My PC just turned 7 years old and it's still going strong. Just a short post here to say "Thanks, PC."
There have been ups and downs, of course. A hard drive crash or two. Some crazy software situations. A Windows re-install. But we've worked through those problems … and now, as a couple, we're stronger than ever.
Those knobs and jacks you see … that's the front-panel of my sound card. A Terratec that I bought at the same time as the computer. There is a 1/4-inch mic input, with a knob for controlling the input level. A headphones jack. There's a L/R RCA input for anything you want (tape, CD, VCR, etc.), plus a phono input, hilariously enough. You're also seeing MIDI in and out, as well as digital in and out. The sound card's been a trooper. I've recorded plenty of original music on this PC … using Home Studio XL. And I've converted some R.E.M and Beatles vinyl records to digital.
I've made some hardware upgrades over the years. More RAM. A DVD burner. New hard drives. The motherboard and the processor have been solid. I had no issues building Newsbobber on this PC and have edited plenty of home videos, too.
Check out that old 3.5-inch floppy drive!
The case is a stainless steel an aluminum Lian-Li. Still looks good, and it's been a breeze to get inside.
Hats of to Puget Custom Computers, which built the PC. They're out in Seattle and shipped my PC to New York City, where I was living when I bought it.
So, thanks, PC. Thanks Asus for the motherboard. Thanks Intel for the processor. And, grudgingly, a kudos to Windows XP. Headaches for sure, but it's still ticking, which is something.
Original specs:
Motherboard Asus P4PE-RL
CPU Intel Pentium4 (478) 533 FSB 2.4 GHz
Ram Samsung PC2700 512mb
Video Card ATI Radeon 9000 Pro 64MB
Hard Drive Western Digital ATA100 80.0GB WD800JB
Floppy Drive 3.5inch 1.44 Floppy Drive (Beige)
CD / DVD Teac 40/12/48 CDRW
Case Lian-Li PC50 Mini-Tower
OS Windows XP Home OEM SP3
Software: Multimedia Nero Burning ROM Express Ver.
Networking Diamond Supra 56K v.92 Voice/Fax Modem