• Cyrix DX4-100 on VLB motherboard (unknown brand)
• Memory : 36Mb (4x1mb 30pin + 1x32mb 72pin fpm)
• CD : Samsung SCR3421 32x IDE
• HDD: Samsung SV0432A 4.3Gb IDE
• HDD: IBM DPES-31080 1.0Gb SCSI
• Video Card : Cirrus 5429 VLB with 1mb display memory
• Modem : Motorola Voicesurfr 56K (Flashed to V90)
• Sound card OPTI 931 isa card - DON'T BUY THIS unless your cache memory works !
• SCSI card : Adaptec 2842 VLB
• IO card : PINE isa noname - 2xIDE, LPT, 2xCOM, FDD
• Scanner : Primax Colordo direct nasty! Linux is 'free', M$ is 'nasty'
• Mouse : Microsoft cordless wheel mouse - good for removing that
  'hunched' feeling, and passing round to friends for web surfing.

In June this year, I got a new base unit -

• Mitsubishi XV400 Celeron with 32Mb upgraded to 64Mb rather quickly
• Quantum 6.4Gb and Samsung 4.3Gb (from 486) IDE hard drives
• Netgear FA310TX 10/100 ethernet card
• ATI 3D Rage IIc
• Pipeline 50 ISDN router (shared with flatmate through an 8 port hub)
• Moved the modem, sound card and CD into this box

Some of the tools I use day to day: Win95 / NT, M$ Office, Mandrake and SuSE Linux, Claris homepage, IE5, Netscape 5, Free Agent (newsreader) , Real player, Outlook express, Acrobat reader, Dreamweaver, EditPlus2, Winzip, Corel Photo-Paint (I ditched Satori photo-XL as it was too obscure).

As you can see the 486 is a cheap & nasty system cobbled together out of bits.As I mainly use it for web surfing,email & experimental use, I guess I don't need a brute of a machine for gaming - my Playstation does that just fine, with no loading or configuration problems, better sound, and dare I say it, better games (remembering that variety is as important as pin-sharp multi squillion textured graphics). Oh and I get to slump in the front room with mates, not hunch over a keyboard!

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