Geek Post : New Monster Hard Drive/More Music

There she is. 200Gbs. BigMax meet everyone. Everyone, meet BigMax.

I spent a thousand bucks today. Car installment, new wallet (finally. I got it from my favourite purveyor of counterfeit goods in KP. It's a Levis rip-off. Pretty good quality), DVDs (Exorcist, Cold Mountain, Before Sunset) and a spanking brand new Maxtor DiamondMax 10 7200rpm 8Mb cache PATA133 hard drive. I didn't get the Deskstar because it was sold out and for good reason. The Deskstar is one damn fine hard drive.

The Maxtor comes in a close second. Let's see her from another angle:-



I set up the new disk with two 100Gb NTFS partitions. I have successfully transfered all my data safely, especially the 20+Gbs of my precious music collection and photos.

Weirdly enough, the new disk is actually faster than my old Maxtor DiamondMax 8 40Gb 7200rpm despite being so much bigger. The 8mb cache really does help.

My first impression is pretty good so far. There is not much noise but it's still noisier than a Deskstar. Speed is good like I mentioned before. And so far I haven't noticed any significant increase in heat build up, which is good. Heat kills and it's my biggest concern.

My 380 watts power supply seems to be able to cope with the power hungry beast well enough so far. A friend of mine had severe stability problems when he changed his hard disk. We later found out it was because of lack of wattage. Problem solved by installing a new 400 watts PSU (Power Supply Unit).

All in all, pretty good bang for my RM415 (approx. USD110).

In all that excitement, I forgot to buy picks, new guitar strings and shampoo. In my advanced age, I really need to start writing things down. My scalp is itching like mad at this very moment. Keeping long hair is not easy.

Did I mention that I've taken up guitar again ? I did, didn't I ?

This time, I'm changing genres. I used to have an electric and I used to try and play hard rock and metal stuff. Fun but the technical requirement was a little high. I can't play lead guitar, my playing is simply not fast and clean enough.

I'm planning to get a good jumbo acoustic as soon as my funds permit. I've been practising strummier, janglier music. Now strumming and picking, those things I can do well. It sounds great and acoustic guitar music is more "portable" than electric power chord music too. More camp fire hang out background music possibilities there.

Plus, extra serenading potential *glee*

Damn, I wish I could start a band again. Being in a band is unlike anything I've ever experienced, especially if the players and vocalist are good. Like my last band. We were alright for a bunch of enthusiastic amateurs.

If I could, I'd like to play in a poppier folkier band with an alternative sound with a female vocalist. Think Six Pence None The Richer. Or K's Choice. I love their sound.

I've done that rock/metal thing to death already.

But alas, tis hard to find like minded people with matching schedules to do this. Even harder to find a female singer who likes alternative music. But wouldn't it be nice if it did happen ?