Back...kinda

Thursday 4th March 2004

Built a new computer. Which looks oddly like the DeathStar. And there's a dewback on it.

Now that I finally get to update gremlin.net again....
Obviously, there's a bit of news. I've got a computer again. It's not the one I'm used to, of course; but it works, for the most part.
It's not finished yet. So far, it's just a fairly simple 2.8GHz machine, without much of a videocard yet. It was supposed to have one, of course. That's a story on its own.
Figuring it would same some time overall, I started off by buying a base system from maximumpc on ebay.com for a few hundred bucks. Which was supposed to be...lemee go get it real quick....

SquareTrade © AP6.0 STARBURSTTECHNOLOGIES (over 10 years of customizing systems) BUY WITH CONFIDENCE FROM OVER 5 YEARS OF EBAY EXPERIENCE!!!   NEW PENTIUM 4 2.8GHZ BAREBONES THESE ARE HIGH QUALITY COMPONENTS IN THESE SYSTEMS WHICH ARE BUILT TO LAST !! HIGHER QUALITY  RESULTS IN GREATER COMPATIBILITY AND UPGRADABILITY !! *** THESE ARE CUSTOMIZED SYSTEMS AND MAY BE UPGRADED PRIOR TO SHIPPING *** CLICK HERE FOR DETAILS Upgrade your current system, take existing drives you already have and use them directly in this system. We customize systems to your exact needs      PENTIUM 4 2.8GHZ ,POWERHOUSE CPU & SUPER COOLING BALL BEARING FAN (Upgrades Available) P4 MOTHERBOARD, ULTRA133 IDE, U-COP CPU HEAT PROTECTION  (Upgrades Available) 3GB DDR SUPPORT IN / 3 DDR SLOTS / 8X AGP / 5 PCI BUILT IN HARDWARE MONITOR, FANS SPEEDS, CPU TEMPS, OVERHEAT PROTECTION 512MB DDR 3200 PREMIUM GRADE RAM  (Upgrades Available) 6 USB (2.0) PORTS / 1 PS/2 MOUSE PORT / 1 PS/2 KEYBOARD CONNECTOR    64MB AGP VIDEO 3D CHIPSET GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR  (Upgrades Available) AC'97 2.2 FULL DUPLEX 3D SOUND (Upgrades Available) 5.1 CHANNEL SOUND, SOUND BLASTER, SOUND BLASTER PRO COMPATIBLE 10/100 LAN / ETHERNET CONNECTION /  DSL, CABLE, NETWORK READY WAKE ON LAN & ACPI AND OS DIRECT POWER MANAGEMENT ATX BLACK DELUXE MID TOWER CASE W/ FRONT USB PORTS (in panel) (Upgrades Available) SUPER DELUXE ATX CASE, (4) 5 1/4 BAYS (6) 3 1/2 BAYS, 350WATT PS!! (neon lights avail) (ALL CABLES, DRIVERS, AND MANUALS ARE INCLUDED) BAREBONES:  NEEDS DRIVES: HARD DRIVE, CDROM  (NOT INCLUDED) CUSTOMIZE SYSTEM TO YOUR EXACT NEEDS JUST ADD DRIVES AND READY TO GO (WE CARRY COMPONENTS TO FULLY COMPLETE SYSTEM)        CLICK HERE FOR OUR SITE AND SYSTEM UPGRADE OPTIONS (MOTHERBOARD, MONITORS, WINDOWS, CPU, RAM, VIDEO, CDRW, DVD, MORE..) (MONITORS & WINDOWS ALSO AVAILABLE)   REASONS TO SHOP HERE Premium designed systems to maximize performance with top name components and features LIFETIME LABOR, 1 year parts warranty directly though us. (longer warranty available as well) Great prices for top names and selections Fully tested, burned in, and configured system Custom build system for every customer to ensure quality and reliability Upgrades available on every part of system, if not listed we will custom order at bottom line prices Decade worth of experience and knowledge SHIPPING S&H is $65 to all lower 48 states, $125 to AK, HI, and PO Boxes All systems are doubled boxed in custom made shipping boxes for our PC's to ensure safe delivery Sorry, no pickups.   PAYMENTS MC/VISA PAYPAL (MC/Visa, Amex, Discover) MONEY ORDER / BANK CHECK PAYMENT & WARRANTY TERMS BIDDING TERMS & AGREEMENTS: I AGREE: ALL SALES ARE FINAL ALL PAYMENTS ARE TO BE RECEIVED WITH 10 DAYS OF AUCTION END FAILURE TO COMPLETE AUCTION WILL RESULT IN FILING ON NON-PAYING BIDDER REPORT

Which didn't sound too bad for $375 with shipping, so I grabbed it.
Turns out, though, that the board had only three PCI slots, and an onboard videocard. So I EMailed the guy who took three weeks to put this machine together. Then he replied:

I apologize for the problem with the board, as this was a misprint in our add as we do not have a board with those specs. As a result you may of coarse return the system for a refund. For the video, this system includes onboard video, not a separate card.

Thanks
Sean

Of 'coarse'.
Anyway: since it took three weeks to get this far, and since I doubt that this guy is going to give me back $375 and a prepaid box to return this thing, it's probably easier to just hang onto it, and make a note of yet another fucking fraud. Of course, now you guys can do that too--just in case you were about to buy anything from this SpEd.
In any case, I've started fixing this thing up a little. I'm not sure how to do this with only three PCI slots, but I intend to add a real videocard [in the AGP slot], a VIVO card, a firewire card, and possibly a SCSI controller. Though that would fill every slot I have available, even before I start adding anything much else. So I'm not sure about that yet.
Oh, and I need to add a floppy drive, a CV card reader, and a DVRom to replace the old CDRom I used to instal WindozeXPPro to this ancient 27GB drive. Then I just add a few hundred gigabytes of space and few other other toys, the get the thing ready to actually render things.
Even still, it's already a little faster than the laptop is. This took about ten seconds to render for me....

Don't ask me why I put a Jedi Starfighter in with a bunch of TIE Fighters heading toward the second DeathStar. I just did it because I could, I guess.

I got my laptop back, complete with a second J key, and various other new problems caused by the idiots at BestBuy who fraudulently charged me four hundred bucks for this mess.

Meanwhile, the laptop is still missing in action. Which is a long story, which begins at JestBuy.com, and continues when I took the thing back to a different store a couple of weeks ago to have the new stuff repaired for me. As of yesterday, since they'd only had it for two weeks, they were just getting to it, and I should be more patient. They say. I say that they're evidently guilty of fraud, and no one should take them very seriously, regardless what they say.
Also, it turns out that there's no way in hell I could have been charged for repairs within prior written consent, because BestBuy, as a matter of policy, get the money in advance, before repairing anything. So Anna the WonderDummy is now under investigation from BestBuy Corporate for fraud. Fucking idiot.
As for the $378.71 she wasn't actually allowed to charge me, no one has any real answers for me on that yet. The best story I've heard is that she lied about being able to keep the laptop if I didn't pay her [which I already kinda knew], and that I shoulda just called her bluff right then. Not that anyone's bothered telling me how I was supposed to have done that, since she was about the highest-ranking moron in the store at the time.
In any case, since we disputed the charge under duress, now MasterCard are also investigating, to see whether BestBuy had any legal reason to extort this money. If absolutely nothing else, I guess I can figure that I'ev cost this corporation far more than they've cost me. Which is a shabby victory, I suppose; but it still kinda counts.
In other news, largely removed from computers and frauds, I'm at least set up, now, to start--again--on Deadache. Even without a real videocard, CDBurner, or much drivespace, I can start playing with LightWave objects for the eventual project. What I can't do is get the hell out of ehre with this machine to work on it anywhere useful, like a restaurant, where I can actually think. That still requires my laptop, which is still a prisoner of war.
And, still on hold because my laptop is deep in enemy terrotory, is Pandemic. Although I've been able to work out a few things in advance, without writing them down. Hopefully, once I can get back to actually doing things again, it won't take too long to write it all out.
Also, now that I have a computer again, I might be able to update a few other sites. SiteoftheLivingDead.com is one of the priorities, of course. I'll try to get restarted on that before the end of the month. Which might or might not work.
More later....
--Gremlin