I'd rather be a Robot...

My son, Cameron, who’s about six and a half now has been using an old HP Pavilion that we bought back in 2006.  Its been through multiple upgrades over the past few years, but it finally kicked the bucket a few weeks ago — something with the onboard graphics.  You could only use it for about 20 seconds before the screen would become distorted and unusable.  I thought, enough with the upgrades, its time for a new computer!

This was an unexpected expense, so I was on a budget.  That meant no new Apple computer or big box Windows pc.  With those two out of the picture, there was only one option left — a Newegg build with Ubuntu.  Besides, you’re never too young for Linux, right?

Here’s my parts list:

• BIOSTAR G31D-M7 LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard $49
• Intel Celeron E3400 Wolfdale 2.6GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor $53
• Western Digital Caviar Blue WD3200AAJS 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5” Internal Hard Drive $44
• HEC 6T Series 6T10BB Black 0.7mm SECC Steel MicroATX Mini Tower Computer Case $34
• LOGISYS Computer PS350MA 350W Micro ATX Power Supply $16
• MASSCOOL 9025B1M3/4 90mm Case Fan $5

Parts I salvaged from the HP:

• 2x1Gb DDR2 800 memory
• DVD drive
• Wireless card
• 480w power supply

Total cost: $206 shipped

You may have noticed that listed the power supply twice.  That’s because I ordered a MicroATX power supply to use in the MicroATX case, but it turned out that the case uses a normally sized power supply.  Doh!

I threw all the parts together and then booted it up with an Ubuntu 10.10 dvd.  All of the hardware was immediately recognized, including the wireless card which I was pleasantly surprised by.  Then, a few keystrokes and about 20 minutes later, I had a brand new computer — fully functioning and ready to go.  I opted to include the third-party packages during the install, so once it was done I just installed Chrome and set up a few extras for my son, like bookmarks for Lego.com, Nickjr.com, and a Lego Star Wars desktop background.  This was definitely my easiest Ubuntu install to date.

Once he came home from school, I told him that after he finished his homework, I had a surprise for him.  He finished his math and spelling in record time, so I took him upstairs and showed him his sweet new Linux box.  ;)  He was really excited, especially when he saw the Lego Star Wars background.

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