After having gone back to my workstation vendor for the 4th time in so many months today with a broken graphics card and after having had to replace the now scarce SMP motherboard, I’ve learned two very valuable lessons:
- When you buy a workstation for Real Work(tm), get at least a three year on-site guarantee. You might think that you can’t afford the extra EUR150 (or roundabout), but after you tally up all the time you might have to spend fixing your own workstation during its lifetime, you’ll realise that you’re wrong.
- When given the credit card at the beginning of a four year project to buy the machine of your dreams, DON’T splurge. Buy a somewhat more modest machine, but make the arrangement that you’ll have the right to purchase a brand new computer half way through the project. Remember how fast computing equipment ages.