August 20, 2007
New Toys
I have purchased two new toys to keep me entertained for the moment.
The first, a Garmin Edge 305 GPS-enabled bicycle computer. Yes, you read that right: they make bicycle computers with GPS on them. Being one who loves data, I opted for the model with both the cadence and heart rate monitor. During normal use, the unit records information every second and after the ride, you hook it up to your computer and look at cool charts of all the data. You can also upload the information to MotionedBased for more graphs and to share with your friends. You can check out my first three rides: initial ride -- easy, second ride -- short with big climb, and today's ride-- a medium length 55 mile loop (since when did I start referring to 55 miles as "medium?").
Currently, I'm "educating" the unit by riding all my usual routes. Once you have created a course, you can load it up and ride it later. You can program points on the map for alerts (sprints, summits, etc). But, best of all, you can compete against the virtual you for continual refinement.
Although I've only spent about three rides and one-hundred miles with the unit, I am already very impressed. Before, my computer lacked elevation and cadence and my heart-rate monitor required me to look at a watch (I was never a fan of strapping those things on the handlebars). With the Edge 305's huge screen, I can see all of this information at once. You have two main "data" screens to display raw data. For each screen, you select the number of elements to display and can select which data points are displayed and where. I'm still trying to figure out the combination of data elements for each screen, but with about forty different fields available to display, I'm sure I'll eventually find the combinations I want. So far, I've found having the heart rate, cadence, and grade data points invaluable. When climbing, I know when to pull back (heart rate), why I'm working too hard (grade & cadence).
I look forward to thousands more miles with the Edge 305!
My other new toy is a desktop. After alluding to replacing my five year old desktop, my plans were hastically put into action when the always reliable desktop starting having issues POST'ing. Even if it could post, running either Linux or Windows was unreliable. Obviously, there is a hardware issue somewhere. I'm guessing it is the motherboard (memory would be my second guess), but I didn't even bother investigating since I wanted to buy a new desktop.
So, I put in the orders to Newegg and friends and put together the following:
- Antec Solo case w/ Antec Smartpower 430W PSU
- Gigabyte P35-DS3R motherboard
- Antec Q6600 G0 stepping quad core CPU
- Asus DRW-1814BLT DVD Burner
- 2x1GB Patriot DDR2 PC6400 RAM< (4-4-4-12 timings)
- 500 GB Western Digital SE16 WD5000AAKS
- EVGA e-GeForce 7900GS KO
I haden't built a computer for anybody in the last five years, so I had to relearn the trade a bit. The first step, as always, is learning how to sort through all the junk that is out there. If you don't overclock, (I don't, usually), you can probably ignore a good chunk of the online commentary for a given product, especially cases. So many people knock cases for not having enough ventilation. But, if you aren't running the highest-end video card and overclocking your CPU, you won't notice. Likewise, unless your case is packed, you don't need a 500W power supply. My old computer had a 400W power supply, and I crammed in 5 hard drives, two optical drives, five case fans, etc. Granted, I don't think my Gefore 4 consumed as much power as today's video cards, but still...
Anyway, the primary goal for this machine was limiting the noise. Hence, the Antec Solo case, efficient power supply (I generally try to buy efficient electronics anyway), and careful selection of the optical and disk drives. When I powered on the machine for the first time, I was rewarded for my research to the sound of... nothing. This sucker is quiet. The only thing that breaks the silence is the fan on the video card, which cranks up when doing anything 3D (including the desktop on Vista). Luckily, there are some software tools that allow you to create fan profiles.
Anyway, this computer is FAST. I can't believe how fast I managed to get Gentoo fully up and running! I swore it compiled all of KDE in under three hours!
But, before Gentoo was on the machine, I loaded Vista Ultimate. My final verdict isn't in yet, mainly because some things I love, others I hate. First, it boots much faster than XP. Standby mode and restoration is also pretty responsive (I have it shutdown after no activity for a few minutes). The UI is also a lot more polished. Aspects are very OS X'ish, which is good. Negative points include all of the "are you sure" popups. I understand wanting to prompt the user about certain things, but no user wants to get prompted this much. For example, every time I go to the task manager and click to open the resource manger, I get prompted to continue. I clicked the friggin button myself, I know what I want! I'm sure there is a way to put the OS in "less-paranoid" mode, but I haven't investigated that yet. I'm sure there is a vast wealth of knowledge on this topic out there, I just have to look...
I'm still discovering all of the hidden gems in Vista. For example, I just discovered Windows Media Center, which just rocks. All I need is a long enough cable to run to my plasma television, an RF remote, and I'll be in heaven. The feature is so cool, I may even have to invest in a Home Theater PC one of these days. But, before that, I need to build the home theater. My television is already getting lonely without the sound. Unfortunately, I'm quite the audiophile, so finalizing on the audio aspect has been a long, arduous process. Perhaps one of these days I'll finally give in and pull the plug on some of the great deals at Audiogon...
Until then, I have my current new toys to keep me company.
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