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Name one, because I'd set up sandisk and Cowon and Rio and just about every kind of MP3 and PMP known to man and I have NEVER actually seen on that preferred NFS, not saying that one couldn't exist but if it does you are talking a teeeny tiny niche of a niche friend. And as for NAS? that's what those cheapo HP WHS boxes are for. Its a HELL of a lot cheaper and unlike some jury rigged homebuilt it will actually be efficient and is actually BUILT for that job, its also great for media and file serving since it has a ...drumroll...server OS!

And XP PRO had it, which has been replaced by Enterprise. Win 7 Pro is for workstations which is what pro originally was back in the days of WinNT and Win2k but MSFT had to get WinXP out the door quick after WinME went down in flames so they didn't bother separating the workstation and enterprise builds like they did with WinNT and Win2K. So complaining about that is like complaining that you built support around a glitch and get pissed when the glitch is removed. look up the versions of NT/2K and you'll see they had Enterprise and Data Center for the jobs you listed and NT/2K pro was for workstation.

In the end it comes down to the fact you simply don't want to pay for the correct version that you require but in a capitalist system they are free to set the price and you are free to use something else. For the jobs you have it would frankly be insane to use a desktop because its not designed to support the connections you require and there is already a perfectly affordable version that is DESIGNED to do the tasks you want. Now if you say that $48 is too damned much for a server OS then we'll know you are just trolling. If not may I suggest you buy a cheap AM2+ board along with this chip along with a cheap case from Geeks and for less than $250 all told you can have your very own low power high performance media server. i've actually built a couple using that chip and Asrock boards and its easy peasy to make a whisper quiet media server using the above.

I just bought 8 GB high-end (1600Mhz DDR3) RAM for 30 quid.

I wouldn't call 4GB DIMMs (I very much doubt you got an 8GB stick at that price) of desktop ram "high end" even if they happen to be overclocked slightly.

That makes 240 for 64 GB.

Unfortunately it doesn't (I know the GP said ignoring the cost of the motherboard but the GGP didn't). To do 64GB with 4GB DIMMs would require 16 sticks. Given that desktop DDR3 only supports 2 DIMMs per channel and than a typical system has 2-3 channels this becomes a problem. To fit 64GB total using 4GB desktop modules would require a board with 8 ram channels. The most ram channels you get on a single CPU socket is 4.

Unless it's already a high end server platform "Upgrading" an existing system to 64GB means ripping out the CPU and motherboard and replacing them with a server platform that can take all that memory. Further it most likely means use of more expensive ram

Lets look at how much it would actually cost to do that first using 8GB DIMMs of registered ECC memory*.

Motherboard: 1x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813182240 : $225
CPU: 1x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819105266 : $250
Ram: 8x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820139280 : $76 each -> $608

total: $1083

Now lets consider using 4GB DIMMs of desktop memory.

Motherboard: 1x http://www.provantage.com/supermicro-h8dg6-f~7SUPM3F1.htm : $578
CPU: 2x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819105266 : $250 each -> $500
RAM: 8x http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820313123 : $40 each -> $320

total: $1398

* 8GB DIMMs of desktop memory are like hens teeth at the moment and cost more than 8GB sticks of registered ECC memory.

But they could, especially with PoE+. Essentially, they're just rebuilding technology which is already available commercially.

There's only so much low voltage power you can send over CAT-5/6 cabling, and even the 25 watt of PoE plus isn't enough to run many laptops, let alone a full powered desktop. Granted there are some very low-powered computers and thin clients that can run on PoE, but it doesn't sound like they are using them here. This fanless Atom based nettop has a 40 watt power supply: http://www.provantage.com/shuttle-computer-xs35-701~7SHCO08P.htm

I think it's safe to say that if they installed a 2000 lb AC-DC converter to run 60 desktops (and went through all of the trouble to widen doorways and cut through walls to get it installed), they aren't using PoE since a few PoE ethernet switches would weigh around 20 lbs -- 99% lighter than the huge power supply they used.

If you want the bare drive, you can pre-order it here:

        http://www.provantage.com/seagate-st33000651as~7SEGS27K.htm

If you want it in the special packaging that doubles as a USB harddrive enclosure, you can get it here:

      http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148580&cm_re=3tb_seagate_usb-_-22-148-580-_-Product

For 10GbE?

$367 for a 10GbE port, $454 optics/port, $691 Intel 10GbE NIC (dual port too)

Total: $1,512/port

So unless you can build out 1Gb for less than $150/port (and have enough space for 10x the ports!) then 10GbE starts looking pretty attractive. But it depends on the size of the isntall, if we start considering a core/distribution/access architecture and including all the upstream ports, etc, it could get incredibly expensive. You could also include cost to install, configure, manage, etc. But if we're just talking basic per port pricing, under $2k is very easy.

For 10GbE?

$367 for a 10GbE port, $454 optics/port, $691 Intel 10GbE NIC (dual port too)

Total: $1,512/port

So unless you can build out 1Gb for less than $150/port (and have enough space for 10x the ports!) then 10GbE starts looking pretty attractive. But it depends on the size of the isntall, if we start considering a core/distribution/access architecture and including all the upstream ports, etc, it could get incredibly expensive. You could also include cost to install, configure, manage, etc. But if we're just talking basic per port pricing, under $2k is very easy.

How last century! What are we going to see next -- how to interface your iPhone to a paper tape reader/punch? Instead of this -- cut the cable, and get an RS-232 - to Bluetooth adapter, similar to this. They are cheaper than the parts for this hack. The iPhone is a wireless device.

Pft, or like how they (Cisco) sell ram for routers at astonishingly high rates: like this over the-top example, and it's essentially just a 256MB DDR SDRAM. Sure, it's ECC, but last I checked you couldn't GIVE away 256MB SDRAMs. This is a standard PC or Laptop form factor. They also sell compact flash cards, which are regular CF cards, with a Cisco sticker, for 433 bucks, here's one that's 256MB (bigger) for 10.99!. So if idiots are buying them, maybe someone in China says "hey, we buy these surplus compact flash cards for $4/piece, spend $1 to print Cisco stickers and sell them on the web for $400, that's a nice 8000% profit.

Hey look, it's someone pissing out ancient FUD and lies! Troll articles full of raging ignorance piss the ever living fuck out of me because they're stupid and they get idiots who rage blindly to parrot them.

It's not a goddamn authentication chip. It's a goddamn control chip that Apple sells which negates the need for any 3rd party vendor to implement and validate their own chip. It's a cost savings for EVERY manufacturer.

If you want to use your own headphones, get this: http://www.provantage.com/belkin-f8z452~7BELM0U4.htm

There. Now shut the fuck up.

http://www.provantage.com/kensington-k33907us~7KNS904C.htm

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/searchtools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=4431380&SRCCODE=GOOGLEBASE&cm_mmc_o=TBBTkwCjCVyBpAgf%20mwzygtCjCVRqCjCVRq

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16815136002&nm_mc=OTC-Froogle&cm_mmc=OTC-Froogle-_-Video+Devices+++TV+Tuners-_-Hightech+Information+System+Ltd.-_-15136002

Search for usb video adapter mac to find external video "cards" For less than $100 you can get an external video card.

More like 13$/GB. HTH! HAND!

http://www.provantage.com/intel-ssdsa2sh064g101~7ITE90J5.htm

X25E SLC 64GB 2.5INCH SATA SSD $827

And Provantage is rarely a price-leader.

...the cost of RAM eclipse the cost of the rest of your PC by 20-fold or more

And that, my friends, is why you shouldn't buy Intel processors supporting DDR3 only (Core i7 or Nehalem-based Xeon). For large memory config, DDR2 is cheaper and motherboards with lots of slots are more common (try to find one with 32+ DDR3 slots: it does not exist !). Check this out: a config supporting 128GB at about 1/6th the cost of the one referenced in TFA ($50k):

• PSU Corsair 1000HX 1000 Watt: $218
• Mobo Tyan S4989WG2NR: $872
• 4 x CPU Opteron 8350 HE Quad-core 2.0 GHz: 4 x $917
• 32 x 4GB DDR2-667 ECC Registered: 32 x $84
• Case + HDD + GPU: say about $300 for a simple tower case
• Total: $7746

Your assuming they had all that in stock. NEVER trust someone saying they have product X at price Y till you have it. I've seen provantage and other suppliers, except newegg so far, say they have it at price X but then you have to wait 3 months for it to show up at that price.

...the cost of RAM eclipse the cost of the rest of your PC by 20-fold or more

And that, my friends, is why you shouldn't buy Intel processors supporting DDR3 only (Core i7 or Nehalem-based Xeon). For large memory config, DDR2 is cheaper and motherboards with lots of slots are more common (try to find one with 32+ DDR3 slots: it does not exist !). Check this out: a config supporting 128GB at about 1/6th the cost of the one referenced in TFA ($50k):

• PSU Corsair 1000HX 1000 Watt: $218
• Mobo Tyan S4989WG2NR: $872
• 4 x CPU Opteron 8350 HE Quad-core 2.0 GHz: 4 x $917
• 32 x 4GB DDR2-667 ECC Registered: 32 x $84
• Case + HDD + GPU: say about $300 for a simple tower case
• Total: $7746

Your assuming they had all that in stock. NEVER trust someone saying they have product X at price Y till you have it. I've seen provantage and other suppliers, except newegg so far, say they have it at price X but then you have to wait 3 months for it to show up at that price.

...the cost of RAM eclipse the cost of the rest of your PC by 20-fold or more

And that, my friends, is why you shouldn't buy Intel processors supporting DDR3 only (Core i7 or Nehalem-based Xeon). For large memory config, DDR2 is cheaper and motherboards with lots of slots are more common (try to find one with 32+ DDR3 slots: it does not exist !). Check this out: a config supporting 128GB at about 1/6th the cost of the one referenced in TFA ($50k):

• PSU Corsair 1000HX 1000 Watt: $218
• Mobo Tyan S4989WG2NR: $872
• 4 x CPU Opteron 8350 HE Quad-core 2.0 GHz: 4 x $917
• 32 x 4GB DDR2-667 ECC Registered: 32 x $84
• Case + HDD + GPU: say about $300 for a simple tower case
• Total: $7746

Your assuming they had all that in stock. NEVER trust someone saying they have product X at price Y till you have it. I've seen provantage and other suppliers, except newegg so far, say they have it at price X but then you have to wait 3 months for it to show up at that price.

...the cost of RAM eclipse the cost of the rest of your PC by 20-fold or more

And that, my friends, is why you shouldn't buy Intel processors supporting DDR3 only (Core i7 or Nehalem-based Xeon). For large memory config, DDR2 is cheaper and motherboards with lots of slots are more common (try to find one with 32+ DDR3 slots: it does not exist !). Check this out: a config supporting 128GB at about 1/6th the cost of the one referenced in TFA ($50k):

• PSU Corsair 1000HX 1000 Watt: $218
• Mobo Tyan S4989WG2NR: $872
• 4 x CPU Opteron 8350 HE Quad-core 2.0 GHz: 4 x $917
• 32 x 4GB DDR2-667 ECC Registered: 32 x $84
• Case + HDD + GPU: say about $300 for a simple tower case
• Total: $7746

...the cost of RAM eclipse the cost of the rest of your PC by 20-fold or more

And that, my friends, is why you shouldn't buy Intel processors supporting DDR3 only (Core i7 or Nehalem-based Xeon). For large memory config, DDR2 is cheaper and motherboards with lots of slots are more common (try to find one with 32+ DDR3 slots: it does not exist !). Check this out: a config supporting 128GB at about 1/6th the cost of the one referenced in TFA ($50k):

• PSU Corsair 1000HX 1000 Watt: $218
• Mobo Tyan S4989WG2NR: $872
• 4 x CPU Opteron 8350 HE Quad-core 2.0 GHz: 4 x $917
• 32 x 4GB DDR2-667 ECC Registered: 32 x $84
• Case + HDD + GPU: say about $300 for a simple tower case
• Total: $7746

...the cost of RAM eclipse the cost of the rest of your PC by 20-fold or more

And that, my friends, is why you shouldn't buy Intel processors supporting DDR3 only (Core i7 or Nehalem-based Xeon). For large memory config, DDR2 is cheaper and motherboards with lots of slots are more common (try to find one with 32+ DDR3 slots: it does not exist !). Check this out: a config supporting 128GB at about 1/6th the cost of the one referenced in TFA ($50k):

• PSU Corsair 1000HX 1000 Watt: $218
• Mobo Tyan S4989WG2NR: $872
• 4 x CPU Opteron 8350 HE Quad-core 2.0 GHz: 4 x $917
• 32 x 4GB DDR2-667 ECC Registered: 32 x $84
• Case + HDD + GPU: say about $300 for a simple tower case
• Total: $7746

• Case Cooler Master Stacker 810: $179
• PSU Corsair 1000HX 1000 Watt: $218
• Mobo Tyan S4989WG2NR: $872
• 4 x CPU Opteron 8350 HE Quad-core 2.0 GHz: 4 x $927
• 16 x 2GB DDR2-667 ECC Registered: 16 x $31
• GPU Gigabyte GV-N98XPZL-1GH GeForce 9800 GTX+ 1GB: $180
• RAID card 3ware 9550SXU-8LP: $416
• 2 x HDD WDC VelociRaptor 300GB: 2 x $230
• 6 x HDD Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB: 6 x $100
• DVD Burner Pioneer 20X SATA: $23
• Sound card ASUS Xonar DX: $90
• Liquid cooling system: ~$300
• Total: $7542 (compare to Puget's price of $16338)

Also, they made a couple mistakes. Firstly they used 75W Opterons (8350) instead of 50W ones like in my list above (8350 HE) - pretty stupid considering their whole focus was to build a silent system ! Secondly instead of 10k RPM drives they should have used SSDs which are much cheaper per IOPS. Thirdly since they didn't build it with more than 32GB RAM, why pick an expensive mobo supporting 128GB ? They could have saved $400 by choosing one with fewer memory slots supporting "only" 64GB.

• Case Cooler Master Stacker 810: $179
• PSU Corsair 1000HX 1000 Watt: $218
• Mobo Tyan S4989WG2NR: $872
• 4 x CPU Opteron 8350 HE Quad-core 2.0 GHz: 4 x $927
• 16 x 2GB DDR2-667 ECC Registered: 16 x $31
• GPU Gigabyte GV-N98XPZL-1GH GeForce 9800 GTX+ 1GB: $180
• RAID card 3ware 9550SXU-8LP: $416
• 2 x HDD WDC VelociRaptor 300GB: 2 x $230
• 6 x HDD Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB: 6 x $100
• DVD Burner Pioneer 20X SATA: $23
• Sound card ASUS Xonar DX: $90
• Liquid cooling system: ~$300
• Total: $7542 (compare to Puget's price of $16338)

Also, they made a couple mistakes. Firstly they used 75W Opterons (8350) instead of 50W ones like in my list above (8350 HE) - pretty stupid considering their whole focus was to build a silent system ! Secondly instead of 10k RPM drives they should have used SSDs which are much cheaper per IOPS. Thirdly since they didn't build it with more than 32GB RAM, why pick an expensive mobo supporting 128GB ? They could have saved $400 by choosing one with fewer memory slots supporting "only" 64GB.

• Case Cooler Master Stacker 810: $179
• PSU Corsair 1000HX 1000 Watt: $218
• Mobo Tyan S4989WG2NR: $872
• 4 x CPU Opteron 8350 HE Quad-core 2.0 GHz: 4 x $927
• 16 x 2GB DDR2-667 ECC Registered: 16 x $31
• GPU Gigabyte GV-N98XPZL-1GH GeForce 9800 GTX+ 1GB: $180
• RAID card 3ware 9550SXU-8LP: $416
• 2 x HDD WDC VelociRaptor 300GB: 2 x $230
• 6 x HDD Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB: 6 x $100
• DVD Burner Pioneer 20X SATA: $23
• Sound card ASUS Xonar DX: $90
• Liquid cooling system: ~$300
• Total: $7542 (compare to Puget's price of $16338)

Also, they made a couple mistakes. Firstly they used 75W Opterons (8350) instead of 50W ones like in my list above (8350 HE) - pretty stupid considering their whole focus was to build a silent system ! Secondly instead of 10k RPM drives they should have used SSDs which are much cheaper per IOPS. Thirdly since they didn't build it with more than 32GB RAM, why pick an expensive mobo supporting 128GB ? They could have saved $400 by choosing one with fewer memory slots supporting "only" 64GB.

• Case Cooler Master Stacker 810: $179
• PSU Corsair 1000HX 1000 Watt: $218
• Mobo Tyan S4989WG2NR: $872
• 4 x CPU Opteron 8350 HE Quad-core 2.0 GHz: 4 x $927
• 16 x 2GB DDR2-667 ECC Registered: 16 x $31
• GPU Gigabyte GV-N98XPZL-1GH GeForce 9800 GTX+ 1GB: $180
• RAID card 3ware 9550SXU-8LP: $416
• 2 x HDD WDC VelociRaptor 300GB: 2 x $230
• 6 x HDD Samsung Spinpoint F1 1TB: 6 x $100
• DVD Burner Pioneer 20X SATA: $23
• Sound card ASUS Xonar DX: $90
• Liquid cooling system: ~$300
• Total: $7542 (compare to Puget's price of $16338)

Also, they made a couple mistakes. Firstly they used 75W Opterons (8350) instead of 50W ones like in my list above (8350 HE) - pretty stupid considering their whole focus was to build a silent system ! Secondly instead of 10k RPM drives they should have used SSDs which are much cheaper per IOPS. Thirdly since they didn't build it with more than 32GB RAM, why pick an expensive mobo supporting 128GB ? They could have saved $400 by choosing one with fewer memory slots supporting "only" 64GB.

As a fellow Tennessean, I'd first like to point out that Neweeg is still a great choice. I order from them regularly because:
1) They are usually still nearly the cheapest
2) They ship quick
3) If it ships from their TN center, I have it the next day
4) Their customer service ROCKS
5) Their website is the best of any I've used.

If I don't use them, I will use either mwave, ZipZoomFly, or (if you don't mind open-box items) Tech For Less (just remember to leave a comment when ordering that you know wtf you are doing, else they will hold your order until they get ahold of you).

I've also used ProVantage a time or two, but really only when they had a good deal.

http://www.provantage.com/hammer-hu1100-1000~7HAMM00Q.htm
http://www.ecost.com/detail.aspx?edp=41483993

Here's an LTO2 drive for $800, slightly more capacity for a little more money, of course you'll need a $50 U160 card as well. Tapes are about $10 less so depending on how much and how often you backup it can end up saving you money.

I've done just this (wireless bridges about this length) several times for clients. I've used D-Link DWL-2100APs in bridge mode, and used D-Link ANT24-1400's mounted on masts on the roofs to provide the linkage. Unfortunately I don't think D-Link sells the ANT24-1400 any more, but it looks like NetGear has one that's functionally identical, see NETGEAR ANT24D18 ProSafe Indoor/Outdoor 14 dBi Patch Panel Directional Antenna http://www.provantage.com/netgear-ant24d18~7NETW01E.htm

You could also try some of the lower-end Supermicro Chassis:

(SuperMicro SC512 - roughly $80)

Rackmount chassis, in my experience, only get really expensive if deep (requiring more oomph from the rail kits) or have hotswap bits.

"You can get Visual Studio Express for free and [the] professional version for something like $150."

Visual Studio 2008 Professional Retail-Box Win32 : $699.84. (They didn't want to be honest and say $700.)

That is a low-end version of Visual Studio 2008 Team Software Developers with MSDN Premium for "Only" $5096.99. Otherwise known as $5100.

Source: Microsoft's buy page.

"You can get Visual Studio Express for free and [the] professional version for something like $150."

Visual Studio 2008 Professional Retail-Box Win32 : $699.84. (They didn't want to be honest and say $700.)

That is a low-end version of Visual Studio 2008 Team Software Developers with MSDN Premium for "Only" $5096.99. Otherwise known as $5100.

Source: Microsoft's buy page.

There are about a dozen Linux applications that will work with the Davis Vantage Pro/Pro2. I have used Stan Sanders vanprod for years without any issues. It is written in PERL, so it is very easy to customize.

There is no way to avoid purchasing the rather expensive hardware interface, which includes the Davis WeatherLink software. I found Provantage to have the best price on pretty much all Davis products, including the I/O interface.

I would highly recommend getting the serial vs. the USB interface, especially if you intend to separate your console and computer by more than 10 feet or so... From what I have read, the serial interface is also less prone to dropouts/locking up, but perhaps that is a Windows USB issue?

One last point... The Davis instruments are very high in quality, so much so that my MADIS QC ratings are even better than most of the local area airports! Yes, it took me a few weeks to gradually "tweak" these values, especially the barometric pressure, but in the end it was well worth the effort.

Tim

THe bandwidth of this unit far exceeds anything you could do with wireless - four 1920x1200 digital displays, keyboard, mouse, audio, and USB ports over fiber...

This unit is designed and PERFECT for financial "turrets" where traders have up to four screens on their desk at one time... This solution allows them to get the computer hardware out of the turret, allowing them to pack more traders in a given space.

This isn't for the home market, even the home "enthusiast" market, nor even the insane, "gotta have it" home market - this is for certain users with very specific needs where cost isn't really an object...

As for the price, this unit includes the four port video card, that helps explain some of the cost (for example this Matrox card is $750 and provides 4 video outputs...

Do the $7 cards you pick up work with XBOX360? Because Microsoft seems to think wireless alone (no extra 40Gb, no card reader)is worth...wait for it... about $100.

The cheapie @ 75USD:

http://www.provantage.com/microsoft-b4b-00009~7MSS X03M.htm

The fancy ones at $99 USD

http://www.shop.com/op/~MN_740_Broadband_Networkin g_Xbox_Wireless_Adapter,_802_11g,_b-prod-23981381- 32003097?sourceid=3

What do $7 mail-in-rebate junkie wireless cards for PC have to do with this discussion? Nothing.

JON

Do you mean like this?

I get non-Mac related computer hardware from an outfit in Texas called Directron. I have order from them probably two dozen times over the past five years for everything from OEM copies of WinXP to cables to all the necessary hardware to build my own PC. Their customer service, and the overall shopping experience for me in fact, has always been excellent and they have a nice selection of products (especially I note when it comes to video cards)

Another place I buy from is Provantage, though I'll admit I mostly bought "complete" products like bluetooth headsets, printers and the like. I have only ordered parts (i.e., video cards, motherboards, cpus, etc.) once or twice. Again, though the overall shopping experience was excellent.

I have found both of these companeis to be competitive on price, and, if I have found a product slightly cheaper through buy.com, froogle or the like, I have tended to still order from these vendors because my customer service experience with them has been excellent.

Well, you could fit three of them onto one of these.

They sell shredders that will destroy CDs. I have a small one for home-office use, it cost me about $40 from OfficeMax a while back. Couldn't even tell you what brand it is. The pieces that come out are about 1/4" by 1/2", plus before actually going into the cutters, there's a knurled roller that mashes up the surface of the disc both front and back, so even if you could reassemble the pieces, I think you'd have a tough time getting any data back. It will also destroy credit cards and 3.5" floppies (metal pieces and all). It's rather loud and scary when it's running, but damned if it doesn't do the job. Only complaint I have with it, is that in order to put paper in there, you need to fold it in half lengthwise -- the shredder opening is only about 5-1/4" wide.

I'm sure there are lots of commercial shredders that will eat CDs; frankly any office shredder that wouldn't destroy a CD is of limited usefulness these days. I'm also confident that most large-scale "data destruction" services, like the ones used by hospitals, law offices, and the like, will get rid of CDs if you toss them in your normal 'burn bin.'

If you were really paranoid, you could take your CD, microwave it, then shred the result, and then incinerate the shreddings. That ought to take care of it pretty thoroughly. Personally, I just trash the plastic shreddings and recycle the paper ones.

The one I have is similar to this, but not as nice: (But like I said, I only paid about $40-50 for it)
http://www.provantage.com/primera-56400~7PRIT052.h tm

Laptop HD problems are easily solved by eSATA and PCMCIA or ExpressCard adapters (or Firewire/USB2). Of course, you'll need an additional UPS for the drives.

If you had heat problems, you could get a cheap external cooling solution, but as long as you're able to keep CPU usage down most of the time (so the CPU can clock down), you should be fine.

I wouldn't consider my laptop a "low-end" PC: at 1.66GHz dual-core and 2GB 667MHz DDR2, this system is much faster than the Athlon 64 system it replaced. It has gigabit ethernet, ExpressCard, and PCMCIA, so my connectivity options aren't limited. The only weak point is the hard drive, which could be solved with a fast external drive

I came across a used Compaq Evo and successfully installed Mandriva LE 2006 on it as my primary laptop. I agree with your assessment of linux for desktop use and would have it no other way. Check what wireless card you plan to use - be sure it is supported in your distro. Quite a few sites have good wireless on linux information so just be aware and check.

I use it primarily for Internet and documents (open office) and use wireless hotspots most anywhere without worry of all the nasty windoze exploits. In short, I love it.

Now for the bad news ...

I have tried linux on a wide variety of laptops without success. Unless you KNOW the built-in wireless will work, avoid built-ins and get a card that works. Sound is annoyingly unsupported in some laptops, and forget about using the modem. My Evo does have a lucent winmodem with Linux support but I am not inclined to deal with the driver because I have a better solution anyway.

Instead, if you need a modem, I would recommend that you get a modem-router such as this one
because you get a hardware firewall and a general modem usable with lots of systems.

So, my advice is to be very selective when you choose the laptop for linux, know what you are getting into, and if you get it right, you are in Nirvana.

I'm a K-12 network administrator, so I know where you are coming from in terms of budgetary concerns. However, I encourage you to furthur investigate licensing options before you consider a switch of operating systems. For instance, you can buy a retail box acadmic version of XP Pro with SP2 for less than $70 (Microsoft SKU E85-02670). Other products are also available in academic pricing, like Office 2003.

If you are more forward thinking, you could enter into a School Agreement with Microsoft in which you could acquire volume licensing (greater than 300 units) at an even bigger discount (possibly around $30 per workstation). You could calculate a cost here.

One other thing to note, is that if you can solicit computer donations to your school system, either from parents or community members, you are eligible to free (as in beer) Windows 2000 licensing for such computers. This is called the Microsoft Fresh Start program for K-12.

Also check out K12Computers.com. You can occasionally find some really cheap surplus Dells sold only to K-12.

Apple has advertised Front Row as a reason to buy a new iMac and it even comes with the MacBook, but when will they sell a version of this that will work with older Macs? That would definitely improve the interface that you use for this setup (in my case, sometimes I use Sailing Clicker from my phone -- a terrible solution if you have more than a thousand songs or movies; sometimes I use a cool wireless handheld pointing device that looks like a phaser; usually I wind up having to use VNC through a laptop). The remote that comes with frontrow and the interface looks perfect; why aren't they selling that without the new computers? Seems it would be easy and lots of people would want it.

Kinda at the end of the thread now, but better than top posting in a reply. I always use Provantage when I can. They have a pretty extensive stock, good prices, and good shipping. Haven't had a need to call their customer service or return an item so I'm not sure how well they are there, but so far satisfied. Fast at shipping too when you need something overnight. http://www.provantage.com/

• Directron huge selection and prices aren't too bad. Does double boxing for a small fee. Has nasty habit of putting fragile sticker on shipping carton which means "kick me" to UPS and Fedex.
  
• Provantagedecent selection and low prices on some stuff. Cable prices are cheap but they make up for it in shipping fees big time. Packing is a little uneven. You want a disk drive real bad if you order from them. I don't check their site unless it's something I know they have at a good price before hand.
  
• Performance PCsPC modding stuff.
  
• FrozenCPUanother modding place.
  

You have to check around. Not any one place has the best prices on everything or the best selection. For a particular part, there may be only one vendor carrying it.

That's not difficult to find out -- but neither newegg.com nor Insight.com carry it, you have to look around a bit.

"WordPerfect Office 12"
By Corel - Office Productivity
$119.79 to $243.34

Compare to "Office 2003 Standard"
By Microsoft Office Products Newest Releases
$204.30 to $339.83

These are the two "basic" versions of the suites, with WP, spreadsheet, presentation program, groupware client.

Microsoft's prices are 50%-100% higher than the competition, which IMHO puts the lie to the claim that "in virtually any market that Microsoft has entered (financial software, spreadsheets, etc.), the effect has been a dramatic reduction in prices.

Ditto for Microsoft's attempt to enter the financial software market. Quickbooks and Quicken haven't dropped in price at all despite competition from Money and MS's accounting package Great Plains, have they?

That's not difficult to find out -- but neither newegg.com nor Insight.com carry it, you have to look around a bit.

"WordPerfect Office 12"
By Corel - Office Productivity
$119.79 to $243.34

Compare to "Office 2003 Standard"
By Microsoft Office Products Newest Releases
$204.30 to $339.83

These are the two "basic" versions of the suites, with WP, spreadsheet, presentation program, groupware client.

Microsoft's prices are 50%-100% higher than the competition, which IMHO puts the lie to the claim that "in virtually any market that Microsoft has entered (financial software, spreadsheets, etc.), the effect has been a dramatic reduction in prices.

Ditto for Microsoft's attempt to enter the financial software market. Quickbooks and Quicken haven't dropped in price at all despite competition from Money and MS's accounting package Great Plains, have they?

Because I tried and the first 50 responses I got were going the other direction. But a large number of the correct product showed up at http://www.provantage.com/buy-66pc2tv_-pc-tv-video -converter-shopping.htm

Software raid is fine for simple configurations, but if you want to "do it right" - especially considering that you just dropped about a kilobuck on HDDs, go Hardware. A good, reasonably priced true hardware RAID controller that will fit the bill for you is the 3Ware Escalade 7506-8. It has 8 IDE ports, 1 for each drive - you don't want to run two RAID drives in master/slave mode off of a single IDE port; it will play hell with your I/O performance. It's true hardware raid, so you don't have to worry about big CPU overhead and being able to boot with a failed drive (a major disadvantage to software RAID if your boot partition is on a RAID volume, certain RAID-1 configurations excepted). You can buy them for under $450. provantage.com price is $423.48 (I have no relationship with them other than I've noticed that their prices tend to be decent).

Let's see... With a IE 6.0 resource kit at $39.27 and the book "IE For Dummies" on offer at $15.39, they could get 3658 copies of each, then have enough ($53.72) left over to get a few drinks in for a job well done.

Scratch that, found it. linky

At $1500-2500 per, you are well into MSDN territory as to price. Even the full MSDN Universal can be had for $2200 (with $300 DVD rebate).

Buy CD-R's

Well, your argument is sound, but you are wrong on saying "Plus they did it knowing that it would take years to pay off in additional sales.".

Assuming all your other numbers are correct and "several hundred" manuals means 1000 and "several hundred pages" means 1000, you have 1M pages. On 5 scanners like this for $18,000 each, you will receive a theoretical performance of 900 images per minute, which means a total of 18.5 hours for 1M documents, not considering the daily duty cycle.

For money that is worth a salary of 3 people (two-salary equivalent for the above-equipment and some extra money for a man to operate this), you get performance and manpower to scan, categorize, and post all the manuals that you need in less than a one quarter.

And I haven't even started talking about cost if you are outsourcing this type of a job to India...

Bottom line, if it didn't generate revenue, a company wouldn't do it. So even though you call Yamaha a "good" company in a sense that they have values beyond making money, that is misleading. I personally haven't worked at a corporation that is out there for just "being good"...

"There is no such thing as free lunch."