One of the down sides to leaving Yahoo! is that the notebook computer I've been using for last few years will no longer be mine in a few days. I'm one of those people who used their company issued computer for lots of non-company stuff too.
When I start at Craigslist, I'll be getting a new laptop running Linux. But that's several weeks away and doesn't run some of the funky Windows apps I need or want access to. So I'm going to try keeping work separate from non-work this time around.
What to do?
I have a Thinkpad T43p at home that's been used mainly as a backup sever and lightweight web browser for a while now. It has a 2GHz CPU, 2GB RAM, 80GB disk, and a kick ass screen and keyboard. But it's running Ubuntu.
So I'm planning to use the recovery CDs to make it back into a Windows box (maybe dropping in a bigger disk along the way) and using it as my personal Windows machine. But that means I need a system to take over doing backups and that other stuff that the Thinkpad used to do.
My solution is to pull a few cheap parts off Newegg.com and build a low-end (but still probably overkill) machine that'll run Linux and do what I want. Here's what I ended up with.
I already own a SATA hard disk I can drop in. Same goes for the keyboard and mouse. Plus installing Ubuntu costs me nothing other than my time.
At a total cost of $156.96 plus shipping, it's not bad for under $200. It'll do the backup and other "home server" jobs just fine and serve as a web browsing station now and then if need be. I almost opted for the Intel BOXD945GCLF Atom processor Intel 945GC Mini ITX Motherboard/CPU Combo for even lower power consumption, but wanted to stick with a Micro ATX board for now.
I'm really impressed by what you can get for a cheap these days! The CPU is even 64 bit--not that it matters in this case.
Thoughts?
Semi-related: This old laptop: Revitalizing an aging notebook on the cheap.
Posted by jzawodn at June 20, 2008 01:07 PM
Just a suggestion... you could install a virtualbox on linux, and run windows from it... that way, you can have both OS running on the same box... ;)
Certainly. I've played with VirtualBox a fair amount already (the Thinkpad has it on there now). But that's not quite what I'm looking for in this case.
It's only cheap if your time is essentially free - you do have to assemble and test your collection of parts and then install the OS - I'd say that's at least a half day job.
For $40 more you can get a whole computer already assembled and tested with (a version of) linux already installed and you'll have a spare hard drive to boot (or to boot with, for that matter).
One of many: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=3511118&CatId=2630
There are of course others in different form factors etc
Keeping your personal data and your work data on different machines is really a hassle. It can be done, many people do it; but if you are immersed in technology, programming, the web, etc., it is really hard. I do it and I hate it. Just like I hate having separate calendars; separate email; etc. I want it all consolidated; and if I have a machine with me, I want all my data, too. It can be done securely.
Jeremy, I am just curous about what specific SW do you need to use which does not have solid alternative on Ubuntu?
Brent: I'm not sure about the half day. The assembly may take an hour or so. Installing and/or configuring the OS is an issue no matter which machine I order.
Clink: Yeah, I know what you mean. Much of my data is in the cloud. And the stuff I *really* need everywhere may end up getting replicated via VirtualBox and an occasionally running VM.
Most of the software is related to flying: flight planning, glider flight analysis, and maybe photo management. I'm open to switching on the photo side, however.
Depending on what your requirements are, you may want to check out Logic Supply's options. They build very small form factor computers with low power requirements.
For example, the Artigo might fit your need:
http://www.logicsupply.com/products/artigo
It's about the size of your typical O'Reilly book, and will run perfectly fine as a small server. Only limiting factor may be the 2.5" HDD requirement, although you could attach a NAS for that. Pricepoint for the barebone without HDD but with 1GB RAM is around $335.
i bought a used dell optiplex off craigslist which has a 1.8Ghz CPU for $50 and decided the 10Gb drive was too small so spent $65 for a 160Gb drive and swapped them out - for the OS i used FreeBSD which is as the name implies FREE!
BTW - congrats on the move to Clist - i live in the city and that is one of my fave neighborhoods as there are so many good food options like Darla's, Tasty Curry (next door), New Eritrea and Holy Gelato across the street!
well, I would definetely take the oppotunity to play with solaris. zfs just seems perfect for a cheap home server ;)
Or you can get this cheap ass IBM, ooops lenovo here. The first one A55 sounds good , nothing fancy, but will solve your purpose :)
One thing on replacing the laptop with a more "full" pc: Watch the power consumption. I'm not sure if you have this thing running 24/7, but if you do the power bill for the new one can be a lot higher than the old one. The laptop probably has a ~50W power supply, while the new box can use up to 300W. That can easily amount to >$200 that your spending here.
For backups you could have also gone with a NAS which runs linux, but you can't attach a screen there...
Backups never works on a single drive when you need them.
Do drop in another sata drive and put SW Raid-1 at min, or even better add on http://www.truecrypt.org/ when the drives fail
Backups never works on a single drive when you need them.
Do drop in another sata drive and put SW Raid-1 at min, or even better add on http://www.truecrypt.org/ when the drives fail, its much safer to have the drive unusable, since you never know what personal info you've backed up on them..
sorry about previous post, hit enter too soon..
100 Watts saved per hour, 8 hours a day, I pay 10 euro cents a KWh (not sure what you pay), thats about 30 euros a year.
Echoing what Pan man above says, trimming 100 watts off the consumption is enough to save you 150 euros ($234) over 5 years. $500 if you can trim 200 watts off the power consumption.
Myself, at the next upgrade, I'll be switching to a tiny linux box, just don't see the point of a big box PC anymore.
I've never understood why I should consider the time putting a PC together as a cost. On the contrary, I find it to be a great benefit.
I recently researched and built a trio of cheap PCs for members of my family. Here's my cost spreadsheet for comparision:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=p7FhWTLMzWiSkG-k8_He_Fg&hl=en
Just wanted to share that I had this motherboard and here is what I needed to get it to work http://www.alanblainewhitney.com/2008/07/01/intel-motherboard/
I just hope DELL offers a repair/replacement.
Is there any chance of a class action lawsuit?
Thanks for sharing. May this useful for me and my friends. We just learn about programming also.
cheap laptop
It's only cheap if your time is essentially free you do have to assemble and test your collection of parts and then install the OS, I'd say that's at least a half day job.
That would be pretty cheap - I think you should go with what you have decided.
Installing a virtual box is not a bad idea. You should go for it.
