Computers

I generally use laptops at work and home but my main goto machine is what I am always on at home and that is a Motorola Xoom dual-core Android tablet with 10" screen. It's a pretty amazing piece of hardware that even lets me use a BT keyboard and mouse if I care to when performing work on the servers at work remotely.

Notebook 64bit Win7 home premium, Desktop XP Pro SP3 32bit, Router 1 IPCOP Linux, Router 2 Monowall (FreeBSD based) , Archos 605 Portable Video Player 605 Linux based and hacked to run VNC over Wifi, 2 Sandisk Sansa Mediaplayer (MP3+Vid) running Rockbox Linux to run Doom ;-) , Windows 2000 SP4 as fileserver and downloadportal , Kindle 3 with Duokan alternative Kindle OS, PowerShot SD1100 IS / Digital IXUS 80 IS with CHDK alternative OS, My Mio 320 GPS runs TomTom,Garmin, IGO, Navigator, Magellan, Word and Excel ;-)

Did I mention that I like to tweak things?... ;-)

Home has win7-64 and xp-x86 machines (licenses were free through school) behind my tomato firewall/router.

I'm on the road right now, so it's just me and my sad little 1st gen netbook running win7-x86 behind some it's-in-chinese-so-I-can't-even-config-WPA router.

Windows 7 all the way, if I have a license for it. Vista, XP etc gets replaced with ubuntu. Plus I do not believe in the concept of overpaying, so apple is out of the question.

Personally I run a stripped Win7 64, very fast and stable and it still has all the nice looks and compatibility.

My home office

24" iMac running Snow Leopard and Win 7 Home Premium 64 Bit via Boot Camp

Dell XPS 730 running Win 7 Home Premium 64 Bit w/ I gave this tower to my 15 year old nephew along with a Dell 23" monitor I had laying around.

24" Ultrasharp 2405FPW monitor

Dell Inspiron 531 running XP Pro ( used as a DVR for home security system)

Black Macbook running Snow Leopard

Not shown: an Acer 11.6" Aspire One 722 Netbook running Win 7 Home Premium 64 bit

Bedroom: Mac Mini running on a 40" Samsung.

Win 7 64-bit on an Asus low voltage 13.3" laptop that is almost 2 years old but still better looking and just as functional than anything that has come after it. I grew up using Mac's in school and never cared much for them. I like the freedom I have with Windows (doesn't mean I'm a MS fan - Xbox Live is pretty awesome though). I've tried a few of the popular flavors of Linux over the years and I think they're still stuck in the same ol' rut. They just refuse to make them run out of the box and be user friendly. It's the same story: I get in the mood to try another version and eventually I get frustrated, annoyed, impatient, bored and quit on it.

Between Apple and MS, I don't put one over the other. Neither of them wants to give warm, fuzzy hugs to their customers so I don't buy into all the fanboyism. In the end all they care about is your money and they might even share giggle sessions when you get tricked into believing they 'care' about your needs in a personal way. When the masses finally realize Apple became the largest tech company in the world with above average industry standard profit margins on their hardware then they may as well be relegated to the pit MS is in and the cycle continues.

I guess I keep using Windows because it has always worked for me and the marketing practices don't bother me. I will keep buying a company's products until I'm turned off by their shady business practice or the product simply is garbage. I dont buy Sony products anymore because of their crap. I've boycotted HP (although now their PC division is being spun off so maybe there's hope again). I wanted to support Archos but they're a lost cause. I'm sick of seeing GoDaddy commercials so I won't use their services. Hey, I have my principles ;) haha

It's funny my Dad is retired but builds custom computers and sells them for side money (and it's his hobby). He is an encyclopedia of computer knowledge. Myself on the other hand, I never really got into computers (other than using them) so my field of knowledge is tiny compared to his. I think I never really "got into" computers because I could never afford a good one. With what my Dad does though, I never have to buy a computer, haven't bought one in ten years. He just builds one with leftover parts (he does repairs and upgrades too) and gives me a "new" one about once a year.

That being said, all our computers use XP, which is fine because most of what we use them for is the internet.

Office Engineering PC = Windows XP x64

Servers = Open Solaris (If you haven't discovered ZFS, You Should)

Home "Main" PC = Fedora Core

Home Laptop = Dual Boot Solaris Express & Windows 7 x64

Media Center Server & Clients = LinuxMCE

Win 7 x64 on a SSD and overclocked quad i5. I just love peformance especiall it it's noiseless. Only 4Gb of ram but i find it more than enough.

Monowall is FreeBSD isn't it? Looks pretty nice, I've always admired it but never had the need to install it. Nice setup Vectrex!

I built an XP system the summer prior to my junior year in college. Never done anything like it before and really didn't have much of an idea other than what I read online. I bought everything online, slapped it all together and it worked. I was happy enough :)

Now I just want something that works and is affordable. Maybe I'll try a compact desktop build someday. For now my interest faded, just like it did with cars.

i have a pretty custom computer. running windows 7 64 bit.

ultra m998 case. the thing is huge, but wire management and working in it is great.

asus m4a7bt-e mother board with a amd athalon II x4 630 processor. i usually have it clocked around 2800mhz but have had it up over 3000 a few times playing, dont know the max i can get though

apevia warlock 750w psu. though i want to upgrade to an ultra modular psu. im very ocd on wire management

nzxt iu01 internal usb hub... this one is a must have for me, but im on my 2nd and both have been faulty. the usb headers work fine, but only one of the two usb ports them self on it work correctly. traded one in with no problem. the second they gave me the run around until it wasnt worth the time... but i still use it

ultra x2 cpu cooler. i was worried when i first installed it, my cpu usually ran at 37*c, and the 1st week after install it ran at 42*... now its back to 37* but dont get as high as quick as stock

other than that, i have installed a fan on the cpu air duct on the clear window, installed a higher flow, quieter fan in the rear, two uv 12" cold cathodes, replaced all(20 some) thumb screws with blue anodized thumb screws, 4gb corsair ram.......

all that and im typing on a power a dvd/gaming remote made for a ps3 because a spillage on my logitec wireless kb

I am writing this on a Mac PowerBook G4, vintage 2005. It pays for my flashlight addiction;-) Until the recent actions by Apple with 10.7 the useful service life of a Mac has really made it fit my budget DNA. Frankly, for most of the past 20 years I chuckle at the people that think Macs are expensive. When I consider even a minimum wage value to my time for keeping things running and protecting from viruses etc, a Mac has been dirt cheap. Frankly I am no where near minimum wage so a Mac has really been an unbelievable bargain for me.

My other current Mac is a mini server from late 2010. Bang for the buck it for what it does -- not large server -- nothing else even comes close. Decent performance. Super energy efficient. Tiny footprint. Ok, multi-service WAN/LAN servers are not easy to administer period. However, this is about as easy as something that powerful comes.

That being said, I don't know what I will do in the future. It looks to me like Apple is becoming the Harley of computers. I'm basically a tool guy. I don't give a crap about image or lifestyle. I just want something that works. Not saying that new Apples won't work for people without history but for those of us with history Apple has just said they really don't give a hoot. They will do what they want to do and if it breaks everything I have done in the last 3 decades they simply don't care as there are plenty of new people willing to give them money so who cares what the small number of us who kept them alive think.

Used to be a Micorsoft snob but that was before windows. Can live with XP but don't like it. Too hard to do the easiest things. Wife has a Vista laptop that I finally got fed up with her complaining about and put Ubuntu on it. LOVE ubuntu when I get it settled in. However, when something changes or brakes it is really a major PIA. Certainly not up to Mac standards yet but overall much better in my experience than any version of windows that I have worked with. (Of course that is after resolving a couple of major PIA issues;-) Have yet to try windows 7.

Wade

I can safely say that windows 7 is the best operating system to date from MS after dos 6.22. Works splendidly on older machines and does not slow down over time like it's predecessor XP (Vista was a joke, or perhaps a sloppy graphical interface test for win 7). The learning curve is easy.

Dislike what they are planning to do with windows 8. Operating system centered on a GUI that is designed primarily with touchscreen in mind. Blah!

Not really that huge.

Ultra m998 ULT40069
240mm ( W ) x 460mm ( H ) x 520mm ( D )
Weight 7.7kg

My case

SilverStone Raven 2
212mm ( W ) x 503mm ( H ) x 643mm ( D )
Weight 12.5kg

You call that huge? LOL

I've retired this Lian-Li case, but it was a real monster.

Current computers:

Asus EeePC 1000HE (use most of the time)

Antec Fusion HTPC case with a DFI something or other board and an Opteron 175 (rarely used and not even set up as an HTPC)

A little ol' Antec Lanparty case with DFI NF4 LanParty mobo and an Opty 165 that has run at 2.8GHz+ since 2005 (3GHz when it was watercooled and in that big Lian-Li).

All running XP (still)

Nice :)

I have old stainless steel server case too, but it's too narrow for my CPU ja GPU coolers :(

Here's a few Lian Li's I've built over the years.

man... now I feel like a computer hack AND a flashlight hack

good job, guys!

I am using Win 7 Ultimate on both laptop and desktop, and also ubuntu on both, I use any of them depending what I want to do, but I generally use more win 7 than ubuntu.

Both worlds have their good and bad things, so I find it better to work with both of them.