So how do I see what’s going on inside of the computer and know what it is I am doing? The monitor, of course! Or in my case, the monitors. Yes, I finally made the jump to using a dual monitor set up. I use one during the summer when I was using the spare computer I had as a linux box, and since I was doing command line work only, I could just use SSH. So I took the spare monitor, and used it as a second monitor on my laptop. After using dual monitors for the summer, it was a little hard to go back the the 14 inch monitor that was on my laptop.

When I was looking at monitors, I knew that I wanted LCD monitors. There’s not much space on my desk, and LCD’s take up a lot less space than monitors of years past. I also wanted DVI. Although DVI has been around for eight years, I’ve never really heard of it until a year or so ago. Since DVI is a digital signal, it can produce better quality displays than VGA could. Although nothing I do really depends on having super fine graphics, it won’t hurt having better graphics, and since I would need a video card anyways to use some of the new visuals in Windows Vista, one with dual DVI ports was the way to go.

I was looking at Acer, since I recommended them to a friend (without having using them before) based on the reviews, and now it was time to buy my own. I ended up buying a pair of Acer 19 inch monitors. They support both DVI and VGA (which allowed me to use one with my latop since I bought them before the rest of the parts were even all picked out), and are widescreen. I didn’t buy them from Newegg, or from any other online store. I bought them used from a friend - Jeff, the owner of BestTechie.net. They were in great condition, and look nicer in person than they did in photos. I can’t wait to put them to use once I get the last piece I ordered - the operating system (Vista Ultimate x64).

In my current quest to finally build myself a computer, I have purchased some additional parts that I will require for it. In this post, we take a quick look into the RAM, DVD burner, and keyboard/mouse combo that I chose.

As usual, the only place that I looked for parts was Newegg, and once again, they amaze me with their shipping and pricing. At the end of the project, I will post a total list of what everything cost me, but I will say that I got the RAM with almost a 50% discount that newegg was giving everybody. And the shipping, the package was at the school (since I’m at school right now, going into finals week) before I got the email that had the tracking number.

For the DVD Burner, there were a few things to consider. Did I want a drive that could take advantage of LightScribe? What was the maximum speed I wanted the drive to handle? Which manufacturer did I want to support? OEM or retail? In the end, I went with Lite-ON, the same people that made the external DVD burner that I’ve had for the past 2.5 years, and have been pleased with. I definitely wanted a retail box, since it would also include DVD burning software. I chose a 20X DVD-R model, since while most of the DVD’s that I use right now are only 16X, I might want to use 20X when the price drops.

Choosing the RAM was easier than choosing anything else was. There are only a few companies that I know of that are good with RAM, and the only one that had good reviews (well, as good reviews come as far as RAM is concerned) and a low price for what I was looking for was G.Skill. I was looking for 2GB dual channel kits, since the motherboard I’m going to get supports dual channel, and I wanted a total of 4GB, since I have four RAM slots, and plan on running Windows Vista. I also wanted heat spreaders on the RAM to help distribute the heat, even though I don’t think the case will be very hot on the inside once everything’s running (but the inside can never be cool enough).

The final piece that I purchased this time around was the keyboard and mouse. What was I looking for when I searched for them? Wireless, so I can move them elsewhere when I need the deskspace, made by a company that I’ve heard of (in a good light)…and that was about it. Oh, and it had to be a combo unit, I didn’t want to buy a keyboard and then have to buy a mouse.This was the first item I looked at, since one of my friend’s has a similar model and likes it. Reading the reviews on newegg, most of the issues seemed to be related to the range of the wireless, which shouldn’t be an issue for me. After that, it seemed to be random flukes with the manufacturing, which considering how many they make, will happen time to time. I think that’s about all I can say on the mouse and keyboard until I’ve had some time to use them and form my own opinion about them.

In less than a week I’m done with finals, and getting paid again. So it should only be a matter of weeks until I have all the parts and the computer is built. And I can’t wait until it is done and it is running. But what will I end up doing with my laptop? That is another story for some other time.

Healthy eating really does cost more.

That’s what University of Washington researchers found when they compared the prices of 370 foods sold at supermarkets in the Seattle area. Calorie for calorie, junk foods not only cost less than fruits and vegetables, but junk food prices also are less likely to rise as a result of inflation. The findings, reported in the current issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association, may help explain why the highest rates of obesity are seen among people in lower-income groups.

To sum the entire article up: 1000 Calories of healthy food costs 10 times more than 1000 Calories of junk food. That is something that just amazes me, and something that should somehow be changed.