PC upgrade continued

I looked at several mother boards from ASUS and ABIT this week. But I think I'm going to go with my original plan and get the ABIT AG8-V. Although it has been discontinued and doesn't support DDR2 memory, it does have the PCI Express-16 port for the latest graphics cards. I'm sure there will be a noticable speed increase with the SATA hard drives, P4 630 processor, 16X DVD burner, and 6800GS graphics card. For now I'm going to try the audio chip that comes with the mother board. I can always add a better sound card later. Another decision was how big of a hard drive to get. Typically two drives are recommended for video editing. One for the operating system and the other for video files. I have a 40GB and a 30GB in my old PC and have been getting by with that for a while. A 250GB drive seems like more than I need. I might go with two 120's, even though the cost of one 250 is 45 bucks less.

More PC upgrade news

I have been watching my PCI Express wish list on newegg.com this week. Prices for some parts change almost daily because of instant rebates and other price adjustments. Last week I would have paid $953 and this week the same system goes for $928. I discovered that the motherboard I selected has been discontinued by the manufacturer. So I may try to create another wishlist based on a different mobo. Maybe one with onboard firewire and faster memory instead of SDRAM and a separate sound card. I want to make sure everything will work properly after it is put together. I don't have a lot of time to return parts and order BIOS chip updates. I've always wanted to build a system from parts that I selected, but I need to make a decision soon, because other expenses are starting to rear up and compete for the money I had hoped to put towards a PC. It's kind of fun selecting parts. I just hope I have as much fun in the assembly process.

Budget PCI Express

Lately I've been thinking about upgrading my home computer. I had been looking for a used system with a P4 processor. But I haven't had much luck. I would probably need to upgrade the HD and graphics card anyway. So, I started picking out parts on newegg.com. I have come to the conclusion that AGP won't be around much longer and it makes more sense to get a system with the new PCI Express bus. I managed to configure a pretty nice system for under a grand. You can look at the parts list and make comments here: My PCI-Express System.

DVD Recorder

This week after much deliberation, I purchased a DVD/VHS Recorder. I wanted one so I could transfer my old VHS tapes to DVD. My search for the perfect dvd recorder was confusing. Every manufacturer has at least one product that will transfer VHS to DVD. I was going to get the Panasonic DMR-ES40VS for $296, but the reviews said that it was difficult to operate and it didn't create automatic chapters. So, at the last minute I came across the Sylvania DVR90VF at Sears for $150. I couldn't find any negative reviews and the price was right. I have never owned a Sylvania product, so I was concerned about the quality.

So far the unit has performed flawlessly, despite refusing to copy the first movie I tried to dub. The manual says that you cannot record copy-protected materials and some satellite broadcasts. Apparently copy protection can be detected on VHS recordings of cable TV broadcasts. So, if you are considering one of these machines for this purpose, you may be disappointed when the unit refuses to make a DVD version of your favorite movie.