Do you think it would be ok if I replaced the dominator ram with http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145034?

It is about 110 with 50 dollar rebate!

Of course its not OK for you to pick RAM thats in the same line that I initially recommended (if you look back I actually suggested RAM that was $20 cheaper - you really need to be paying attention here )

But to keep this simple, if it is 2GB (2x1GB) of Corsair XMS2 DDR800 RAM it'll be excellent.

Well, it looks like this will have to be postponed until July...

My mom is out of town the next week, I have exams, and I will be out of town almost all of June, so I would have little opportunity to A. use the computer and B. even build the computer

Besides, prices will go down in 2 months =D

Moores law "Every two mouths computer technology (memory, capacity, speed, ect.) will double but price will stay the same."

No, Moore's law:

You weren't even close.

He wasn't even close to the common misconception of "Every 18 months computing speed will double"

My bad I got the quote wrong but there is someone who said that about memory somewhere. I think? (me hits myself for stupidity)

No one ever said anything in computers would double every 2 months - think about it, AMD, Intel, et al. don't even release new products every 2 months

Can you imagine if they did? Prices would drop like rocks

Not to mention 200MHz processors would be 8 months ago and the 80486 would be a whopping year ago.

Storage space is what I was talking about.
And it has slowed since this guy (whoever it is) said this.
looking at camera memory flash cards he seems to have been close.

Still not even close. Whoever said that (if someone even did) was a crack addict who had no idea what (s)he was saying, nor did (s)he have any idea about anything tech related and was talking out of his/her butt

I watched the prices of flash memory cards closely and every three to four mouths their was a larger size available for the same price as the previous one. EX. Now I can get a 2GB for the same price as I had paid for the 1GB
Fine lets just drop the topic. k

I'd highly doubt s(he) was talking out of her butt. But maybe I'm wrong .

I've got a question about building small computers.

Which form factor should I go with? It doesn't look like there's much variety on newegg and I'm going for smallness over power.

Any suggestions?

So far I see only mini-ITX and micro-ATX. I'm guessing that mini-ITX is smaller but I'm wondering if mirco-ATX is generally better.

With Mini-ITX, you're pretty much stuck with VIA's stuff or some outdated Intel and AMD boards. Micro-ATX probably has some more variety so you can also build a more powerful system (and you can use more standard components), but if you don't care about power, I'd go with one of the cheap Epia boards. Just know that with Mini-ITX, you'll need an external PSU to convert wall power to 12VDC, then another internal PSU to provide the 5VDC some parts need.
http://www.mini-itx.com/ can provide you with some good resources if you decide to got eh Mini-ITX route.

Well I kinda want to build a HTPC, but not really one. I'm more looking for something that can:

1.) Record TV and play DVDs. probably a lot of harddrive space to hold movies.
2.) Play music and possibly connect to ipod/other mp3 player.
3.) Enough processing power to do ASM and TIGCC stuff (then again, if it can do 1 and 2, it should most definitely be able to do this)
4.) Rather portable, light, easy to transport.

I'm guessing TV tuner and good sound card at the very least. But I really don't know where to start when it comes to something so dedicated in design, not to mention SMALL.

For what you've said, I'd say go with the Mini-ITX. Only problem is that if you really want that sound card, you'll need to get a dual PCI riser. Let's have a look at what might be good for this project:

Mobo - Should be more than enough power.
RAM - You don't need anything fancy.
TV Tuner - I have one of these in my PVR (running MythTV); works great.
Optical drive - These slimline drives are expensive, but nice and small. (You'll need an adapter from there, too)
Case - Yes, all Mini-ITX cases are expensive. If you want, you can build your own.
HD - I've always had good experiences with WD drives, and they're quiet. 320 gigs should be enough for a while.
OS - Your favorite Linux distribution; just be prepared to build the ivtv module for the tuner from source.

I don't really think you need an external sound card, but you can pick one out if you feel you need it.

This is off the topic of building a computer, but does anyone have any recommendations for laptops?

The left hinge on ours broke off. We would have to replace the entire chassis but Toshiba doesn't make it anymore, so now it just serves as a desktop replacement.

I am pretty much looking for a laptop that has:
a relatively good gpu (that I could play most modern games on, such as a 7300 or 7900)
2 gb of ram
vista
wireless and bluetooth built in
monitor size doesn't really matter
intel® Core™ 2 Duo T7200 (or maybe it was 7100, can't remember) or above
OR
amd tl-56 or above

Right now it looks like Dell and HP are the 2 best choices (Dell has a LOT of good deals right now with their inspiron, but so does HP and they just introduce a 500 series - 2500, 6500, and 9500)

We might just wait a month and 1/2 because we are going out of town the 27th and we want it to arrive before that if we ordered it beforehand.

Prices look like they will go down as a whole in the next month though, I believe because intel announced a new chip like a santa rosa or something

we hope to get this for around 1300 or less.

Do note that the 7300 mobile is sloooowww, at least if you are looking for something to play games with. (Figure that the 7300 is roughly 1/4th of the performance of the 7900 - maybe even less than that)

www.ibuypower.com has some good, balanced laptops (balanced in that they come with a decent GPU, such as the x16xx series or the 7600 series or higher).

WARNING! AVOID DELL AT ALL COSTS. DO NOT GET A DELL!!

There is a REASON they are cheap, and that reason is that they are poorly made, and LOADED with pre-installed crap. You do not want to get a dell. AVOID AVOID AVOID