Yesterday I unpacked a new Gateway computer. I haven’t been so excited about a computer since my first IBM PC. This baby is fully loaded including an ATI Crossfire graphics card, 5.1 surround sound, a 24″ flat panel monitor, and a TV tuner. The biggest decision was where to put it. Everyone at the office wanted me to set it up in the conference room, but I really wanted to try out the television connection, so I opted to set it up at home.

Placing the monitor in an area where I could use it for computing as well as for TV watching was a real challenge. I decided to put it in a small room off the living room. As usual, one thing leads to another. I needed to move in a desk to put it on, then I needed to add a keyboard tray to the desk. Before long, I was rearranging the whole house!!

I am still in the middle of it all. So far I can say that the beautiful monitor was worth it. Still have to set up the TV connection and the speakers. So far, the instructions have been good and all has gone well, but I am a little concerned about the TV setup. Past installations have not been without trauma, but maybe the Vista experience will be better.