Vexxarr is on paper and ready to scan! You see, I don't own a notebook PC...or a notebook Mac (the very idea!). What I have is a growing family of desktops.
I have the TiVo-like PC in my livingroom named Vexxarr. No I don't do the strip there, I use Vexxarr for digital recording and playback of movies, television shows and - well - browsing the internet with friends on a Sony Wega 36" television (Red vs Blue looks AWESOME on a Wega and you haven't lived until you've seen Strongbad Email on a 36" screen).
Next to Vexxarr sits Big Mac my Dual 2.5 G5 with Final Cut Pro 4.5 HD. It is On Big Mac (hard drive Fries and Fire Wire Drive Shake) that I earn my living...when it isn't freezing or spontaneously deleting files (error: unknown file - click OK to continue?). Big Mac is used exclusively for editing HD NTSC and DV NTSC video. Nothing else...lest it become testy...er.
Downstairs I have Elder God - my single processor 3.1ghz monster in a tower case (he's an all front case mod - everything: VGA, DVI USB, Firewire, Ethernet, Printer, DVD drives...everything is on the front - only the power cable comes out of the back). Elder God is my gaming/graphics/video encoding and conversion box.
Next to Elder God is Singularity, my Windows 98 box and life support system for my apparently immortal Umax Vista S8. Singularity started life as a Dell Dimension XPS D333 with an Intel P2 processor. When the motherboard died, I made another case mod (of course) and now Singularity is an AMD 1Ghz with an MSI motherboard and a hacked power switch and hard drive light circuit board (not surprisingly, I found the wiring diagram on the internet).
And on top of Singularity sits Pilfered. Pilfered is an old AMD 660mhz with PCI VGA graphics output. It has my old rolodex from work on it and all of my client contact information. Recently, I pulled the chassis of an old Vectorscope from my parts library and built a compact case for Pilfered. Pilfered is now a small rectangle, roughly 18"x8"x6" and is all side...well...mostly side. Anyway, it's as small as I could make an ATX standard computer and it sits under its monitor. It is Pilfered that I have in my hotel room and it is pilfered that I am updating Vexxarr's blog with right now.
While none of these computers has the polish and sophistication of a laptop, none of them cost me more than $400 either. And since I'm taking my Xbox with me anyway, I might as well throw in a PC the size of a loaf of bread (see, most hotel rooms prevent you from connecting your game system to their TV so I always bring a modest Batesias LCD monitor with s-video inputs).
And there you have it. A glimpse into the ugly world of Hunter's casemods.
And Vexxarr will be updated tomorrow around 6pm EST (3pm Pacific). Friday's will update at 2am EST as usual.
