New Keyboard

I had the same keyboard for many years from my 486 through a couple years ago. However, it started spazzing out, probably after too many things had been spilled on it. As a cheap stop-gap, I plopped down $10 for a new one instead of just getting one from the Goodwill (I don't remember why).

Today, after 2 years of the "temporary stop-gap", I finally bought a new keyboard. I had been holding out for a famed IBM Model-M. However, today I hit it lucky. I stopped by the ReStore after church and there were a couple keyboards. One was logo'ed by a local computer company (which must have closed or moved, I don't recognize the name and the address is now a sporting goods store...). It's a Win-95 keyboard so it's not terribly old. However, I flipped it over and it actually had a real brand on it! It's a KEY TRONIC!!! How lucky is that? I paid $4 for a KeyTronic E03601QLPS2-C. Googling shows prices anywhere from $25 to nearly $100. It's nice...

I finally have a keyboard that feels solid instead of something that would warp if you twisted it. It's actually quieter though, the old one had a cheap loud click to it, whereas this has a nice solid muffled sound. It may be still a membrane keyboard (my long-lasting one had plastic switches) but it's a beautiful thing to have a solid, full-travelling keyboard again!

Functional Programming with C# 3.0

I found a wonderful little three part series on functional programming in C# 3.0. I thought I would share. I also purchased "C# 3.0 in a Nutshell" recently. I had the first edition (for 1.0/1.1) but this is different, there is more "meat" to it but the handy reference section which listed all the main members of System.Core, which took up a good 2/3 of the first book is gone. It was much speedier than digging in Monodoc or MSDN2.

Part I
Part II
Part III (Loops are Evil)

It is well-written. There tends to be poorer quality articles widely available for very popular languages like Java, C#, VB and JavaScript compared to C, C++, Perl, Python, Ruby (well, aside from Ruby on Rails). It's sad but true.

On a side note, my UPS died. Ugh. It's only two months old. I believe the fan died and it is overheating and acting oddly. I haven't had a chance to experiment yet. Some day I will try it the DIY way (useful as a start to a bigger scale battery backup and power generation project).

Antec P180B Case Review

(This review sucks without pictures, I'm sorry. Maybe I can borrow my roommate's camera.)

Introduction

I received my P180B case in the mail yesterday. I got it via UPS ground so I was terribly nervous but I couldn't pass up free shipping from Newegg. Luckily, there was only a small hole in the box, which didn't effect the case at all. I was worried the whole side would have been smashed in and the case dented. I got one past UPS this time...

What I was looking for in a case

I'm picky. If I'm going to spend $100-200 on a case (this was $130), I want it to be perfect. I wanted a case with a door. I rarely use my DVD drive so it's not bothersome to have to open the door and it helps quiet everything down (the noisy DVD drive is definitely muted with the door shut). I like things sleek and stylish, I had no intention of getting a flashy gaming case. I understand that mesh cools better (my PSU is meshed) but it's ugly and that's more important to me. I wanted the front ports to be on the top (the P180B has them low on the front sadly). I also wanted a nice quality case that will last me at least 5-10 years (until ATX goes out of fashion). I got most of what I wanted in the P180B.

O_O

The first thing you notice is - "it's HUGE! Is a full-tower? I thought it was a mid-tower..." Well, Antec calls it a "Super Mid Tower", which is essentially somewhere inbetween a full and a mid. UPS said it weighs 37lbs and I believe - this thing is steel and it's not going anywhere, especially when you fill it up with parts. It's big and it's black, it's not quite mirrored but it's also kinda shiny, in a black-hole sort of way. It also reminded me of a B-2 stealth bomber. It matches my monitor and UPS but I guess I'll need to paint my router then so it's not Linksys blue >.< Unfortunately, seeing as it's shiny, it also will probably be a dust-magnet.

P180B == P182

As a note, this is a revision ahead of the original P180 and essentially the same as the P182. I'm not even sure the exact differences but they're minuscule, if even present. The P180 is available in a greyish color, the P180B in black and the P182 in "gunmetal grey" or expensive "special edition mirrored". I wanted black.

Why pay $130 for a steel box?

It's not the cheapest case around. I'm used to cheap cases - they're beige, steel and plastic and come with uber-cheap no-name PSUs in them and cost $20-30. All the cases I've ever had were like that. After all, isn't a case just a big steel box? When I was young, I couldn't imagine who would pay over $100 for a box? The P180B is more than just a box, it is a box of boxes. Everything has a box - the PSU has it's own cage, there are two removable drive cages (the 5.25" slots aren't removable but the 3.5" hold 2x3 hard drives). Hell, there's even an empty plastic box attached to the middle drive cage for all your screws, pin out diagrams, software licenses, etc. One review compared it (actually the P190 full-tower) to those Russian dolls - boxes inside of boxes.

The manual, or lack thereof

There is a manual but it tells you little about assembling your case. Directions are vague (although not Engrish) and there are no pictures to guide you. There are also no diagrams for the different types of screws and there are a lot of them! I ended up looking at some other people's rigs on the Internet to solve a couple of tough issues. The lack of documentation is the worst downside to this case.

Powering the beast

Installation was not the easiest thing in the world, starting with the PSU. I have a Hiper Type-R 580W modular PSU which is about two years old. I used to never think about PSUs, they just turn AC into DC, right? You get them for nearly free with the beige el-cheapo cases, why would someone pay money for one? Well, I started having problems - I came back to town and my computer wouldn't turn on. After fiddling with it, it turned on but immediately shut down. Further twiddling resulted in a system that ran but was unstable. When I received some money for school, I picked up the PSU that was all the rage a couple years ago. I wanted a modular one and I wanted it black and sexy. So, I paid about $120 for it and my dormmates thought I was nuts (silly girls just didn't understand... that's okay, one watched the Super Bowl intently and I just don't understand that.) It's been rock-solid ever since and I love it.

The PSU is installed at the bottom of the case instead of the top but the motherboard isn't inverted so you have to be able to get the ATX power up to the top, I'm sure with some PSUs, it will be tight. Well, woe to you moreso with even longer PSUs because I barely was able to make mine fit and it took some squeezing. Having modular PSU connectors make it longer and there is a fan right there which isn't easily removable and even if I did, I'd have to get it back on (or not, I'm not running RAID 0 Raptors or anything). You could also remove that fan and put it in front of the hard drives but that would be louder.

Routing the blood

Being modular, I decided on three molex cables - one for the DVD, one for the hard drives, and one for the fans. This way, cables could stay pretty out of the way from each other. The fans are powered by molex pass-throughs instead of the tiny 3 prong fan connector. I haven't looked too closely into how to hook them up to a fan controller but I think I have mine out in the shed so I might try it later (I can also see temps then). The top and back fans have controls for Low, Medium and High on tiny switches in the back. The bottom fan lacks an accessible speed control, it's on a little switch just hanging inside so you have to open the case to get to it. I might be able to thread it through where the PSU is living but I don't want to mess with it too much more, it was a pain!

So I pushed a short and medium molex through the slot to the main part of the case and the long one I ran behind the (non-removable) motherboard tray and down through a hole in the top to my DVD drive. Another went up through one side of the divider and down through the other to reach the hard drives. I decided to link all the fans together via the pass-through connectors and placed the bundle below the PCI slots, where the water-cooling ports are. I haven't attached them to the case yet, I haven't finalized my wiring.

Braaaains!

The motherboard installation was simple and there is even a standard backplate provided (I didn't have one on this old board, it was permanently attached to the name-brand case). There were only three brass standoffs provided and I didn't have any extras. Anyway, if it was any higher off of the tray, it wouldn't have fit in the backplate. Maybe I'll feel differently later with my next motherboard.

A freight train on rails

Here is where I felt like a total newbie. I've never used drive rails before. They seemed simple enough - screw them onto your drives and slide them into the hard drive cage. So I tried that with the 5.25" external slots. You pull the plastic cover off and then twist the punched-out steel until it breaks. I screwed the rails on and tried to slide them in so that they matched the hard drives. They ran into a stopper so I moved them to the next hole, still sticks out, next hole, hmm, well the door will close but this can't be right. I tried and tried, I even popped the motherboard out to be able to try from the back but that didn't work. Grrrr... I looked online to see where other people's metal prongs latched on and I couldn't tell.

I finally had an epiphany: "Perhaps I'm doing it backwards, perhaps the metal prongs stick out the front! That would look funny, but it might work." *slide* and *click*, That does mean there is shiny silver metal visible from the front (spraypaint?) but it's right.

If you actually read the manual, it helps. "Make sure the metal portion is angled on the outside and facing forward." Ah well, whatever, it's in there now... >.<

I think I like the rail system now that I've messed with it a little. It just takes some getting used to but it's nice to not have to take off the other panel or to screw at odd angles.

Conclusion

It took me a bit of extra effort to get this case together, both because of the parts I had and because of my own ignorance. Patience is a virtue but when it's done, it looks pretty nice. I am going to rewire it when I buy my CPU/MB/RAM combo in the next couple of months and see what I can come up with.

So I've only had this case less than 24 hours so I'm not ready to put a final rating on it but I'm going with 4.5/5 for now. One mark off for no pictures in the manual (although it's in 6 different languages...) and for being difficult to work with in the PSU area. From reading other people's reviews, it's definitely a step up from the original P180 because they listened to people's criticisms and that's what is important. It's a big sucker so be aware of that, it dwarfs the mATX mini-towers that are so popular now but it's the perfect house for a watercooled, quad-core, SLI rig with 4 hard drives. Just be aware of its limitations with regards to the PSU and you're good. It really is a nice case.

(Hopefully photos soon!)

New Computer Possibilities - Part Seven

Pulling up the rear-guard

So, in an earlier post, I explained how I was going to save up $700-800 and replace my computer guts (MB/CPU/RAM/GPU). Well, I haven't even got my PII up and running yet (Tuesday or Wednesday) and I'm already apprehensive ~ I used it this winter and it was doable but sometimes painful.

Instead of trying to buy lots of the latest hardware all at once, what if I just did the basics and then slowly upgraded my components as needed? Then I would be able to get a new computer sooner rather than later. Sure, I'd end up with more parts than the first plan but if it allows me to wait another six months, prices will drop on the higher-end parts and perhaps it'll end up being about the same. Additionally, I can throw the cheaper parts into an HTPC box.

Motherboard ($150): Here is where I don't want to skimp too much. It will be the backbone of my computer. I had previously been looking at flagship boards, especially from Gigabyte (no more ASUS for me...), including the new Intel X38 chipset which supports dual PCI-E x16 (P35 and earlier boards with two x16 slots castrate the second one to be electrical x4 or x8). However, in all honesty, the chances of me using dual video cards are slim. Even with a dual-monitor setup, I just need a video card with two DVI outputs and that should be able to handle it just fine. SLI is only available on nForce boards and I haven't really been looking at them much.
Current choice: Gigabyte GA-P35-DS3L ($90)

RAM ($100): I don't have to worry about replacing anything here when I upgrade, instead I just add more memory as needed. I'll be fine until the world moves to DDR3 (which is still stupid expensive). Fast memory is an expensive premium for little improvement - 4GB of DDR2 800 will be better than 2GB of 1066 for approximately the same cost. On the other hand, don't buy dirt-cheap memory, buy only from well-established and respected companies. RAM quality effects your whole system stability. Right now through the end of the month, Patriot, Corsair and OCZ are offering deep mail-in rebates (up to $40 - over 50%!) on NewEgg.

My last system had 512MB of RAM, which I bought for nearly $100 in 2004. Now memory is less than 1/5 of that price. Although it worked fine, last year I was looking at adding another gig. I think 2GB should be standard and it's easily obtainable. 4GB is the effective maximum for usefulness but some programs can benefit from 8GB or even more (if your board supports it).
Current choice: OCZ Platinum 2x1GB ($73 - $35 MIR = $38 until 11/30)

Video ($75): Again, the market changes rapidly here. I also have no real need for anything excessive, as I'm not trying to pull the most frames out of the latest FPS games. At most, I want to be able to watch movies and have 3D acceleration (that works well under Linux). My gaming tends more towards the RTS and (standard, not MMO) RPG genres than FPS. I want to be able to play Warcraft III and some older games. I am also interested in Oblivion but that will have to wait until I can upgrade. The 8800GT is sweet and all the rage but also $300 and I don't have a justification for that yet.

I'm looking at the GeForce 7 series right now and I see a 7200GS for $50, the 7200GS was released this year into last year's series. It's intended as an entry-level upgrade to integrated graphics but the motherboards I'm looking at don't have any graphics anyway. However, for a better card, it's not much more expensive. Gigabyte has a 7300GT for $60, which is not bad. The 8800GT is definitely my gaming card that I'll get at some point in the next few months. However, for playing a few games and watching movies and in general putting pictures on my monitor through a PCI-E slot now that AGP is dead (which is what is in my PII) it's worth it. It's not a low-profile card but it's fanless, which makes it great for movie-watching.
Current choice: Gigabyte 7300GT 256MB ($60)

Conclusion: With a total budget of $425 (closer to $300 if we take the low-end solutions), we're looking at half the price of my original plan. However, this is not nearly the killer machine the original setup would be. Whether this is acceptable remains to be determined. Upgrading would involve replacing the CPU and the video card, both of which are ~$300 purchases. Thus we are looking at spending $1000 instead of $800. In return, we are left with an extra processor and video card, which may be used in another box. I can afford this in two months so I'd be looking to buy in February, after Penryn shakes the CPU market up. Is this a good time frame to be productive in? Meaning, if I can use a midstep computer three months earlier than if I kept saving for a higher end one, is it worth it?

Perhaps this upgrade path is best: start with the E2140, buy an LCD monitor (before I move), then go back and buy a quad-core beast (saving the E2140 for another computer or selling it), upgrade to a gaming-quality video card such as the 8800GT and then add a second monitor. Going this route will provide opportunities for smaller purchases of new toys throughout the coming year or two. In the end, I might just save money by waiting around until prices fall and being content with what I have.

New Computer Possibilities - Part Four

LCD Types

For those who don't know, there are three different LCD technologies. The low end is twisted nematic (TN), which are found on most monitors and essentially all laptops. One of the characteristic failings of TN panels are their limited range of vision. Tilt your screen back and it will get dark and the colors will invert. Similar things happen from odd angles. This is very annoying if you've ever tried to watch a movie on a laptop, especially with friends. The bigger the LCD, the bigger the problem because parts of your screen will be darker than others.

The mid-range solution is called PVA (Patterned Vertical Alignment). The colors are better than the TN and there is no problem with viewing angles. The trade-off is expense and a slower response time. S-PVA, or Super PVA, is an overdrive technology to speed up the display and in my understanding this is generally successful without too many problems.

The high-end are In-Plane Switching (IPS) panels. These are the replacement for the very expensive high-end CRT monitors used in graphics work. The color reproductions are very good (and pretty much everyone at this end has a colorimeter to calibrate their display too) but speed is even slower. S-IPS is the overdrive technology, similar to S-PVA. These are very expensive displays and only necessary for professional graphics and photography.

So the question becomes, do I want to pay a significant premium (another 50% on the 21.5"/22" display) for a superior display technology? Alternatively, do I want another 2.5" in exchange for a lesser technology at the same price?

When I looked at monitors in the store, the 24" ones seem the best compromise. Anything bigger (26" or 30") is just huge and very expensive. You can buy two 24" displays for the price of a 30" and I might very well do that. I will also probably eventually get an ergonomic arm to lift the display to the right level sans phone book ^-^.

Two, or even three, displays might seem like excess but the increase in productivity is well-established. If I really do start making my living off of a computer, it's something I'll definitely want. You can put documentation on one, your editor/IDE on another and, if you have a third, your testing window. This is much faster and more natural than switching desktops or, God forbid, you have Windows XP and are constrained to a single desktop where you have to swap windows in and out >.<. I use a 3x3 square of virtual desktops so that I can easily swap between tasks:

Terminal	Editor	Web
	Documentation	Chat
		Music

The empty desktops are used for temporary applications. While coding, I spend most of my time in the Editor desktop and from here, I can swap to the Terminal, Documentation or Web desktops with one keystroke.

For obvious reasons, having nine physical displays would be a bit ridiculous, it'd be like being a air traffic controller or security guard (or the dad in Lain) but it's certainly been done, like this. At some point, there are diminishing returns. I think after three, it's too much. The nice thing about three is that you can have a center with two wings rather than your center point being a bezel. Thus I could put my editor in the middle, my terminal to the left and the web to the right, or whatever. I could still have other virtual desktops for different tasks.

New Computer Possibilities - Part Two

I received my UPS in the mail today. It's a heavy sucker, almost feels like I'm carrying a lead acid battery. It works quite nicely. The LCD display tells me the estimated time remaining (when unplugged) and the number of watts I'm using. It also says the exact number of volts coming out of the wall, which is around 120 but I'm sure when the water heater kicks on and the lights dim for a second, this would register a significant drop and boost the power to my computer. Pricey, but it makes me feel safe buying expensive computer parts. It does warn me that there is a wiring problem in my room, which doesn't surprise me too much but it's good to know that my ground... isn't, hopefully I can find a good outlet wherever my computer is going to be set up so that it can be a surge protector. I will probably also pick up a PowerSquid to add some more plugins to it. I know you're not supposed to chain them but I know how much power is going to the device so I won't overload it.

My only real criticism is that the power button on the front has a fairly bright blue LED. Since I currently sleep in the same room as my computer, this would be bothersome. Too many devices do this these days... yes, I know that you're on, you don't have to shout it. Also, I feel the power switch should be in the back, not the front so it doesn't get accidentally bumped.

I'll post more info on the UPS when I set up my computer with it.

New Computer Possibilities - Part One

I bought my last computer in April 2004 but then sold it when I lost my job about a year ago. It was an AMD Athlon XP 2800+ with 512MB RAM.

I used Alex's old computer when I was living with him, it's a Pentium II 300MHz with 64MB of RAM (which I upgraded to 192MB for $10 ~ when else do you get to triple your RAM? The performance improvement is astounding ^-^). But since I moved back here, I haven't had a computer (save for the N800 I bought last month and Ryan's old Compaq Presario 2100 which I've sort of temporarily adopted).

I have about $450 worth of parts coming here in the next few days (Fri, Mon, Tues). Here is what I picked up:

• Case: Antec P180B $130
• HDD (boot): Seagate 7200.10 250GB IDE $70
• Wifi: Linksys WRT54GL $64
• UPS: CyberPower Intelligent LCD 1350VA 810W $160

Case

I have heard many good things about the Antec P180. It is a heavy steel case but also has insulating plastic and foam (triple-walled construction) to ensure quiet. The main thing holding me back was not having the money to justify a case that wasn't scavenged and beige. Now they have a black version and I've heard that this is a later revision, very similar to the P182 (e.g. rubber grommets for water tubes). I want my computer to be as quiet as possible, the only sound should be my music.

Boot Drive

Now, 250GB seems like a bit much for a boot drive considering I don't use more than 4-6GB of it. However, until I buy a second hard drive (which will most likely be 500GB), it will be my only drive. I also have a *cough*burned*cough* copy of Windows XP I can put on there for games and such after I upgrade the rest of my system. However, Warcraft III ran fine under Cedega on my AMD (it's amazing how far Wine/Cedega have come in the past decade... God, I'm getting old...). Indeed, I could theoretically even put both XP and Vista on there as well as Debian or Ubuntu in addition to some games. For nostalgia's sake, I spent a pretty penny (>$250) on a WD 250GB HDD back in 2003, they were the largest hard drives available. Now, you can get a full TERABYTE for that much and this single platter drive doesn't even break $100.

Wifi

I also decided to go for the famed WRT54GL rather than an el-cheapo Wifi card / dongle. A couple of years ago, I bought a Wifi card at a retail outlet and couldn't get it to work under Linux so I returned it and got one that I knew would work. It took some poking with a sharp stick but it worked. Wifi under Linux is slowly improving but there are no standards, a plethora of chipsets (often you're buying blind) and few manufacturer release Linux drivers. Using the WRT54GL as a bridge solves that problem ~ I simply connect a short ethernet cable to the device and configure it via a web browser. Third-party firmware can enable the device to also act as a wifi repeater which may be useful for my N800.

UPS

This is my first time buying a UPS but I am spending the extra money for safety. I've had a power surge during a storm send components smoking (luckily nothing expensive and not the mobo). Now, I don't have to worry that expensive components will burn or hard drives will crash. I've already had my clock blink 12:00 last week and I don't want that to happen to my computer, since I'm the type that keeps it on continuously (although if I can get hibernate to work, I probably won't).