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During a week of vacation without traveling, I went on a shopping frenzy, and got myself a lot of new toys.  The vacation is almost over, my addiction has settled, but I don’t even want to think about my credit card bill next month.  Here’s all the toys I got:

Samsung 21.6" LCD Monitor

My first item was a Samsung 21.6″ Widescreen LCD Monitor from Futureshop.  It was glossy black and on sale for $200, and would replace the old Samsung 15″ LCD in my evening room.

Specifications:

• Model: SyncMaster 2253LW
• Resolution: 1680 x 1050
• Brightness: 300 cd/m²
• Contrast Ratio: 8000:1 DC
• Response time: 2ms

Dell Vostra 200 Mini Tower

To go with the monitor I got a new Vostro 200 Mini Tower desktop computer from Dell which I spotted on sale at RedFlagDeals.com.  I plan to use the computer as a media center and hook it up to my TV and home theatre system.  After doing a few customizations to the system the final price tag came to $359.

Specifications:

• Intel Core 2 Duo E4600
• Windows Vista Home Basic
• 2GB Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM 800MHz
• 230GB Serial ATA Hard Drive (7200RPM)
• Integrated 7.1 Channel Audio
• Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 3100
• Dual Drives: 16x DVD-ROM Drive + 16x DVD+/-RW

Logitech 2.0 Stereo Speaker System

The Dell computer didn’t come with any speakers.  I wasn’t looking for something fancy since I already hook up the computer to my home theatre system, so I got the Logitech 2.0 Stereo Speaker System LS11 which was sale for $20 at Futureshop.  As expected the sound quality wasn’t that great but at least the glossy black face matched with my Samsung monitor.

Lacie 1TB External Hard Drive

I’m one of those people that collect a lot of stuff on my computer, and previously I owned 320GB external hard drive.  However, I constantly find myself burning DVDs because my hard drives are always running out of space.  Even though, my new computer had a 230GB hard drive, I knew it would not be enough, so I got myself another external hard drive:  Lacie 1TB USB 2.0 External Hard Drive.  There was no sale, but was $170 at Futureshop, which was a reasonable price compare other external hard drives, and it was glossy black as well.

Specifications:

• Interface: Hi-Speed USB 2.0
• Cache: 8MB or greater
• Transfer rate: Up to 480Mbits/s (60MB/s)

Shuttle KPC K45

Getting one new computer wasn’t satisfying to me.  I always wanted to replace the old IBM NetVista which I use as a server at home.   There is a saying that a server is suppose to be a “black box”, and that is exactly what I got from Canada Computers for $219; the small form factor Shuttle KPC K45.

Specifications:

• Intel Celeron Dual E1200
• 1GB DDR2 667Mhz
• Integrated Intel GMA 950 Graphics
• 80GB 7200rpm SATA

IOGear 2 port KVM

Finally, since I had two computers but only one monitor I needed to get a KVM.  I got the IOGear 2-Port Compact USB VGA KVM with Built-in Cables GCS42UW6, even though reviews say that people had problems switching from PC to PC.  I decided to take a chance and get it anyways because it was the cheapest KVM I could find: $20 at Dell and it was glossy black too :).  I had no major issues with it, however flickering can be seen in the monitor if the screen is displaying black.

Specifications:

• One USB keyboard, USB mouse, and VGA monitor control two computers
• Max resolution: 2048 x 1536, DDC2B