New HAM management computer in the shack

My ASUS laptop is getting older now (>5years), and with all the modern (ham) applications running at the same time + virus protection software running in the background, it is freezing up sometimes.

So I decided to buy a new PC which would have a much more modern CPU and plenty of memory. After a lot of research on the Internet, I choose to buy an Acer Veriton M661 system. This system comprises an Intel E8400 (45nm technology) dual core processor running at 3 GHz and 2 GB DDR2 RAM @ 800 MHz. Actually it is a business PC aimed at small and medium businesses. Therefore it comes with a lot of security tools embedded in hardware and remote  control hardware, but more importantly with plenty of connectivity (GBLAN, 10x USB2.0 ports, 1x serial port, 1x parallel printer port). This is a big plus for HAM applications and connected hardware. The graphics is embedded in the chipset (Intel’s GMA3100) but I have upgraded it to a dedicated graphics card (nVidia geForce 8500GT) and a heavier power supply (460W, instead of the supplied 300W).

The other advantage is that it comes with a downgrade option to Windows XP Professional (already installed in the meanwhile). This ensures me that I will not have problems with incompatible drivers and programs.

I am now in the process of transferring all my programs and data to the new PC which will eventually be installed next to my transceivers …