Since I have entirely too many computers (consequently,
PG&E (or if I'm in Sacramento,
SMUD) just lurrrrrvs me), I'll just list the assets I have which I actively use to play anime (including storage machines). Hang on, this will be a bumpy ride!
Set-side entertainment machine (also used at the local anime con for primary anime viewing room):
Generic whitebox (though that's something of a misnomer since it's all black!)
- Intel Pentium 4HT 3GHz, 800MHz FSB
- 1GB RAM
- WDC SATA 80GB HDD
- ATI Radeon X1300 AGP, 256MB RAM
- SoundBlaster Audigy using Creative's drivers
- Sony HT amplifier, to which the Audigy is plugged in via S/PDIF
- Polaroid 26" flat-panel LCD TV, plugged into the computer via DVI->HDMI
- Windows XP Professional
(This is the machine I have which supposedly has a DX10-capable card, but I don't think it's DX10-capable)
Another set-side entertainment machine (also used at the local anime con for secondary anime viewing room, though is mainly a live-action room):
[Gateway 2000 desktop machine (ordinary tower machine; I don't have the model number handy)
- Intel Pentium 4 2.2GHz, 400MHz FSB
- 512MB RAM
- WDC EIDE 40GB HDD
- Gigabyte AGP video card using an ATI Radeon 9550 chip, 128MB RAM
- SoundBlaster Live! 24 (for both analog and S/PDIF out)
- Windows XP Professional
Desktop machine:
Generic whitebox
- AMD Athlon XP 2800+, 333MHz FSB
- 1GB RAM
- WDC EIDE 160GB HDD (for OS, apps and some data, each in their own partitions)
- WDC EIDE 250GB HDD (for works which require very large files, primarily fansubbing, primarily for grabbing raws and for sound processing, editing and encoding)
- ATI Radeon 9550 AGP card, 256MB RAM
- SoundBlaster Audigy using the kX drivers
- Windows XP Professional
Even though I do view anime on this computer, this machine is more a work machine than an entertainment machine. I use this computer to do my sound editing, processing and encoding along with script editing.
Laptop machine:
Dell Inspiron 9100
- Intel Pentium 4HT 2.8GHz, 800MHz FSB
- 1GB RAM
- Samsung EIDE 40GB HDD
- Mobility Radeon 9700, 128MB RAM
- Internal sound system for my own viewing
- SoundBlaster Audigy 2 NX external USB unit for exhibitions at the local art museum I do every month
- Windows XP Professional
This machine also goes with me on periodic train trips to Sacramento where I show anime at a friend's place. Using CoreAVC, it can handle nearly all the recent H.264-encoded fansubs I can throw at it.
Older anime viewing machine when Xvid was still the most prevalent format:
Compaq DeskPro EN SFF machine
- Intel Pentium III 933MHz, 133MHz FSB
- 384MB RAM
- Seagate Barracuda Fast ATA 40GB HDD
- NVidia GeForce MX 4000, 64MB RAM
- Onboard sound (originally had sound card that's in the entertainment box now)
- IEEE 1394 card
- USB 2.0 card
The nice thing about this computer is that the computer has its own built-in mono speaker so I can watch anime with just a monitor. However, most of the time, I tend to use external storage, e.g. a USB or 1394 external drive, or have it hanging off a network. Functions as a spare for the anime con, but I may repurpose this machine to a different function at some point in the near-to-mid term.
Encoder machine (I tend to make and distribute fansubs with it, rather than watch them on it, but I figured it was worth describing anyway):
Desktop machine, encoder machine (Dell Dimension 3100)
- Intel Pentium 4HT 3.06GHz, 533MHz FSB
- 1GB RAM
- Seagate Fast ATA 40GB HDD on system IDE bus (for OS)
- Two WDC EIDE 80GB HDDs on Promise EIDE controller (the only other place to hook hard drives to are two SATA connectors)
- Onboard video, using Intel 915 chipset (generally nothing hooked to it; I run it headless and connect to it via VNC)
- Onboard audio (which IS connected; see below)
- Windows XP Professional
Fileserver (which doesn't PLAY anime, but it does bear mentioning since I generally don't store anything I watch on my systems):
Generic whitebox (also something of a misnomer since it's silver and grey)
- AMD Duron 1600
- 512MB RAM
- WDC EIDE 4GB HDD (root filesystem)
- WDC EIDE 160GB HDD (personal data)
- 320GB EIDE HDD (storage for torrents)
- Creative GraphicsBlaster Exxtreme, 4MB RAM (generally has nothing connected to it)
- Onboard sound (not used at all)
And another fileserver machine which only sees action during the con here
IBM PC325 (fileserver for anime con):
- Intel Pentium MMX 200MHz (No bloody Pro, II, III, 4, 4HT, M, D, or Dual Core)
- 64MB RAM
- Quantum EIDE 6.4GB(?) (for OS and swap) and 40GB WDC EIDE HDDs (for storage)
- Onboard video
This machine allows me to repurpose any of my screening machines at a moment's notice, so long as I have a playlist for that machine stored somewhere, preferably on the server or a removable storage device.
When I'm at home, my most recently-torrented anime is stored on my main fileserver, the Duron described above. Apart from storage duties, that machine also performs the grunt work of torrenting itself, running a VNC server X session running Azureus. I also run IceWM for a low-memory-footprint X window manager.
Both desktop machines described along with two other desktop machines are all plugged into a Yamaha 10-channel, 2-bus mixer so all of them can output sound and share a common pair of speakers.
I have Lite-On drives in all machines except the Dimension 3100 (which uses a different brand; I just haven't replaced the drive) and the fileservers (one of which has a CD-ROM drive I used for loading the OS, the other doesn't have an optical drive at all, just a floppy). I standardized on Lite-On because these drives are insanely hackable!
I realize I need to upgrade some of my gear if I ever hope to seriously play hi-def content, especially anything bigger than 720p.
Anyway, that's my gear for playing/producing/obtaining/storing fansubbage. I have many other machines, but none of them contribute significantly to my anime viewing or fansubbing experience other than MAYBE one of them being a DNS/DHCP server, another hosting my group's site and being entry point for mail, which is stored on yet another server on private IP space, which also doubles as my voice mail box/PBX for my phone line and was my first dedicated anime screening box.
--Ian.
He also installed the HD from the old computer (120GB compared to the 70GB this came with, so now a total of 190GB, which still isn't that much)
Fansubber
