“Tabby” has to be one of my favorite PCs of all time. Donated to 5twenty8, this tablet PC is great for taking notes, and being able to erase on the fly simply by flipping over the pen and using it like an eraser. I’ve convinced my employer to purchase a newer version of this PC for me to give Java architecture presentations at work. This PC also contains an SD slot, compact flash, 30 gig hard drive, Ethernet, two USB ports and wireless card. The core of this PC is a 1 GHz processor and 1.25 gig of RAM. It also contains a 64 meg nVidia video card . The surface of this PC is glass so you don’t have to worry about scratching it. There’s an amazing art program (Surprisingly by Microsoft. ) that allows you to draw using paints charcoals, pencils, pens, etc. This tablet PC has also been used to give the first 5twenty8 presentation and contains an install of Open Office. The operating system is Windows XP Tablet Edition. Now if Apple would only make a Tablet Mac.

This laptop is a Gateway wide screen and a performer. This PC was donated without an operating system. Not only is the display on this PC simply beautiful but it is a dual boot Linux/Windows machine. This PC contains a 2.8 GHz processor with 1.25 gig of RAM. It contains an internal wireless card and is used for all my presentations/seminars. This PC contains a 60 gig hard drive, 25 of which is partitioned off for Linux. Since this PC is meant for productivity, it contains only an integrated video card. This is where the limitations of Windows can be seen. When running the same 3-D screen savers in Linux, they run much smoother than in Windows. In many cases they won’t even run in Windows at all. In Linux mode this PC runs and looks like a Mac.

Update 11/15/2006: After a few unsuccessful attempts to upgrade Linux Ubuntu Dapper to the Edgy distro, the hard drive on the Gateway gave out. I was left with several partitions to which I could not perform a delete, format or install. The good news is that a brand new 80 gig hard drive was donated and this laptop is back up and running. For now, Windows only.

This custom-built PC is my primary workhorse affectionately named “Argiope” a type of black and yellow spider we found in our garden. This PC has also been referred to as the “Roethlis-server”. (No, I am not a Steelers fan; the keyboard has a yellow casing and black keys.) It has a 2.4 GHz Pentium 4 HT processor, two gig of RAM and a 256 nVidia video card. When this PC was initially donated to 5twenty8, it simply had a CD-ROM drive with the broken door. I have since added heatsinks with digital temperature readouts, a DVD drive and a dual layer DVD burner. Argiope sports two 100 gig hard drives and is connected to two Dell 20.1 inch ultra sharp monitors. This PC has a great sound card with tons of audio input and is used for podcasts, creating presentations, e-mail, browsing the Internet, 5twenty8 Web design, promotional designs and writing. This PC is running Windows XP Professional and is one of the ugliest PCs I have ever owned. In a way that’s its appeal. I may install Linux on this PC if I can still use the dual monitors.

This unnamed PC is a Dell Dimension 8300 and was the PC that was used to spawn 5twenty8.com. It has a 3 GHz Pentium 4 HT processor and two gig of RAM. This PC also sports a DVD drive and DVD burner as well as an upgraded 256 meg nVidia video card. One small custom feature of this PC is the internal to 250 Zip Drive ordered so that I could access all the Zip disks from my ancient parallel port Zip drive. This PC has Sony Vegas Video Suite installed on it. With an 80 gig hard drive and a 250 gig hard drive this Dell’s primary use is video editing. It is connected to two Dell 20.1 inch ultra sharp monitors and has a Griffin Power mate for a shuttle/jog wheel. Unfortunately this PC runs Windows XP, and will most likely always have some iteration of Windows as it is required for Sony Vegas.

This server is a Dell PowerEdge, SC420. When the server was donated to 5twenty8 it was without an operating system. Knowing that I wanted this PC to be used as a server, I weighed out my Windows options, but was overwhelmed by the cost. However, I found a better and free solution in Ubuntu Linux. This was my first server and my first experience with Linux. After a fairly easy install, I was immediately hooked on Linux. This server is using all free and open source software including Open Office. With the customizability of the Gnome desktop, this operating system looks and functions much like a Mac. This server is a 2.8 GHz Pentium 4 processor with two gig of RAM. As this is a server; it contains only integrated video, and no audio card. However, it is loaded with two 80 gig hard drives, a 40 gig hard drive and a 500 gig hard drive. This server is connected to a single Dell 20.1 inch ultra sharp wide screen monitor. This operating system is incredibly reliable, and since it is also connected to a UPS it rarely needs shut down.