My computer is sick

My home desktop computer is not doing so well. The most critical problem part that I should get fixed or get replaced is-- if my suspicions are indeed correct-- the motherboard. More than half the time, the computer refuses to start up at all, instead giving a frantic series of unhealthy-sounding beeps. When it does start up, it doesn't last more than a couple of hours without freezing on me. :(

That computer was a powerhouse when I got it back in July 2001. People from all around the dorm would come to my corner to play Warcraft III or Diablo II or NBA Live 2002, because hardly anyone else had a computer that was good enough to handle these games. Today it crawls along even when doing my regular day-to-day stuff like working with Photoshop, or using Limewire, or even playing large videos. I take pride in the fact that I've lasted so long with it and it has served me well, but it is long overdue for a serious upgrade.

I've been telling myself for years that I'll wait until the next version of Windows comes out before finally getting a real upgrade, so I guess the time is now. If I'm gonna get the broken motherboard replaced, I'll have to get a new processor and memory and possibly casing. While I'm at it, I'll get me some good proper speakers. Everything else is still good to keep.

A few days ago, in a place not too far from here, I picked up a pricelist from a computer store that was having a "Windows Vista launch promo". The pricelist was specifically advertising three discounted PC packages, dumbly named Good (P26,000), Better (P36,000), and Best (P50,000).

The "Better" package especially caught my interest because it was almost the exact same price that I got my computer for back in 2001. Here's what the "Better" looks like:

• Intel Pentium D 820 (2.8GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2 x 1MB L2 cache)
• ASUS P5VDC-MX (Integrated Audio, Video & LAN)
• 1GB DDR2 533 memory
• 128MB Geforce FX5500 w/ tv-out
• 160GB hard drive
• DVD-RW
• ATX Casing w/ keyboard
• Multimedia speaker
• 15" AOC LCD monitor
• PS2 optical mouse
• Windows Vista Home Premium OEM
• AVR

What interests me here is that it comes with an LCD monitor and a DVD writer-- things that I thought were still high-end stuff for the rich peoples. I guess everything else is in line with what I expected. I'm not planning to actually get this package, but I'll use it to get an idea of what a decent new computer should have.

The complicating thing is, the home computer I speak of is my home home computer in Valencia, where I spend so little of my time these days, so it's hard to justify spending much money to get it decent. I already spend 8-9 hours of my day at the office computer, and when I get back to my apartment there's a computer there that's free for me to use. And I realized lately that so much of my computer activity has shifted to the internet browser that, aside from having personal documents and pictures, it doesn't really matter what computer I'm using. Ah well...