If this is some kind of logic problem, I fail.

[effervescible]

I need to get a new computer. Here is my dilemma:

-I don't really want to get a laptop as my primary computer because I find them too squished together for desktop use, and I have a nice LCD monitor I want to continue to use.
-I like Macs but they are effin' expensive, and $1000 minimum is really more than I can justify. I have never in my life taken on credit card debt I couldn't pay off at the end of the month and I'm not going to start now.
-So I could buy a PC but there's the issue of Vista. Fucking Vista. I don't want Vista, and even if I get a computer with XP on it or install XP over Vista, in time, Vista's gonna be the way of things and I am not enthused about that.
-Linux. Let's just say "NO" and leave it at that. Besides, I don't have any pirated Photoshop for Linux.

So this leaves me in a position of...NOTHING is suitable, so I sit spinning my wheels and using the old computer. Which sort of sucks since the secondary hard drive died in, like, February.

WHAT DO I DO?

Comments

[a-hollow-year.livejournal.com]

Upgrade the old computer?

[jaina.livejournal.com]

I got this computer back in...*thinks* spring/summer of 2001, though. The now-primary hard drive is the only new thing on it, and I'd like more space, more RAM...it just seems worth it to upgrade entirely instead of pieacemeal. I'd LIKE to bribe my brother to build me a computer, but given that he is a) already putting in mucho overtime at work because that is apparently what video game programmers do when working on a Halo title b) way richer than me and not in need of bribery money...I doubt it'll happen. :/ I wish.

[a-hollow-year.livejournal.com]

You could probably build one yourself, it's not terribly hard. (I base this on the fact that I could do it with a list of instructions, and if I can do it anyone can. Of course I'd probably forget to ground myself and end up fried, but whaddaryagunnado?) You could keep the old case and just fill it up with new parts. I know a few places online that sell parts for decent prices.

[jaina.livejournal.com]

Do you know a decent guide to doing this? I tried googling it once and the result I got was so horribly complex I want AHHH MOTHERLAND and ran off with my metaphorical tail between my legs.

[a-hollow-year.livejournal.com]

Googling "How to build a PC" comes up with several different sites. I don't want to choose one to follow unless I've done it myself, so I'll leave that to you. (I do like the first one, though.) I took a gander at most of them, and while there are a lot of steps, they appear to be very easy and highly detailed. Most of them shouldn't take more than a few minutes to do and require, at most, the use of your wrist so you can operate the screwdriver.

The pros to doing this are, of course, that you can get the computer just how you want it (no Vista, for example), and you'll know everything about it. The cons are that it takes an initial time investment, and you still have the problem of Vista being the wave of the future (though I kinda like vista :3).

...Or, since you like macs but don't want to pay for one, you can just buy a new desktop and hack it to run OSX. Google "OS X on PC" to learn more about that.

[jaina.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm going to look into this some more to see if it's something I can do.