It might not be worth keeping. It only has 64K (NOT 64Meg...64K) of memory and operates ONLY with a small black and white monitor/keyboard. It does have a program on it called "Timeline" on board. It was a project scheduling program with allocated 'task requisite requirements' built in. It was great for scheduleing your production assets (keeping track of what hardware and people were doing) in real time.

However, if anyone out there wants to contribute a big, new, powerful, highspeed computer to "Dusty's Workspace", we can make arrangements to receive it. The only requirement not previously discussed...I have become accustomed to my dual monitors. I don't know if I could go back to a single viewing screen.

[shydragon]

I've been building my own computers since 95'. The one I'm running now is an AMD dual core, and that is ancient by todays standards. 2 gigs of memory, several hard drives, plus a networkable media vault. I'm running an Nvidia 256 meg graphics card, high end when I built it, but ancient now. But, everything works great. I run Photoshop, Adobe Premiere, Unigraphics. Sometimes if the models get to large, the graphics card, is slow to react.

[dusty]

I have not yet completed my intended computer upgrade but.....

.....I just might have resolved the "Sketchup select problem" that I had (the problem of selected items turning dark in color). I have not experienced that phenomena since I increased my memory size.

This may just be wishful thinking but I have tested and tested and have not been able to recreate the condition.