My main computer is finally free of those god-awful IDE cables! I removed the BenQ 1620 which I was extremely pleased with and replaced it with a Plextor PX-176SA. SATA cables only now - all 6 of them - 5 for hard drives (4x250 in RAID5 and 1x74 Raptor) and 1 for the Plextor.

So far, I haven't had any problems whatsoever. I'll probably test rip a DVD tomorrow to see how it handles there, and barring any problems, it'll stay in the case.

Oh yeah, did I mention that my new dual-core Opteron 175 kicks major ass? Yeah...that and the eVGA GeForce 7800 GT are stressing out my UPS - whenever I play WoW, I get my computer telling me that the UPS is at heavy load...so off to Frys I go tomorrow to pick up another copy of Windows XP (maybe MCE) along with a beefy new UPS - maybe in the 850-1000kVA range (I think it's kVA, but not sure...just more than 550).

P.S. - The HTPC is put together and runs perfectly (at least as far as I can tell without any OS on it - it boots, and that's what matters).

P.P.S. - Upgrades needed to be made: New UPS ($100), 2x new Seasonic S12 PSUs for both computers other than the HTPC: (2x$150), WinXP ($120). Being able to watch any ripped DVD or TV show on demand at the push of a button in relative silence: Priceless.

URL: Plextor > Products > PX-716SA

Part of me says "Damn, wish I would have waited," while the other (more sane) part of me wonders why anyone would need a 12" LCD screen on the front of a home theater PC. I can see the usefulness as a file server, or as a media server, but in an HTPC, you're not going to watch movies on it and you're not going to use it for navigation - that's what remotes are for...but just damn...that's a nice case - with all the storage you could need (12 hard drives).

URL: Home Theater PC News - Your Source for Everything HTPC Related

In the middle of the second set, win or lose, it's great to see Martina Hingis back in tennis. The last few years have been devoid of anyone really interesting (besides perhaps Maria Sharapova) and I got sick of the Williams sisters fast. She's quick, agile, and brings a grace back to the game that's been missing.

Hopefully she'll stick around a while longer. It's a pleasure to watch all of her matches.

URL: ESPN.com - Tennis Index

My DVD+-RW DL arrived today for my HTPC. Now, to wait until Thursday for the rest of the components to get here. My case, DVD-ROM, audio card, hard drive, power supply, and battery backup are just sitting here, waiting, ready to go.

And since I'm gearing up for a nice new HTPC with full gigabit streaming capabilities, I'm ripping again. Today I picked up Da Ali G Show: Season 2 and Simpsons: Season 7 at Best Buy for good prices, but each had 15,000 reward zone bonus points attached to them - basically $5 off when the rewards gift certificate gets here. Also, I was pleasantly surprised to see The Aristocrats marked down to $13.98. I was tempted to buy Flight Plan at that point, but decided against it - I can wait for a 2 for $15 on that one. I was going to hold off for a sale on The Aristocrats since no store had it advertised for less than $20, but for $14, I couldn't pass up the comedy.

Up to 1003 DVDs now. Nothing to really shoot for anymore...1,000 was always the big "pie in the sky." Perhaps I'll have to buy 3 Sony 400 disc DVD changers so I can have every DVD on-demand and have all my TV shows ripped and on-demand in an episode-by-episode basis along with any other movies I may have ripped in the past. 1,200 is the new goal. And then 1,600.

URL: PLEXTOR Beige SATA DVD Burner Model PX-716SA/SW - Retail at Newegg.com

I'm not quite sure how they did it, but Monarch got my computer out today. Or at least I hope they did. I've got a shipping notification but since I ordered a video card along with my main system, they might have shipped that separately. Hoever, the package does weigh 11 pounds, so I'm thinking it's all there.

And if it is...come January 26th, I'll be a-building a new computer (or it might have to wait until the 27th, 28th and 29th...something to look forward to over the weekend).

URL: FedEx | Track

Well, the order has been placed. On its way:

ASUS A8N-SLI Premium
AMD Opteron 175 Dual-Core 2.2GHz
Zalman CNPS7000B-AlCu Cooler
2 GB OCZ RAM
Shin-Etsu Thermal Grease

And...

an eVGA 7800 GT CO SE 256MB Video Card. Can't wait. That thing will run WoW without any hiccups - ever. And it should all be here in about a week to a week and a half and then I can cannabalize my current computer, upgrade it, and then build my HTPC. Finally...

URL: MonarchComputer.com