Some of you may have been watching my Facebook and Twitter feeds recently and have deducted that I was building a new computer. I wanted to share my experiences and the details in this post so I can direct people to it later. It’s been about a year since I started putting together the wish list and I’ve finally reached a point where I am running the machine, albeit not in its final form.

So to start out, let me say that the reason the process took so long is because I’ve spent a lot of time waiting for items to go on sale. By doing so, I have saved over $175 on the original price as specified by rebates and coupons. Sometimes I managed to combine coupons or “check out codes” with rebates for significant savings. Any savings leave room for upgrades and improvements without a lot of loss to the original budget. Budgeting your computer build is just as important to sticking to it.

In the list below I’ll show you the computer part, make and model, original price (at the time of purchase, including shipping), sale price after any coupons or discounts (also including any shipping), any rebates available, and savings. I’ll also put a link to the online storefront of my place of purchase on the make and model of the computer part, so you can read the details of each part and view the item itself.

• Case – Thermaltake V9 Black – Original Price $138.98 – Price paid $89.99 (-additional $20 Rebate) – Savings of $68.99
• Motherboard – Asus Sabertooth X58 – Original Price $199.99 – Price paid $179.99 – Savings of $20
• CPU Cooler – Corsair H70 – Original Price $109.99 – Price paid $96.29 – Savings of $13.70
• Hard Drive – Western Digital VelociRaptor 600GB 10000RPM – Original Price $279.99 – Price paid $249.99 – Savings of $30
• Video Cards – Zotac GTX 460 1GB – Original Price $407.72 – Price paid $387.73 (-additional $40 Rebate) – Savings of $60
• Power Supply – Corsair AX850 850w Certified Gold – Original Price $211.29 – Price paid $191.29 (-additional $10 Rebate) – Savings of $30
• RAM – Corsair XMS 12GB (3x4GB) DDR3 2000 – Price paid $314.24
• CPU – Intel i7 950 3.06Ghz Quad-Core with HyperThreading – Original Price $294.99 – Price paid $243.79 – Savings of $51.20

Total savings came in at $273.89 after rebates (I’m still waiting on Zotac and Corsair to send me theirs). It’s worth noting that Corsair and Thermaltake send rebate debit cards, a move in the rebate field I’m not terribly fond of. Zotac, I think, sends a check. (more…)

A couple months ago, my boss came to me and told me my work cell contract was eligible for a new phone upgrade. I did some research, and moving away from a hacked moto-Razr would only prove worthwhile if I were to pack in a few more features (like email, mobile internet, and maybe a better camera). I first asked for a BlackBerry Pearl because I already had a BlackBerry World Edition 8830 and I didn’t need the extra bulk. When he vetoed my request to add an additional BlackBerry Data Plan to the already pretty hefty data plan the company had, I went back to the drawing board.

Things I knew I wanted:

• Exchange Support
• WiFi and/or Mobile Internet that does not suck.
• Decent Camera (the BB8830 doesn’t have a camera)

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In wake of the release of the new 3G-capable iPhone and the content I’ve been spidering about the Android SDK (Google phone) I’m going to let you in on a few of the things I use almost daily. This article also comes to you per suggestion on Skribit from Paul Stamatiou which has received some other votes. I’m adding the programs I use because to be honest, I don’t carry many gadgets around.

Firstly and most importantly, I have my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry 8830 “World Edition” phone. After using a generic LG flip phone for two years, when my contract was up for renewal I had come to the conclusion that I was ready for a smart phone or PDA. Research In Motion had a new, fairly powerful, handheld and what appeared to be the most capable for what I wanted to be able to do; so far it’s done a great job.

So what was I looking for in a new handheld? Firstly, a QWERTY keypad. You don’t understand the want for this until you’ve been using “T9″ or some other predictive text on a standard numeric keypad for two years and have a chance to toy with a friend’s QWERTY keypad. The next thing I looked for was (more…)