These are my two computers on my house LAN. Just in case you were curious what kind of boxes I’m packing. :P And, for kicks, I’ll also throw in the extra stuff I use with them!

Blastoise

Blastoise: One badass freaking box

This is my primary machine, and by that I do mean primary. Aside from typical computer duty (surfing, music, etc.) Blastoise also acts as a TV, DVR, game machine and… canvas. Yeah, that’s right, most of my artwork gets made on him. If you count all of his previous incarnations (he’s been rebuilt, or as I like to call it, transmigrated thrice), Blastoise has been around for nearly 12 years and was transmigrated into his current form in December 2011. Though aside from his wallpaper being something blue-related, he otherwise has little to do with the Pokémon he’s named after, but I just can’t bring myself to let go of the name.

• Type: Desktop
• Case: Thermaltake Chaser MK-1
• Motherboard: ASUS P8V68-V Pro
• CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K (3.4 GHz)
• Memory: 16 GB
• Total disk space: 128GB (SSD)
• Graphics: GeForce N560GTX-Ti
• Displays: Dual Samsungs (19″ CRT and 22″ widescreen LCD)
• Keyboard: Logitech G15
• Mouse: Logitech Anywhere MX
• Operating System: Windows 7 Professional

Dinah

Dinah: the little laptop that could

Dinah is the laptop of awesome and the successor to Squirtle (an ’02 Thinkpad who just loved to overheat). Being a laptop, she was obviously an off-the-shelf model, though I’ve cranked up her oomph when I could. I got her first body in 2006 and in November of 2010 obtained a white MacBook that serves as her current form. One RAM upgrade later and she can rock 25-man raids in World of Warcraft like the rest of ‘em! She is named after mecha of the same name in Xenosaga.

• Type: Laptop (MacBook)
• CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo (2.4 GHz)
• Memory: 4 GB
• Total disk space: 250GB
• Graphics: GeForce 320M
• Operating System: Mac OS X Lion

Yggdrasil

Yggdrasil (aka “Iggy”) is the house media server. Built in early December of ’09 he serves as both the repository and on-site backup for the LAN, but when needed he can be repurposed as a moderately-powerful gaming rig.  His specialty is storage and lots of it, and his gigabit ethernet allows him to stream video and other large files over the LAN with utmost haste.

Extra Stuff

These are the extra things that get used with Blastoise and Dinah.

• Gamepad: Xbox 360 gamepad for Windows, Logitech Dual Action
• Tablets: Wacom Intuos3 (9×12″ for Blastoise, 6×11″ for Dinah and Yggdrasil)
• Video Capture: Hauppauge Win-PVR (on Yggdrasil)
• Slingbox: Slingbox SOLO (and mounted to an HD-DVR, too)

Yeah, that’s right… I’ve two tablets. A bit expensive to outfit both systems with one, but in the end it would have happened anyway. Dinah’s a widescreen laptop (and Yggdrasil is to be used with a widescreen HDTV), so Blastoise’s tablet would have been super-awkward to use. Also, Blastoise’s tablet also doubles as my primary mouse since it occupies the space where a mouse would normally go, and Wacom tablets come with a special mouse for it anyway.