As I read the posts and compare my experiences with SuSE and my equipment I bean to ask myself (and now you):
If I were to build a pesonal use system from scratch what products would I use (What would I AVOID)?
It seems my Asus A7N8X-E board is less than ideal (especially the ethernet and Nvidia pieces.) So too my "left over" M$ keyboard and 4-button+scroll mouse.
So, if you were starting over for a personal home system (and wanting to have a single networked computer - your wife's win98 machine) what would you do? <-snip-> ooops, I forgot
specifics for video, audio, CD/DVD R-W, etc., etc. would be interesing too. (Though some of the DVD suggestions have been in the posts recently).
Thanks twice StephenW
This is a very interesting topic, Stephen. FWIW, next time, I've decided to spend a few extra bucks and buy a pre-configured, pre-built, pre-tested, warranted system from an established and reputable systems integrator who regularly builds, sells and supports Linux systems. I lived in Silicon Valley and worked in the computer industry there from circa 1986/87 (i80286-AT) through the dot-com boom, Y2K and the bust... with about half of that time spent in hardware; the other half in busdev and software. I know how to spec and build systems myself. I troubleshoot, upgrade and repair all kinds of systems for customers. But I've decided that it isn't cost effective, productive or even fun, anymore, trying to be the 'expert' on every piece of computer hardware. The hardware, alone, has grown geometrically more complex and - with today's high frequencies and smaller packages - much more sensitive to heat, power and signaling issues. Some of the items that must continually be monitored include: - quality of cables/connectors/adapters - quality of fans & stated vs. actual cfm's and MTBF - power supplies (auto-ranging or not? WXY manufacturer vs. XYZ manufacturer's product delivers truly 'clean' output and is most reliable?) - durability/flexability of chassis & skins vis a vis replacement/upgrade parts, ease of service - seemingly endless firmware and module/driver revisions in a constantly metamorphosing sea of add-ons and peripherals - OS patches, updates & upgrades; how these affect the above mentioned modules/driver & firmware revisions - MTBF and MTTR for the overall package, once built The depth and variety of considerations is almost endless while margins in hardware are pretty thin. So - in my case, anyway - it just makes more sense to leverage an existing builder's experience and resources, particularly including momentum. That way, I'm more often dealing with real user and applications/business issues instead of tripping over (potentially fatal) "gotcha's." All that being said, if you prefer to build your own - and, of course, there's nothing wrong with that - then you're on the right track: 'Certified'/'Supported' hardware databases can be researched; ditto forums & lists (such as this one) where actual users share experiences, resources and solutions; ditto other web resources like the following, as a start: http://hardware.redhat.com/hcl/genpage2.cgi http://metalab.unc.edu/LDP/HOWTO/Hardware-HOWTO.html So, Stephen, I hope these observations help you in some way. Thanks for reading my two cents & regards, - Carl - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - C. E. Hartung Business Development & Support Services Dover Foxcroft, Maine, USA http://www.cehartung.com "Jello is never very interesting until it is set and sure of itself!"