Seven years is a long time in the world of computing. As attached as I was to my old machine, it had stopped being as productive as I would have liked several years ago. It simply did not have the power to run several programs that I use on a regular basis. It was still running windows XP, a OS which I loved but had become outdated. In short, my computer had actually outlived it's usefulness.
Since I switched to editing photos in RAW form, I had been forced to use my lap top to run Elements and Lightroom, both of which my old machine could only marginally run. Elements would run OK as long as I didn't have too many files open for editing at once. Lightroom just took up too much resources for the old girl to smoothly operate.
While I had become used to editing on the laptop, I actually find it more comfortable to work on my desktop. I quickly grew tired of exclusively using the laptop, though I am glad it was available for my use. It was with great joy that I assembled some cash and went down to my favorite computer store.
This is probably the fourth machine that I have purchased through Ace One Micro Computers, they have all been reliable, well built machines. Ace One has performed a few repairs and upgrades for me as well - I have been happy with them as well.
I had conferred with the folks at Ace One about a new machine before, however the catastrophic failure of our washing machine, refrigerator and some unexpected car repairs had taken precedence over my new computer. Having resolved those issues, the failure of my old desktop placed the purchase of my new one high enough on the priority list to dedicate the funds to close the deal.
It's kind of ironic, I paid $300 less for this machine than I did for my first, an XT clone that I bought in 1986 or so. I ordered this one with significantly more capacity than I need, hopefully it will meet my needs four or five years from now. This is a purchase/build strategy that I have used in the past- with great success.
After bringing this computer home last weekend, I have spent the past week transferring data from my laptop and from files backed up from my old desktop. I have also purchased new versions of Lightroom and Elements and installed Office and numerous other programs that I use. It took far longer than I expected, with the transferring of bajillions and bajillions of photos taking up the largest amount of time. All I have left to do is back up the reorganized photo files onto my portable hard drive and reestablish my I-Tines folder and I am done. Hopefully I won't have to this again for a long while.
Another time consuming factor was my need to stop and look at photos before moving them. I get kind of sentimental while looking at them - I guess that is one of the reasons why people take photographs. You have seen a few of my old favorites while reading this, sharing experiences is another reason why we take photographs. (Most of these photos you may have seen before. Re-Runs - it is summer after all)
I have also edited my first batch of photos using the new computer and the new version of Lightroom that I installed on it. You will get to see those in a few days. They are of a confined space entry that I shot last week, about 85 images. I received pretty good feedback from them, the Haz-Mat team and the Tech Rescue team liked the way they came out.
I have jury duty tomorrow, we'll see if I get assigned to a trial. The Saint I Am Married To doesn't think there are any really big trials up this week, but you never know. As she works in "The System", there is scant chance I would get seated anyways, not unless some defense attorney falls asleep at the switch and lets me get by. Time will tell about that.
Thanks for reading,
Schmoe
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