Distracted

Readership hit an all time low two days ago with only one visit. I've been ignoring the blog for a couple of days because I have something new to distract me: an awesome new computer.

Many of you probably know that I was an Apple person for a time.



But then I realized that I was overpaying for stuff I didn't need. Sure, there are things that are better about Apple computers: the amazing built-in software package, the UI experience, hardware that works together seamlessly and fits into an incredibly small package—you Mac Folk know the drill. Also, nobody's making rampant malware for Macs. With the relatively small worldwide proportion of people who use Macs, it's just not worth it.

Anyway, I found that I never used any of the included software package. I looked at it, said, "Wow, look at all this cool stuff," and never opened it again. I used my iSight about four times. I never used Bluetooth. The wireless kinda' sucked. I did use exposé extensively (it is extremely useful for looking at web design elements in separate files together while working in Photoshop, and for switching quickly between however many Adobe programs I have open at once).

Well, Tim got my computer to do just about everything my Mac could do (and then some) for a little over half the price. Plus, I now have a full 7 inches more diagonal monitor real estate. Boo-yah. Oh, and if I ever feel the need to use a webcam again, my new monitor happened to have one of those, too.

If you're a PC user who's insanely jealous of Mac docks, I have just the thing for you: RocketDock. Seriously—go to the website and watch the video. I love my RocketDock. It also gives you WAY more control over things than Mac's Tiger dock does.

Besides a totally awesome and huge monitor, my sexy new rig sports an AMD Phenom 9950 Black Edition—that's four cores of animal power. I'm running Vista (which really isn't as bad as everyone thinks, though it's not my favorite), because as a 64-bit OS, it allows me to get a performance increase from my 4G of 1066 RAM (that means it's faster than your RAM). The graphics card isn't phenominal, but it's nothing to sneeze at either. I traded my new terabyte for Tim's 250G HDD so our media computer has more storage space for music and videos.

And how much did this gorgeous beast cost? I won't say outright, but it was a great price, since Tim put the whole thing together himself. It also runs super quietly—especially compared to the ridiculous grating of Mac's optical drives.

This new computer, in all it's massive-widescreen glory, is just one more evidence that Tim is the most awesome husband ever for finding all the best parts, buying them, and putting it all together for me. He makes me proud to be a lady-nerd.