I recall that missive well, got a chuckle ot two, and felt some sympathy for you.

Until it gets too complicated I'm going to roll my own as long as possible, I like the freedom it gives me in hardware choice, and I just like doing it.

Like you I find the latest and greatest and back off a step, or two, it saves money, a lot of money! And the bugs have been pretty well worked out.

This machine was built using Intel's 815EA chipset Mobo. At the time they had just intro'ed the 825E series chipset, which was an unmitigated disaster. The 825 chipset had more bugs than a cheap motel, it didn't last long, they brought out the 845 set, dropped the 825, but kept the 815 C/S in production. Still is as of now, works very well for the low end Celeron Chips built with the Soc 370 Design, speed less then 1.4 Gig.
It's reliable, it's cheap and for the majority of peeps who look at a Computer as an appliance it works fine.

Like a lot of Hab Zone regulars I look at this machine differently, it is more than an appliance, a large part of my life is inside, on the HDD, in the form of writing, photos, messgaes from friends, and more. And a goodly portion more, online.

Like here, the first place I come to when I log on, even before I check my email.