Reader How Tos: A System To Convert VHS and 8 mm Tape To DVD

Making A List

So, now I had enough information to make my list of the perfect computer for me. And here it is.

Pricing The System

I used Tom's Hardware Guide's Shopping Comparison to judge pricing. In each case, www.Mwave.com popped up as having some of the best prices.

Buying The System

Early Tuesday afternoon, July 30, I called Mwave.com's 1-800 number and asked Rafael if it would be better to e-mail, fax, or phone my list in to him. He said that since I was already on the phone, he would take my order then and there. I relayed my list to him, but told him that I was not sure which case I wanted, especially since Mwave.com offered so many. He looked over my list and noted that I had an ATX motherboard, four 3.5" drives and one 5.25" drive. I told him I was going to add another 3.5" drive as a boot disk, and another 5.25" drive as a read-only DVD drive. From that list he concluded that I would be happy with the Irwin J508 ATX Server Tower. It could handle four 5.25" drives and five 3.5" drives. And, because it was a server tower case, it also came with a 300-watt power supply. Very nice. Thank you, Rafael. I told Rafael to ship it second-day air so that I would have it by Friday. That would allow me to put it together over the weekend.

Sure enough, the whole system arrived on Friday via FedEx, and in four large boxes. A quick inventory revealed one of the boxes contained the Sony LCD monitor. Another had the Irwin case. The remaining two boxes had all of the other parts that would form the heart and soul of my computer. I could hardly contain my excitement the rest of that day at the prospect of assembling such an awesome computing machine. But I would have to wait until first thing Saturday morning. After all, I am a happily, newly married man with familial duties that ALWAYS come first. The computer could wait.