Info & FAQs
Help & Index
Clearance Sale
Community & News
Policies & Feedback
Resources & Support
Discounts & Services
Contact Us
Featured Products
| Home >> Index Pages >> Informational Pages >> Discount Computer Systems >> News >> Collection of Essays from Scholarship 2006 >> |
Alex Rosolowsky- By Alex Rosolowsky After dealing with Alienware's tech support (or lack thereof) for three years in high school, I had finally had enough. I was sick of rebuilding a computer I needed for daily use that I had paid for an extended warranty on, and I had grown tired of hearing the words "reformat the hard drive and reinstall windows" every time I called for a hardware problem. Taking my knowledge from nine years of Computers & Kids summer camp, as well as a year's experience as a counselor, combined with the abilities I had gained rebuilding my Alienware PC, I decided to attempt something I hadn't done before: I was going to build my own PC. I knew what I wanted before I even began building the machine. It had to run Microsoft Windows ME and Linux with a dual-boot configuration. It had to have a RAID-1 array (something that would prove to delay the machine's completion for over a year,) and it had to have a yellow Chassis. After repeatedly losing my data from the Alienware PC I had become paranoid about backing everything up, and also knew that I wanted an Iomega ZIP750 drive, and two optical drives. I did some research on building vs. buying a PC, and purchased a book from my local bookstore to help me get started, then I began a project that's still not quite finished. Although I had initially started researching this machine in 2003, I didn't begin to actually build it until January 2004. I knew I wanted a chassis just like the one on my Alienware PC, except I had never purchased a PC chassis before, nor did I know who made such a case. I only had a number, stamped into the door for the chassis to go by which read "DX-01." I typed "DX-01" into Google, and began my search. After refining my search multiple times I hit upon two companies that made a similar case – Chieftech and Antec – one of which branded their cases DX-01: I had found my case at a website named Directron.com! Admittedly I looked around at other yellow cases, and eventually settled on the AMX-01YLD by Chieftech, which featured a reportedly superior design for cooling and was made out of Aluminum. I decided to purchase this case, and through a friend, purchased several other parts I needed. From January to June I would finish my homework and then go into the basement where I had two tables and all of my parts, a cold water pipe to ground myself on, and a nonmagnetic screwdriver. As I assembled the machine, occasionally referring to the book I had purchased, I learned several things such as how to set jumpers, how to cable a case for maximum airflow, and how to install a motherboard which was something I had never done before. I'll never forget how happy I was when I had finally installed the motherboard, power supply, RAM, and my then-new Intel 3.2Ghz hyper-threaded Pentium 4. When I was finally finished building the machine, I called up my friend to have him look it over and make sure I hadn't done anything wrong; it turns out I had. A few of the jumpers weren't set properly but after a quick change in jumpers and a defective IDE cable I was almost good to go. My Mitsumi Floppy Drive and Iomega ZIP drives were both defective. I called Iomega and exchanged the ZIP drive for a working one, and then I bought a new floppy drive off of my friend for $20, which was the going rate at the time. With everything finally in place as far as hardware goes, I was finally ready to install the operating systems. By this time I was enraged since Alienware had my machine back in their repair depot once again. Part of what was driving me was pure anger and the desire to build a better computer than Alienware, and so it was probably a good thing considering that it didn't take long to get Windows ME running. The RAID configuration was fine, and Windows ME was working perfectly. Then there was Linux. I tried multiple versions of Linux, complete with updated drivers, none of which would recognize my motherboard's integrated RAID card. This was annoying, and finally, to attempt to speed up the repair, I sent the machine to my friend's shop. It sat there from April 30th, 2005 until July 24th, 2006 at which point Ubuntu Linux was installed and RAID drivers were recompiled to work with my new computer. So now I have a working machine with just one problem: somewhere along the line, someone didn't read the big note written in red that warned of an aluminum chassis which was easily scratched and dented. My machine was returned functional, but with multiple scratches and a dent on the top. I was infuriated, I had just spent roughly three years building this thing and now the case was damaged. I decided I'd start looking for a replacement. The first place I went to was Directron.com, but unfortunately the case is no longer in stock. I'm still looking for a replacement, and I won't consider the computer complete until I have an undamaged yellow aluminum chassis, with a side-fan and no side window, made by Chieftech or one of the companies that re-brands Chieftec cases such as Antec. While it's still a work in progress, I have learned a lot from building a PC from scratch. One thing I learned was aluminum chassis are fragile, and someone needs to make titanium chassis. Another thing I learned was that it's probably a good idea to check every jumper before installing drives. I also learned that building a PC can be fun and rewarding, and when people ask me "Where did you get that awesome computer?" I can simply respond that I built it myself. The most enjoyable thing about building a computer was that I learned a lot more about hardware than I had previously known. While I had rebuilt my Alienware computer multiple times by moving PCI cards around at the advice of tech support, and updating perpetually DOA Pioneer DVD-ROM drives, I had never touched a motherboard or CPU until I built a computer. I had never used Linux before, but I wanted to learn how it works, and now I have a machine witch which to do so. I always enjoyed learning about computers, and currently have nine of them, not all of which are connected or are fully functional, and will have no fewer than ten in 2007. I would definitely consider this a learning experience, as well as a hobby. The first computer I ever used was an Apple II in Kindergarten, followed by a Dell my family bought, and over the years I grew to enjoy computers and the software aspect, including programming, but I never really dealt with the hardware before. I only began to enjoy the hardware aspect of computers after building one, and it's an experience I'll never forget. When I decided to build a computer rather than buy one it was out of frustration with past purchases. However, from this frustration came knowledge and an experience I wouldn't trade for any store-bought computer. From the first time I installed the motherboard, to the first time I pressed the power button and watched my machine and its blue LED case fans roar to life, I enjoyed every moment of designing and building a custom computer. References: | Scholarship 2006 Winners and Participants | Related Items: | Jason Kao | Ryan Dodge | Richard Evans | Alex Rosolowsky | Eryn Cangi | Andrew W. Leonard | Feleg Tsegaye | Maria Khan | Pierce Schiller | Hang Zhang | Manuel Sosa | Jay Xiao | Tomasz Zarebczan | Zaphod Beeblebrox | Brian Gruening | Ross Solomon | Kyle Romero | Eshcole Peets | Ruth Maynie | Michael Schatte | |
Customer Feedback through Yahoo!
Similar Items
| Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000 wired Keyboard, Mod... Only $19.99 | |
| WD Caviar Green 3.5in 1TB SATA 3.0Gb/s Internal Hard Drive, 7... Only $78.99 | |
| Cooler Master Sentinel Advance Gaming Mouse SGM-6000-KLLW1-GP... Only $45.99 | |
| Black ASUS USB Optical Mouse mini-N6 and USB Keyboard 820-001... Only $5.99 | |
| A-DATA Turbo 4GB microSDHC Class 6 Flash Card, P/N: AUSDH4GCL... Only $5.99 | |
| Sabrent All in 1 USB 2.0 External Flash Memory Mini Multi Car... Only $2.99 | |
| Black MSI Wind 10.0in WSVGA U100-869US Netbook, Intel Atom N2... Only $249.99 | |
| Syba Combination Laptop Security Lock, Model: SY-NBK65004... Only $4.99 | |
| *$5 Mail-In Rebate* Black/Blue OCZ Equalizer USB Laser Gaming... Only $9.99 | |
| eMachines EL1300G-02W Slim Line Desktop System, 20in Widescre... Only $334.99 | |
| *$5 Mail-In Rebate* Copper CoolMax 2.5in Aluminum SATA HDD En... Only $8.99 | |
| Acer AspireRevo 1600 AR1600-U910H Desktop PC PT.SCL05.004, In... Only $199.99 | |
| *$15 Mail-In Rebate* Thermaltake BlacX HDD Docking Station ST... Only $34.99 | |
| Sabrent High Resolution 1680x1050 TV Tuner Box with Picture i... Only $29.99 | |
| Memorex 16X 4.7GB DVD-R Blank Media, 50-Pack Spindle, P/N: 32... Only $8.99 | |
| TP-Link 54M Wireless Router TL-WR340G, IEEE 802.11g/b, w/ 4-P... Only $14.99 | |
| Kinamax USB 2.0 Webcam Camera WCM-6LNV, 6-LED Infrared Night... Only $9.99 | |
| *$15 Mail-In Rebate* Thermaltake Massive23 ST Notebook/Laptop... Only $29.99 | |
| Black Shuttle Black XPC Barebone System SN78SH7, nVidia GeFor... Only $199.99 | |
| Cooler Master Silent Pro M 850W ATX12V / EPS12V Computer Powe... Only $114.99 | |
| Black Cooler Master Storm Scout ATX Mid Tower Computer Case S... Only $68.99 | |
| Cooler Master V8 CPU Cooler RR-UV8-XBU1-GP, for Intel Core i7... Only $37.99 | |
| Black Cooler Master Notepal X2 Notebook Cooler, Up to 17in No... Only $15.99 | |
| Kingston HyperX 4GB(2x2GB) DDR3 Dual Channel Kit Memory KHX20... Only $94.99 | |
| *$15 Mail-In Rebate* OCZ Technology 1GB DDR3 1066 (PC3-8500)... Only $15.99 | |
| Pink MSI Wind U100-427US 10in WSVGA Netbook 9S7-N01153-427, I... Only $249.99 | |
| Silver Blue MSI Wind U100-013US 10in WSVGA Netbook 9S7-N01158... Only $249.99 | |
| Black Broadway Com Corp Sonic SECC Steel ATX Mid Tower Comput... Only $19.99 | |
| PNY Optima 2GB DDR2 667 (PC2-5300) System Memory, 240-pin DIM... Only $33.99 | |
| Holiday Combo Deal 2: ASUS P5G41-M-LE/CSM Motherboard with In... Only $99.99 |