No, I didn’t get married.

But it was time for a new companion in the office. (Don’t worry, I’m not talking about Ralph!)

My laptop had been showing signs of aging for a while now, and rather than waiting for it to give up the ghost permanently and then having to scramble to quickly find a suitable replacement (and probably paying way more for things I don’t really need), I decided to be proactive and look for a new PC now.

Since the requirements I have tend to point me in the gamer direction, another laptop was not really an option. While I need the RAM and space, I couldn’t care less about graphics – and that’s what makes gamer laptops so expensive. Plus, even if I need to work and travel, I still have my Surface tablet to take with me.

So I opted for an actual desktop computer and started configuring it exactly to my preferences, needs, and liking.

The result:

• A super quiet tower with lots of USB ports front and back, the option to attach three monitors, and even a DVD writer
• 64 GB RAM (yes!)
• 1TB SSD hard drive, which holds the UI and all the programs
• 2x 4TB hard drives (the second one as a mirror) for all my data
• A pretty powerful CPU (5700G | 8x 3,8GHz)

After anxiously (hang on there, lappy!) waiting almost three weeks for it to arrive, it was finally delivered a week ago.

And then the fun started…

Anyone who has ever set up a new computer knows what I’m talking about: installing the programs, activating the licenses, having to get new versions and/or new licenses or completely different software, migrating data and settings, lots of trial and error, searching through drawers and emails… and of course: waiting, waiting, and waiting some more for the various processes to finish.

I was glad there was nothing really pressing on my desk, so I could do all of this without too much pressure – and almost zero frustration.

And now it’s done! Except for two software issues, one of which will hopefully be solved tomorrow and the other being a matter of purchasing a new license, my new office companion is up and running (in 30 seconds, btw) and purring happily along. I had almost forgotten how fast computers can actually be… 🙂

Photo by Maksim Chernyshev