Once Bitten

With the best will in the world, some crud gets through, and so it was for me when I bought my third e-bay computer.

It was a Dell Optiplex 270, comparable to my usual device.

The cooling fans don't work.

So, that's that.

I stripped out the memory and parked the carcass in a corner.

My main box is now super-equipped, with all the memory it needs, a strong processor and good old Linux.

However, I really need a Windows computer for preparing new products which will work on everybody elses Windows boxes.

So I took the plunge. I went to Dell, and bought my first ever new computer.

It cost £292.

For that, I get: Pentium Dual Core 2.5 GHz; 2 GB RAM; 320 GB hard drive.It comes with Vista, a keyboard and a mouse.

And if I need to, I can blat it back to XP Pro.

I think that is quite good value.