No, I will not fix your computer.

But I will help you shop for a new one.

My parents desktop finally gave up the ghost. It lived a long life since 2002 and survived a few hardware upgrades, serious infestations of spyware, and a few Killer Rabbit attacks.

It is finally time for a new one, and I was surprised to see how much component costs have gone down. Their new desktop has a 500 GB hard drive, 2.2 Ghz dual core processor, and 2 GB of RAM for only $549. I think that’s pretty incredible, seeing as how the hard drive alone probably costs around $150.

I’m wondering if it might be more cost-effective to buy one of these cheap systems and skeletonize it for parts when going to build the high-definition MythTV upgrade. Fun things to think about for the future!