2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC

[Welly Wu]

Okay. It's not mid range. It's upper mid range at best. I'm staying up all night and day today until I get my new ZaReason Zeto. I'll drink several large cups of Java Love black coffee without sugar, cream, or milk. I'm putting in my Crucial M550 SATA-III 6 GB/s 1.0 TB solid state disk, but I'll install Ubuntu 14.04.x 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux on the Crucial MX200 SATA-III 6 GB/s 256.00 GB solid state disk because it is sufficient for my desktop operating system and my favorite software applications.

This is the first time that I will ever get to use an illuminated mechanical keyboard. I never even tried a mechanical keyboard in my past. The Logitech G710+ is tested to pass 70.00 million individual keystrokes while the standard mechanical keyboard usually lasts up to 50.00 million individual keystrokes.

I'm stoked!

I still don't think that this is a high end desktop PC system. For me, high end starts around $3,000.00 USD and up. I haven't crossed that threshold yet, but I might in the future with more upgrades and PC hardware components and accessories.

Piece by piece, it's slowly coming together. Not my mind or wallet mind you.

[Welly Wu]

This is my current LibreOffice Calc spreadsheet for my stuff.

I uploaded an updated copy of my LibreOffice Calc spreadsheet to reflect my current stuff. It is the larger of the two at 136.30 KB.

[Welly Wu]

I'll tell you this much. I haven't even gotten my desktop PC system yet and I now think that notebook PCs serve a niche role that is no longer my cup of tea. The price to performance ratio is out of whack when you make things smaller and more proprietary. Toss in mobility and portability along with a battery and things really get stupid expensive especially for the high end exotic notebook PCs with unique features and capabilities. More notebook PCs are becoming less user serviceable with more soldered in, glued together, and form fitted parts that make it impossible to repair or upgrade easily and at an affordable price. Then, you have to factor in the risk factors of losing it or getting it stolen or damaged during travel especially if you have access to or store confidential information or data. Everything is limited by the constraints of the form factor, weight, and battery. Phooey!

Desktop PCs still deliver terrific value and performance with none of these limitations or restrictions. Choosing a free, libre, open source desktop operating system is the only logical choice. Modern Linux kernels are 99.9% compatible with most recent and especially older PC hardware components and devices in this world. Choosing the latest Ubuntu 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux distribution is the sensible thing to do as Canonical is poised for steady upward and outward growth over the foreseeable future. Ubuntu Unity is a carefully designed and engineered desktop environment and window manager that just works with most PC hardware and devices. Highly intensive computational or graphically challenging software applications run best on modern desktop or workstation PCs. This is how the professionals get work done daily.

I'm not saying that I will never buy another notebook PC again, but it will most certainly not be Microsoft Windows at all. Notebook PCs have their place and purpose, but I've outgrown it due to the frustrations that I described.

Today will be an excellent day. This is the day when I declare for myself desktop PC dominance over notebook PCs and I turn the chapter in my life to become a more hardcore Ubuntu GNU/Linux user. There will be so many new and interesting computing projects and challenges that await me and my ZaReason Zeto will carry the day. Besides, I almost always use a laptop as if it were a desktop so why not get the real thing? Desktops especially workstations rule.

[RichardET]

This is my current LibreOffice Calc spreadsheet for my stuff.

You spent $7,921.78???

[Welly Wu]

Yes I did. Why not? I did not include the cost of my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC in my LibreOffice Calc spreadsheet. That's an additional $1,842.97 USD. I'm using it right now.

[Welly Wu]

Okay, so to calculate the amount that I paid for my 2015 ZaReason Zeto, I took the $1983.00 USD and I added $529.99 USD for the Crucial 2.5" SATA-III 6 GB/s 1.0 TB solid state disk because I am swapping it out of the Lenovo notebook PC into the desktop PC later today. I plan to use the Crucial M550 as my SteamOS + GNU/Linux drive and I will quick format and quick encrypt it using LUKS AES 256 bits SHA-1. I already have a unique, strong, complex, and long master password saved in my LastPass Premium vault. As a backup method, I printed my master credentials on a few sheets of white paper and I locked it inside my Sentry Safe. I also have a cross cut shredder. This is why the price for the ZaReason Zeto is higher than my original post.

[Welly Wu]

This is my plan of action:

1. Wait for UPS to deliver my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system. Stay at home and watch my bedroom window toward the front door. When I see a UPS brown truck pull up and ring my doorbell, go downstairs to present my New Jersey Driver's License with my photograph and current home address. Sign for my package. Bring it upstairs gently. Bring it inside my bedroom. Unbox. Verify all of the contents are present and check for shipping damages or loose parts. Look for the instructions and receipt. Save the receipt. Follow the instructions.

2. Finish clearing off my desk. Move my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P and power adapter to my night table and plug it in to the AC wall outlet and second Category 6 Ethernet cable. Verify the battery is charged and I have Internet connectivity. Stay logged into my accounts.

3. Put my ASUS 22" monitor on two telephone books and hook up my Aurum 2.0 meter HDMI 1.4 cable. Adjust it accordingly. Put my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC next to it if it fits. Plug in my Logitech MK120 USB 2.0 keyboard and Proteus Core G 502 USB 2.0 PC gaming mouse. Connect my Oppo Digital HA-1 USB 2.0 cable. Connect my Super Speed USB 3.0 Type B cable, but do not connect my Transcend StoreJet MIL-STD portable encrypted hard disk drive yet. Connect the two 802.11 AC/B/G/N Wi-Fi antennas to the back of the desktop PC. Connect the power and HDMI cables and plug into my dedicated power strip. Flip the switch on for the power supply. Plug in my PNY USB 3.0 16 GB thumb drive containing the latest Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux installation ISO in the USB 3.0 port on the right side of the desktop PC. Turn on my monitor. Turn on my desktop PC. Press and hold the F12 button. Access the UEFI boot manager. Select the PNY thumb drive. Boot into Ubuntu Unity.

4. Install Ubuntu 14.04.2 64 bit LTS GNU/Linux. Enable full-disk encryption and enter my master password twice and double check my master credentials paperwork for accuracy. Enable LVM partitioning. Establish my location, time zone, keyboard, and install the updates automatically along with the restricted non-free software. Establish my Ubuntu Administrator account. Set my PC name. DO NOT ENABLE ENCRYPTION for my home folder. Wait for it to finish. Ubuntu will tell me to eject my installation media and press enter to restart. Restart the PC

5. Enter my master password to unlock the internal Crucial MX200 2.5" SATA-III 6 GB/s 256.00 GB solid state disk. Boot Ubuntu really fast. Log into my Ubuntu Administrator account. Verify Internet connectivity. Open Mozilla Firefox. Install LastPass add-on. Log into my account. Insert my Yubico Yubi Key for two-factor authentication. Open my vault. Log into my Google GMail e-mail account. Unlock my 2012 ASUS Google Nexus 7 tablet. Open Google Authenticator app. Put in my one-time code to log into my Google account. Load my e-mail message that I sent to myself with detailed step by step instructions on how to reinstall my favorite software applications, packages, libraries, and dependencies and to optimize the SSD and tweak Ubuntu for maximum speed. Connect to Private Internet Access VPN using my credentials and check my IP address based upon the VPN gateway server that I am connected to. Choose my favorite Ubuntu mirror site. Update the system. Install all updates. Restart my desktop PC. Enter my master password to unlock the SSD. Boot Ubuntu. Log into my Ubuntu Administrator account. Test and verify my favorite software applications work and start configuring each one and start hardening my desktop operating system. It should take between three to five hours for this phase. Shut down my desktop PC. Wait for the power to turn off. Disconnect all cables from my desktop PC.

6. Shut down and power off my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC. Unplug all cables. Close the lid. Turn it over gently. Remove the lithium ion battery. Get my PC technician toolkit and gently unscrew the 10 screws. Gently remove the bottom cover. Gently unscrew the hard disk drive cage. Gently slide it out. Gently unscrew the mounting screws. Extract my Crucial M550 2.5" 9.5 mm SATA-III 6 GB/s 1.0 TB SSD. Put the hard disk drive cage back in and gently screw it in. Replace the bottom cover gently. Gently screw back in the 10 screws. Turn it right side up. Open the lid. Plug in the power and Categorty 6 Ethernet cable. Leave it turned off.

7. Move my ZaReason Zeto desktop PC to my work area. Put on my anti-static wrist guard. Unscrew and open the side panel. Find the second unused drive bay. Take out the drive caddy. Put in my Crucial M550 SSD and screw it in gently. Firmly attach both the SATA power and data cables. Verify my work. Slide it back into the drive bay. Replace the side panel and screw it back in. Put it on my desk. Plug in the cables exactly the same way. Flip on the power switch to the power supply. Push the power button. Press and hold the F12 button. Access the UEFI boot manager. Boot off the Crucial MX200 SATA-III 6 GB/s 256.00 GB SSD. Enter my master password to unlock the SSD. Boot into Ubuntu. Log into my Ubuntu Administrator account. Open gParted. Carefully select the Crucial M550 1 TB SSD. Quick erase it. Quick format it using the Linux ext4 file system. Exit gParted. Open the Disks application. Quick format it and quick encrypt it using LUKS 1. Label the disk and put in my master password for it. Wait. Unmount it. Mount it again. Enter my master password just for it. Save it to my GNOME keyring.

8. Plug in my Transcend StoreJet MIL-STD portable encrypted hard disk drive. Enter the master password and save it to my GNOME keyring. Open Steam. Restore my five SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games to the Crucial M550 1 TB SSD one at a time. Launch each PC game and set my audio and graphics settings accordingly. Restart each PC game to set the changes into effect.

9. On Saturday, follow my e-mail and reinstall Ubuntu on my Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC. Verify my work. Wait for my best friend Robert W. to visit me. Do our business together. Come back home to my apartment. Teach him how to use his Lenovo IdeaPad Y510P notebook PC until he's comfortable. He'll go to use my bathroom and he'll go home.

10. Tomorrow, I'll get my new Logitech G710+ illuminated mechanical USB 2.0 keyboard. It uses two USB 2.0 cables. One is for the keyboard and the other is for the USB 2.0 port located on the keyboard. I'll stay logged into my Ubuntu Administrator account and unplug the Logitech MK120 USB 2.0 keyboard and plug in the Logitech G710+ mechanical keyboard and I'll plug in my Logitech Proteus Core G 502 USB 2.0 PC gaming mouse into the G710+. If it works, then I will be happy. If not, then I will contact Logitech for customer service and technical support. I'm not expecting all of the features and capabilities of the Logitech G710+ to work with GNU/Linux right out of the box, but the basics should be covered. If some of the media function keys and the keys to control illumination work, then I will be very pleased.

I will be home tomorrow all day.

Done.

The reason why I want to two separate internal Crucial solid state disks is due to the fact that I want to install my desktop operating system and favorite software applications on my Crucial MX100 SATA-III 6 GB/s 256.00 GB SSD. This is more than enough for that purpose. The second Crucial M550 SATA-III 6 GB/s 1.0 TB SSD is just for my SteamOS + GNU/Linux PC games. I have 537.00 Steam PC games in total of which 244.00 are available for SteamOS + GNU/Linux which is roughly 45% and that's not bad. My Transcend StoreJet MIL-STD portable, rugged, encrypted hard disk drive will store my premium multimedia content and I set the ownership and permissions to be strictly private; USB 3.0 is fast enough for archival multimedia data and 2.0 TB is large enough for a pretty large library. Plus, I can safely eject it and put it inside my Sentry Safe in my bedroom. My Sentry Safe requires two-factor authentication with a master key and combination. I have a Schlage Camelot door lock which requires two-factor authentication with a master key and a 6 digit PIN to unlock and open the door. When the door closes, it automatically locks. I also have another master key for my apartment doors. Just to be safe, I subscribe to CrashPlan+ monthly Family Plan. All of my personal user data is backed up to CrashPlan Central with a custom encryption key and the GNU/Linux desktop client uses a different master password to unlock it.

I don't have a lot of data, but it's really important to me.

By the way, ZaReason cut one day from their normal testing phase and they upgraded me to UPS 3 day air delivery at no additional charge just so I can get my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC system delivered today. They also installed the hardware in terms of cables, wires, and parts so that I can easily install a 2.5" or 3.5" internal disk drive inside the second drive bay at no additional cost.

Since we are Ubuntu GNU/Linux users, some of us want GNU/Linux to develop, expand, and grow worldwide. As a naturalized US Citizen, I want GNU/Linux to reach more Americans and people in North America, but this is an extremely competitive market. Vote with your wallet. I could have saved a few hundreds of dollars by researching and building my first desktop PC and purchased the PC hardware components and parts from other authorized retailers at decent discounts. However, I wanted to show my financial support for the GNU/Linux community and economy.

I plan to write a formal review by the end of this week.

[Welly Wu]

2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC hardware components:

Crucial MX100 2.5" 7.00 mm SATA-III 6 GB/s 256.00 GB solid state disk (primary OS drive)
Crucial M550 2.5" 7.00 mm (with 2.5 mm bracket) SATA-III 6 GB/s 1.0 TB solid state disk (SteamOS + GNU/Linux drive)
ASUS VS228 22" 1920 X 1080P monitor with HDMI
EVGA Nvidia GTX 970 4GB w/ ACX 2.0 Cooler PN-04G-P4-2972-KR
Gigabyte H97-ITX Wi-Fi motherboard
EVGA 500 watt 80 Plus Gold power supply
Case: EVGA Hadron Air #110-MA-1001-K1
Logitech MK120 USB 2.0 wired keyboard and mouse
Logitech Proteus Core G 502 USB 2.0 wired PC gaming mouse
Logitech G 35 USB 2.0 wired headset
Logitech G710+ USB 2.0 wired illuminated mechanical keyboard
Belkin Category 6 Ethernet cable
Verizon FiOS Quantum Gateway Router with integrated switch and 4 Gigabit Ethernet ports along with 802.11 dual-band AC 2.4 / 5.0 GHz along with B/G/N
Transcend StoreJet USB 3.0 2.0 TB MIL-STD certified portable, rugged, encrypted hard disk drive
2012 ASUS Google Nexus 7 tablet running Android 5.1.1 Lollipop (for now)
LG smart phone
Microsoft XBOX 360 USB 2.0 wired PC controller
Aurum Ultra high speed HDMI 1.4 2.0 meter cables
ASUS USB 3.0 external Blu-Ray-RW / DVD-RW / CD-RW burner drive

I never realized it, but there is a significant amount of EVGA PC hardware components and parts in my 2015 ZaReason Zeto desktop PC. That's cool with me.

[Welly Wu]

My Logitech G710+ illuminated mechanical keyboard just shipped via UPS. It will be delivered to my Nutley, New Jersey apartment tomorrow by 8 PM EST. I got it because it is a premium keyboard that is designed to work with my Proteus Core G 502 PC gaming mouse. I didn't see the match between the Logitech MK120 keyboard and the Proteus Core G 502 mouse working well together. In any event, the Logitech MK120 USB 2.0 wired keyboard and mouse will serve as backup input devices should I need to use them in the future. I will not sell or give them away.

I have less than four hours for UPS to make their delivery this evening.

That's too funny monkeybrain20122. I'm still wired from drinking five large cups of Java Love black coffee overnight. I just drank some Coca Cola soda. Whenever these two packages come, I'll be ready for them.

[monkeybrain20122]

Maybe you should take a walk under the sun, stretch out in the park and play with animals, smell the roses. It is nice out.