Integrated solutions, WAS Re: win95/98/ME and printers. An ethics issue comparable to DRM servers or not?

[Jon Pruente]

On Thu, Aug 7, 2008 at 3:51 PM, Jeffrey Watts <jeffrey.w.watts at gmail.com> wrote:
> I felt the same as you did about integrated peripherals, but as prices have
> plummeted I actually prefer them now.  I'd rather have an integrated
> motherboard that costs $100 than a motherboard, SATA card, sound card,
> graphics card, networking card that are all separate and cost $300 total.
> If a component breaks I don't mind shelling out $100 to replace the whole
> thing, and the lack of all of the connectors and sockets and impaired
> airflow is a huge plus for me.

Given the (now) long history of integrated peripherals on mobos, we
can safely say that they fail at not-unreasonable rates, and nearly
all do allow individual components to be shut off.  Specifically
buying a non-integrated mobo is a tough task these days.  Really,
about the only thing I don't want integrated is video, and that's only
on my main workstation so I can have fast 3D.  Size and noise are
things I like in small quantities and integrated products allow me to
have that.  I run a Mac mini as my main OS X system, and I'm planning
on picking up an Eee box sometime if I want a more modern PC system.
It's impossible to get a small system when you are dealing with all
sorts of add-on cards to get basic functionality.  Of course, in
systems this small it's hard or impossible to replace a failed
integrated component with an expansion card, but overall the failure
rate is so low I don't really care.

Jon.