Perhaps the most annoying part of the fact that I have no money due to a new mortgage and car loan is that I really really need a new computer. The current computer that I have is still operational, but I think a couple of the fans are Dying and it now makes a lot of noise. In addition, I do note that the speed is fading, though maybe a reformat of the OS could help alleviate that for a time.
I built this thing shortly before I got my current job. It was one of the last things I bought with the remnants of my student loans. That means this computer is about 5 years old, give or take. As a gamer, you can imagine how i feel about that.
Since I’ve had time a bit more lately, a lack of money and a design to think about this sort of thing, I have actually gone and done some research on the current iteration of computer hardware. In doing this, I did decide that it was high time to fulfill a long standing idea. In fact this idea was one I had when I originally built this current computer: A Media Center.
And yes, I mean to make a media center as a primary computer. The way in which I intend to do this is actually to make two computers and not just one.
The idea is that there will be a traditional media center that would be a very small computer that would attach itself to the Television. This particular unit would carry in it a powerful wifi receiver, a solid state hard drive, a small but decent graphics card that would allow for playing some games on the television, a bunch of RAM and a wireless keyboard, mouse and game pad.
The other computer is actually the main computer. This particular computer would actually be a media server. This one would feed the media center all the movies, music and whatever else that it will need so that I can be entertained in my living room instead of my bedroom (where my computer is currently located). My plan is to have about 8 2TB Green drives that could be on most of the day (or at least in sleep) and then quiet when it is on so that I can sleep in its presence.
The media server would also have in it a state of the art processor, graphics card and RAM. The main reason is to play modern top end games that I don’t think a media center will be able to handle (that one is more meant for older games and/or indie games). However, I do think increased RAM and Processor speeds will aid in streaming stuff to the main media center.
Ironically, a lot of what i want this system to do, I think the Wii U will be doing with the TVii app that they are building. I really like what they are doing, but the one problem I have is the lack of information on customization. As far as I can tell, the only thing that you can actually do with TVii is access online services, not your own hard drive on a different computer, so though I think it is an excellent service, I don’t think it is going to be doing what I want it to do.
So that is my plan. It would require a lot of work and a lot of money, this later bit I really don’t have and so I don’t know if it is going to happen soon. Unfortunately even if I had some extra cash I have other things that are slightly higher on my list than a new computer.
The one bright side of all this is that I do think that I am hopeful of finding a newer higher paying job in the next few months, and I do believe that my exploits into swagbucks may be paying off finally. When last we spoke about it I was earning about $20 a month in amazon gift cards. As it stands i have already earned $25 in December in just one week and am hoping for a $25 gift card to Gamestop before the month is done. A definite improvement in production!