Tech

Tech

This section of the site is dedicated to one of my obsessions..the personal computer! I use both the Macintosh and Windows platforms, and have even played around with a few linux distributions, so I do have a few things to say. Most of the stuff I’ve written though have not yet been transferred from my now-old (and outdated and clunky-looking :p ) website, which I coded using nothing more than Windows Notepad in 1997 (while counting down to ORD…). With this new site design, I’ll be posting my tech thoughts to my blog, so don’t expect to see too many updates to this page any time soon!

Let’s begin with the Microsoft Windows platform

I last updated my PC setup some time around June 2003, and it seems to be still quick enough for the (very) occasional game. Oh and for the occasional linux “experiment” too heh.

PC hardware I am using now

  • AMD Athlon XP 2500+
  • Shuttle MN31N (Nvidia Nforce2 IGP)
  • 1GB Kingston DDR333 SDRAM
  • Seagate 7200.7 80GB harddrive
  • Power Color ATI Radeon 9600 Pro 128MB AGP
  • Nvidia Audio Processor unit

PC Hardware I used to own:

Processors

  • Intel 286 16MHz
  • AMD 486DX4 100MHz
  • AMD K5 PR75
  • Cyrix 6×86 PR166+
  • AMD K6 233MHz
  • AMD K6-2 333MHz
  • AMD Duron 800MHz

Motherboards

  • Some Intel-based board for the 286
  • Some generic SiS board for the 486
  • Gigabyte Intel 430HX-based board
  • ECS P5SD-B+ (VIA MVP3)
  • Abit KT7A (VIA KT133A)

Graphics cards

  • some Trident 1MB PCI card
  • S3 Trio64V+ 2MB PCI
  • Matrox Mystique 4MB PCI
  • Magic3D 3dfx Voodoo 4MB PCI
  • Creative 3dfx Banshee 16MB AGP
  • Abit Siluro Geforce2MX 32MB AGP
  • Nvidia Geforce4MX IGP graphics

And now to my current preferred platform

In January 2003 I went shopping for a notebook computer – imagine my suprise when it turned out that the Apple iBook was the best bet for the money! While I don’t consider myself a “Mac convert” (I still use the PC regularly for certain tasks), I did subsequently add a PowerMac for my home use. These are the Macs I currently own:

iBook G4

  • G4 1.2 GHz
  • 768MB DDR266 SDRAM
  • 60GB harddrive
  • DVD-CDRW slot-loading drive
  • ATI Radeon 9200 32MB AGP

It is speedy, runs Microsoft Office and interoperates well with my office printers and network. What’s not to like? I even get a mobile video editor and DVD player for work use!

Mac mini

  • G4 1.25GHz w/512KB L2 cache
  • 1GB PC3200 DDR SDRAM
  • 40GB 5400RPM harddrive
  • CD/DVD-RW drive
  • ATI Radeon 9200 32MB AGP

When the “most affordable Mac” ever debuted this year, I knew there was a reason I didn’t get a heavily upgraded G4 Cube! And I also knew that I had to make mine a mini – so the Sawtooth had to go! Sure the processor speed might be slower than the Sawtooth’s, but the mini is still faster overall, helped by its more recent graphics processor, higher bus speed (167MHz vs 100MHz on the Sawtooth) and faster memory (DDR SDRAM vs PC100 SDRAM). It’s so small and quiet, and so beautiful that I think I’ll keep it around as a file server when the Intel Macs arrive!

iPod 20GB (3rd generation)


Well, technically this isn’t a Macintosh, but since it is an Apple product and I do synchronise it to my Mac, it isn’t really out of place here.

Apple products I used to own:

Power Mac G4 AGP Graphics ("Sawtooth")

  • G4 1.4GHz w/2MB L3 cache (from Gigadesigns)
  • 1GB PC100 SDRAM
  • 120GB 7200RPM harddrive
  • CD/DVD-RW drive
  • ATI Radeon 7500 32MB AGP

Rather heavily upgraded from its humble beginning, this 5 years (and counting..) PowerMac is suprisingly powerful enough for my daily computing needs. Won’t be upgrading anymore though – my next Mac must have a 64-bit G5 processor inside!

iBook G3

  • G3 700MHz
  • 384MB PC100 SDRAM
  • 20GB harddrive
  • CDROM drive
  • ATI Radeon 7500 16MB AGP

My first Mac ever! Still fast enough for productivity applications, but I wanted the flexibility of having more hard drive space, DVD playback and CD burning capability (the speed boost didn’t hurt either!)

iPod 15GB (3rd generation)

sold because I really wanted a dock and more space

iPod 20GB (2nd generation)

sold only because it was still too thick to fit comfortably into my pants pocket

Ok that’s it for now. Now go read my blog!