Dek, my new rig built primarily for multimedia work and play, is officially alive and running smoothly, smoother than I expected actually. I never thought going back to XP from Vista would be a nostalgic experience. Tech specs:

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400 – clocking at about 2.0GHz with 1MB cache
Transcend 2GB DDR2 800
ECS nForce6M-A motherboard
ECS GeForce FX 6600LE 256MB DDR2 128-bit PCI-e video card
Samsung 320GB SATA HDD with 16MB buffer
LiteOn 20X Multi-DVD SATA burner
Sony internal multi-card reader
The above bits and pieces encased in an Azzura casing with a 500W power supply unit. Crisp colors displayed by a HannsG 19″ HW191 LCD Monitor using a DVI cable.

Total wallet damage: PhP 24,380 (roughly US$600)

The look on my son’s face when he saw the big, bright LCD monitor displaying a really big desktop: priceless. Sorry bout that. Can’t help it.

Anyway, it’s a bargain, being able to build a rig decent enough for that low a price. I’ve already installed an operating system, which leaves me with transferring my personal and professional files from BB the lappy to Dek, installing gOS and test-driving it (that would be Google’s operating system based on Ubuntu), and installing Ubuntu (if I can wait 20+ days more until the official release of Hardy Heron).

Feel like a kid again. Yes, I do.