So, while I delight in exploring my voice, and the interesting tones and noises one can make with it (I can be quite like a child, really, but frankly it’s fun) – I don’t delight in my computers making any untoward noises.
I can’t say that it was an ‘atrocious’ noise that the EntMac made on being powered up, but several things struck me:
– It’s very noisy
– The hard disk shouldn’t make that noise
– Both DVD drives have died
Which leads me to an unfortunate place. One in which I need to replace the main hard disk of the machine. The one that’s the boot drive. This is ‘annoying’ for several reasons.
One: It’s obsolete technology. Buying IDE harddisks now is somewhat painful. It’s not expensive, but it seems a waste.
Two: I don’t want to reinstall – but I’ve had no luck putting newer versions of OSx86 on this aged machine and there ain’t no-way I’m going back to Windows.
Three: It costs money, and I don’t want to spend it, but I also don’t want to have to re-rip and re-obtain a vast music collection.
The problem is the world’s moved on, a lot, since I built the machine. It’s an AthlonXP machine, which I built around 2005/6 using bits I acquired, mostly in 2004 but the chip’s tech is from around 2001… It’s the best of the two machines I had at the time, one of which is at my mum’s. The issue is…well… I want something better. HighDef didn’t really exist when it was built and it simply can’t decode video quickly enough. Partly this is the graphics card, but partly it’s the machine itself. It wasn’t highest-of-high tech at the time. It was low-to-low-mid range then.
I am, therefore, twisting in my dilemma. Made worse by the fact that I know that anything I did build now is likely to be junk; I don’t have the cash to splash on the kind of machine which would be what I want (silent, or very, very quiet – whilst having enough power to decode high-definition video; while I care not about gaming (although I want portal)).
Which all in all leads me to say: Poot.
I think it all comes down to how much it costs for Jejy and Rebecca. Should the garage ring with a figure for the former then I’ll be able to work out how much I’m wanting to spend on the semi-frivolous technological dream. Being a poor ethical geek is a pain in the arse.
