I just completed the Media PVR computer, so I'm ready to move on to the File Server, which has been in planning for a while. The nice result from waiting, is that the price of building the machine keeps lowering. I went in too much debt to buy both a laptop and complete my media computer. The plan then is to continue paying off both of my cards, which have less than $600 total between them in February and have $0 balance on both by March. So basically, in two weeks, I'll have one paid off and in about 6 to 7 weeks, I'll have the other card paid off. This also means that well, I have another card with $1000+ that I'll eventually have to pay off, but is at a lower priority than paying off my car. So I'm going to have that debt for a while and likewise I'll probably have the debt I'm going to rack up to pay for the new computer for the similar amount of time.
The bad news for me, is that my gaming PC isn't going to be built until I can pay off all three cards after I built the file server. So I'm looking at building that sometime next year. Which the amount of time I actually spend paying games, it might actually be around the time I'll start playing games again. For development, I'll be able to use the laptop and should plan on using my laptop more often when I move all of my development and work projects off my current machine and onto my laptop.
Even though, I'll be losing a development machine, it won't matter as the laptop will eventually replace that need. I'll just have to configure it to use my current 22" monitor whenever I finally complete the switch. It will be worth it, eventually, when I have my bad ass file server, bad ass media server (PVR), and bad ass gaming PC. I'll need to eventually get a better laptop, like 19" monitor, eventually, then I'll have a bad ass laptop.
Then pretty much just need to rinse, repeat, and somehow get rid of three bad ass computers and one bad ass laptop and poor ass laptop in 2011.
Update: Yeah, I kind of went out and spent a little bit too much and I need to pay down my credit before I go and spend any more money. Sigh, it looks like this project will have to wait until the Fall and I hope I don't have to wait longer.