You might have missed my point.  Harddrives would be a more permanent medium than some photo-etched plastic/netal foil.

And any medium is only as good as the future accessibility of the format anyway.

Hands up all those people who threw out their VHS machines just moments before they found that long-lost vid of young Johnny's first barf/whatever?....

I also have a 32" LCD TV that I use when watching movies from the PC.

Trouble with using a TV as a monitor, or any large screen, is that the best resolution you're gonna get is 1920 x 1080, and on a 32" screen, that amounts to a one inch tall taskbar, huge window frames, start panel, etc....

In other words, everything is bigger, but you don't gain any real estate. With multiple monitors, everything stays the same size, but you have more room (real estate) for more stuff.

I find it very useful to have 4 monitors.

Photoshop is usually open on one. Yahoo Messenger and Skype on one, (so I can talk to Wiz, Xiandi, 2of3, Murex, Philly, Shaunna, etc....) 

Then a 3rd monitor holds my meters and a clock, weather.

4TH is an extra. It's where everything goes when I'm gaming in surround mode on the other 3. 

Oh, my next upgrade will likely be a 6 core CPU.

No, I didn't miss your point.  Hard drives fail more easily than well-looked-after DVD, Bluray or M-Discs.  I've had more than one suddenly die, and what i want is something more permanent to leave my descendents a couple of generations or more away.

Oh, and I did consider SSDs, but the arithmetic worked out that those would cost more than the discs at this juncture in time.

So I'll leave them the means to play the discs as well... just in case such a thing becomes a museum piece only.  Who knows, in 60 - 80 years time HDDs may also be historic... ancient things of the past. 

Then, I might live long enough to use some futuristic device that records everything in books.  Now there's a novel idea!

As with all things electronic....if it works properly at purchase it'll most likely keep working.

As with all things plastic.....it will scratch.

Hands up all those people who have had a disc delaminate?...

I've been running my 32" TV on 1440x900 and I do not find the taskbar unusually large, nor the screen real estate less than is required.  In fact, it has served my purposes well.  However, it has another use and the 27" monitor was cheaper than another similar sized TV of any quality.

As for running another monitor to the side, I've decided to run a 22" for things I may want to keep an eye on while working on the large screen... like the footy; the news; current affairs; the weather; a bit of pron when nobody's around; maybe a music clip or three on You Tube...

...and/or WC to keep an eye on blokes like you.

Aw c'mon, why not go the whole hog and get an 8 core like I did?  Not only does it go faster [I got one in a red box], if 6 cores go down I still got 2 to limp home on.  Think of it like a V8 and a V6... ya know which one you'd want if 4 cylinders suddenly died, dontcha. 

Now that didn't take much convincing, did it?

Like your fan the other week?  And those other times when yrag saved the day?  Nah, I've had more than one electrical item go guts up inside the warranty period, and a few after.  Let's just say they don't make 'em like they used to. 

Yup, like some of those electrical items that died in the arse before I'd gotten my money's worth.  Like the TEAC 26" TV I'd only had a week and some of the circuit boards burned out.  The majority of that was plastic.... AND electrical. Sure TEAC replaced it under warranty... just rocked up, took it away and left a new one... but it lasted all of 4 years before it too died, out of warranty.  Replaced it with a Sony, which wasn't cheap and like top-of-the-range... should have lasted years, according to the salesman, but it didn't... after 2 it was a dead POS. 

That's why I go for el-cheapo, bargains and cut-price specials... then if it prematurely goes guts up I'm not too disappointed.  Orright, I am, but I'm not down the store dragging the salesbloke over the counter, ripping his lying voice box out.

Funnily enough, though, I've had better luck with electricals since ditching big brand names for lesser ones.  For instance, I've got a dirty old Dick Smith special [32" TV] that's lasted 6+ years so far and is still going strong... and a couple of cheap old Soniqs that have also served well for some years now.

Sadly, though, I do not share your optimistic outlook on electrical goods... they're not supposed to last because we're deemed to live in a throw away society.

You'd snuff it too if you had three and a half years of constant cat fur clogging.

I have HDs with a decade of actual constant use .... still going strong.

The bits that 'matter' are sealed tight and well removed from cat fur and/or scratching.  As a storage system they are peerless, particularly if for archive and not 24/7 activity...

I'll do well to afford the 6 core. I currently have a 3.

Besides, most of the 8 cores I have seen are the wrong socket type for my mobo.

For one, I wouldn't have a cat, well not any more.  The last one a former partner brought home, much to my chagrin, and when she left she left the cat behind... he was old... I didn't have the heart to get rid of him.  He died aged about 15 or so... the same day an old lady I helped care for died.  They were close and I think he somehow knew it and just gave up. 

Anyhow, I digress, as usual... so I won't start about the dog.  

I have some hard drives around 8 years old that are still going strong... a couple of IDE 500 giggers and some old Samsung 200 gig SATAs.  But like I said, they don't make 'em like they used to.  I've had 2 much more recent Seagate 500 giggers die and a WD terabyter. 

Yeah, I know, terabyter and gigger[s] aren't proper words, but I don't give a rat's... people 'll know wot I mean.

Ah, so you have one of those AMD 3 core jobs?  I always thought that an odd number, but I know a few people who had/have them and say they run really well.  You'd need a mobo with an AM3+ socket to run the latest 8 core offerings from AMD, and I'm guessing you'd have an AM2 socket board.  Unfortunately, it wouldn't just be getting a new mobo, though.  You'd also need to get DDR3 RAM as DDR2 wouldn't be compatible, and that would boost the price of such an upgrade. The thing is, the AMD Phenom x6 1100T is a very good processor that would suit your AM2 socket board, and it is quite zippy as well.  I have one in my rig upstairs and it is on a par speed/performance-wise with my 1st 8 core... a FX3170.  I now have a FX8350 and it kicks butt.

No, I have an AM3 mobo, sata3, with DDR3 ram. 16 GB of it. Two gfx cards, dual GTX 650s.

The triple core can be unlocked to be a quad, but the temps are high and 4th core is unstable.

Hmm, I didn't know the triple cores went beyond AM2 socket boards.  Oh well, you learn something every day.

Anyway, you're right, the FX 8 core series is AM3+ compatible only.  I tried mine on a AM3 socket board before getting the AM3+ and it wouldn't post... hence a new mobo was in order. 

Thing is, you have DDR3 RAM so it wouldn't be as big an upgrade... and the FX8350 is quite reasonably priced these days.  I saw them advertised for $195 AUD just recently, and a Gigabyte GA-990-FXAD3 AM3+ mobo for $133. In fact, the older AMD Phenom x6 1100T was $216, nearly 30 bucks more.  I don't know about US pricing but I reckon you'd be looking at under 400 bucks for the FX8350 and matching mobo... the Gigabyte GA-970a-D3 is advertised at $98, so if US prices were similar you'd be looking at $300ish for the pair.  At the end of the day, though, you'd be happy with the 1100T 6 core if finances dictate you go that way.

I've heard that, but being that the triple core is essentially a quad with one core disabled, you'd think it could be activated without too great a risk.

Just for the hell of it.....been working on the "batcave".

Yeah, I guess there would be problems if the 4th core failed testing somewhere along the line.  Still, I suppose one could always try unlocking it to see how it performs, and just lock it again if it becomes unstable.

Like whoa, that's a whole swag of monitors you have there.  Dunno I could cope with so many and not go cross-eyed

And think abut the power bill... glad it's yours and not mine.

Couldn't put my tower up high like that, either... bastard's too heavy.

Mind you, you do have a nice setup.  Will post pics of mine when I'm done getting set up. I'm just waiting on a couple of things to arrive before it's complete.