Dec 06
27
Lots of holiday changes
As is always the case with Christmas, I have had a series of changes in my computers over the span of the last few days.
The biggest change is that I’ve upgraded the video card in my primary desktop computer, Fozzie. The new video card is an XFX GeForce 7300GT, replacing the existing PNY Verto GeForce 5200FX. The reason for this upgrade is that my system is AGP-based, and the graphics card industry has recently switched to PCI-Express, so AGP cards will be becoming more rare. As such, I wanted to put a rather high-end AGP card in Fozzie, effectively maximizing its graphics capabilities, until the time comes that I upgrade the whole system to a PCI-Express-capable motherboard. I’m very happy with the GeForce 7300GT card so far. It runs Doom 3 amazingly well, and also lets me use the digital connection to my recently upgraded LCD monitor.
On Fozzie, I also upgraded both the keyboard and mouse with a new desktop set, the Logitech LX710 cordless desktop. There were several motivations for this upgrade. On the keyboard side, the keyboard that I had (a Logitech Cordless Access keyboard) was relatively low-end when I bought it, and the “feel” of the keys has significantly degraded over time. Since I am a software engineer, I do a lot of typing, and the feel of the keys is very important to me. This new keyboard is a slim profile, with quiet keys. On the mouse side, the mouse I had (a Microsoft Wireless Optical Mouse Blue) was getting to be 4 years old (the longest I have ever had a mouse!), and was showing significant wear-and-tear on the surface. Additionally, in the four years that have passed, new optical mouse technologies have come out, most notably laser mice. I am quite impressed with this new mouse — with the laser technology, it seems to perform almost identically to a corded mouse. I always felt that my previous cordless mouse was very, very good for a cordless mouse, but it was noticably different than using a corded mouse. Not so with this laser mouse. Also, going to this new set allowed me to consolidate the two different wireless receivers I had into just one. And, this one receiver is just a USB dongle, so it doesn’t even need to sit on my desk. Amazing.
Lastly, Waldorf saw an upgrade in that I added a printer, a Canon Pixma iP4200 to it. Waldorf previously had no printer. Waldorf is a computer I originally built out of spare parts for myself, but now it is serving as my mother’s computer, so it warranted having a new printer. The last three printers I have purchased have been Canons, and I have been consistently impressed.