Media Empire: The Computers

When running a would be media empire, it's important to have the right equipment to get the job done.  When all else fails, use what you have.  I'm fortunate that I have three fully functioning computers; two desktops and one portable.

Desktop #1: ZaReason Breeze 3110

The Workhorse

I've had this system for a few years now.  One of the things that ZaReason does right is having the right hardware at the right time.  When going green (again) became all the rage in 2008, I decided to purchase such a system from them.  The fact that it only pulls 30 Watts of power shows how energy efficient it is.  The hardware is also more than adequate to get the basics done, such as web surfing, e-mail, and writing documents.  The system I have has the following specs:

• 1.6 GHz Intel Atom
• 1 GB of RAM
• 320 GB Hard Drive
• DVD-ROM
• Intel GMA 950
• Card Reader on the front

The usual stuff, such as audio jacks, ethernet, and USB ports are of course a part of the package.  The beautiful part is that the base model came with a lower capacity hard drive.  Rather than ship the system at a later date, ZaReason gave me a free upgrade.  Unfortunately, this model is no longer available on their site.  There are newer models of the Breeze though.

Currently, the system dual boots between Windows 8 Preview and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS

Desktop #2: HP Pavilion Elite 410y

The Powerhouse

This system is my pride and joy.  It's the most powerful desktop system that I've ever owned.  I saw it on E-Bay, and decided to go ahead and make the purchase.  Though there will be those who argue against the practice, I do intend to max out the RAM at some point.  The system has the following specs:

• 2.7 GHz AMD Phenom II X6 1045T
• 8 GB of RAM
• 1 TB Hard Drive
• AMD Radeon 5570 with 1 GB of RAM
• SuperMulti Blu-Ray Drive with Lightscribe (can read Blu-Ray while writing CD's and DVD's).
• Front side card reader

The usual suspects are there in terms of networking and external ports and jacks.  It even has a wireless card installed, though I never really use it.  The system itself dual boots between Windows 7 Professional 64-Bit Edition and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.  One more thing.  It's also hooked up to my VIZIO TV via HDMI.

My sweet display.

The machine itself is used for entertainment, multimedia creation, and mining bitcoins.  The best part is that since the powerful desktop in question is hooked to the TV via HDMI, speakers don't have to be plugged in.  The system, the cable modem, and wireless router are plugged into the UPS in the event that an electrical storm causes a loss of power.

At some point, I'll install VirtualBox so I can experiment with other operating systems while being able to keep the actual partitions as they are.

Portable: HP Pavilion dv7-4069wm

The most powerful notebook I've ever owned.

I got this system before graduating college, and I'm glad that I have it to this day.  I remember the days of my Dell Inspiron 8200.  I was among the few that had an entire gig of RAM in a notebook.  This portable on the other hand is honestly the most powerful that I've ever owned, and I've gone through a few in my life.  The modest Compaq Presario, the little Sony Vaio, and the quaint HP Mini 311 with NVIDIA ION graphics paled in comparison to this beast.  This dv7 has the following specs:

• 2.1 GHz AMD Phenom II Triple-Core Mobile Processor N830 (though it will go slower while on battery power)
• 4 GB of RAM
• Two 320 GB Hard Drives (don't ask me why it was marketed as a 640 GB Drive)
• AMD Mobility Radeon 4200 (for battery saving graphics) and an AMD Mobility Radeon 5470 with 512 MB of RAM
• Blu-Ray/DVD burner combo drive

The system has an HDMI port, an eSATA port, audio jacks, and a few USB ports.  There's even an integrated webcam that's perfect for Skype.  As for sound, Beats Audio makes listening to music a pleasure.  It currently dual boots Windows 7 Professional 64-bit Edition and Ubuntu 12.04 LTS.  While I can use the Mobility Radeon 5470 in Windows, I am not able to use it in Ubuntu despite having the Catalyst drivers installed.  That means I'll have to boot into Windows if I want to mine bitcoins.  I recently installed VirtualBox in order to test out other operating systems.

Conclusion

This isn't all the equipment I have.  I have a few gadgets to help build this would be media empire.  Still, I'll be honest when it comes to my systems.  I'll be sticking with Ubuntu for the long term, because it has the features that I need.  The fact that this LTS release will have five years of support is also a huge plus.  That concludes the Media Empire segment of this blog.  Until next time.  :)

*Nixedblog Reborn

After so many years of doing it off and on, I discovered that I enjoy blogging and miss it so much. I do have two other blogs at the moment. However, I wanted to take the opportunity to tell everyone what's up.

My ducks are now in a row so to speak. For so long, I thought that certain things would never be obtainable. Fortunately for me, things just lined up.

I now have a college degree. I finally have a living space that's not mold infested. I also have somebody important in my life. Oh, and I'm running Congress by the way.

After seeing what's been happening the past few months, especially in recent weeks, I came to the conclusion that I should get back in the game. My site will always be there, but I need to blog more. Yhis is the perfect place to do it.

I should also not be so fretful about those who perpetually place their foot in their mouth. Guilt by association over a misinterpretted comment followed up by unbalanced criticism of a distro followed up by criticism of the wrong person followed up by being "concerned" about the future of a particular distro should pretty much say it all by now. If one person can put their foot in their mouth on multiple occasions and still be in one piece, then so can I.

On a more serious note, I am running my would be media empire on three computers and an Android phone. For the computers in question, I am running Ubuntu 12.04 LTS. Andtoid Gingerbread is on my phone (I highly doubt Ice Cream Sandwich will be released for it). I'll be sure and update everyone on the equipment I have in a future post.