🚀 go-pugleaf

Yinon Bentor wrote:
> 
> If you are looking for a computer from a company that isn't scheduled to go
> bankrupt soon, buy a PC.  However, buying a PC is much more complicated

Actually, a lot of small "no name" computer vendors disappear every year.
Fortunately, the pieces that make up a PC are commodity items and can be purchased
everywhere.  If you are a person who needs "technical support", that can be
hard to find.  Your best bet is to find is to find a friend who is a computer nut,
feed him lots of brownies, and have him over when things don't work just right.

> than buying a Mac.  I would recommend buying "Computer Shopper"   You can
> find it in most news stands and computer stores, and I've even seen it on
> some grocery store shelves.  It is always the thickest and heaviest
> magazine in the store.  Then, decide what features you want:

There are a miriad of possible components.  Give up trying to buy the best, since
that's a moving target.  Buy what meets your needs.

> 1) Are you looking to buy a computer that will cost less now, but will be
> obsolete in a few years, or do you want to pay a few extra $$$ and get a
> really good system that will last your for 4 or 5 years?

Depends on your definition.  I've got a freind who util two weeks ago was plugging
along on a 386DX-20 based machine.  He played games, ran windows, surfed the web,
and let his children use it.  Now, I've helped him upgrade to a 486DX40.  He's as
pleased as punch.  Still does the same things, but now its faster.  Soon he'll try
some things that wouldn't run well on the old 386.  I define obsolete as being
generally unable to run current software, not just unable to run the lastest and
greatest game at 30 frames per second.

>         Either way, don't even think about getting something less than a P133
> with 16 megs of RAM.  If you    want a system that will last longer, give
> some consideration to a Pentium Pro, but don't get      anything less than a
> Pentium 200.

I'd say that I'd put the bottom limit at a P100 (that's what I've got), or if you
really, really don't have the money, an AMD5x86-133 (the fastest 486).  Jumping
to a Pentium 200 or a PPro (180/200) is a big cost jump, and I don't thing that
the price today warrents it unless you need the power now.  Remember that the
speed difference from a P75 to a P100 is large.  P100 to P133 is medium.  P133 to
P166 is small.  And P166 to P200?  Not worth it at todays prices.  If you'd like
to know all the technical details, contact me directly.

> 2) Are you planning on doing any graphics or number crunching?
>         If yes, make sure to get 32 megs of RAM-- at $5/meg, it is very cheap now.

RAM is still at historical lows.  Definitely get 16 MegaBytes.  Number crunching has
nothing to do with RAM.  Large graphics and piggy applications like MS Office run
faster with more memory.  (This assumes you run some version of MS Windows.  Apps
slow down when the amount of memory is to small to contain them and a part of the
app must be temporarily written to disk and retreived from disk.  The "disk swapping"
is what slows down the application.)

> 3) Will the computer be used to run games?
>         If so, get a good sound card (32 bit is the best) and a fast CD-ROM (8x
> are relatively cheap now..      don't settle for anything less than 6x)

Or children's applications.  Children's software is filled with delightful
(annoying?) sounds to help keep their attention.  Definitely get a sound card.  An
8 bit Soundblaster will work fine.  If you care about sound quality get a 16 bit
Soundblaster or compatible.  There are no 32 bit cards.  The 32 refers to the number
of voices.  Cheaper cards typically do 20 voices, more expensive do 32.  Wave table
synthesis cards will make real instruments sound real, rather than like really nice
electronic instruments.

I agree that at todays prices a 6X CD-ROM should be the starting point.  If the
price difference is less than %30, consider the 8X.  Still, everything available
today runs pretty well with a 4X.  My childrens machine has a perfectly usable 2X,
while I have a 6X that spends most of its time loafing.  (i.e. it has no problem
keeping up)

> 4) Will the computer be used to surf the Net?
>         If you have these plans in mind, consider getting a 33.6 modem.  Even if
> there are no ISPs in your       area that support 33.6 modems, they will upgrade
> soon.  New technologies like ISDN and cable     modems aren't for mainstream
> markets yet, so don't invest in them yet.  They are always easy to      add
> afterwards.
> 

At a minimum, get a 28.8 upgradable to 33.6.  I've surfed with a 14.4 for a year.
It's doable, but it teaches patience.  (Hmmm... not such a bad idea.)  The 28.8
was a welcome upgrade.  33.6 is not universally available yet, but it will be
soon.  Forget ISDN and cable modems for now.  A few years will show how the
market shakes out.  Maybe it will be ADSL.

> Also, give some consideration to getting a SCSI 2 machine.  This will mean
> higher prices, but the peripherals are plug and play, and they usually run
> faster than EIDE.  Also, ask the company that you are getting your computer

For the cost conscious buy caring about a machine for typical home and children
use, forget the SCSI.  Considerably more expensive and EIDE devices are plenty
fast.  Trust me.  You'll wish you had an extra Gig of hard drive long before you'll
want the extra speed SCSI will give you.  As for Plug and Play:  unless you are a
PC whiz like me, get a Plug and Play capable motherboard/bios and use a Plug and
Play OS like Windows 95.  My pentium 100 is my first Plug and Play machine and
these things could put me out of my job helping my friends.  The BIOS/Win95 has
recognized and configure my Ethernet cards, three video cards, and two sound cards
all correctly.  New BIOS (oh, that's the Basic Input/Output System-what lets the
PC boot an operating system off a disk) automatically detect your new hard drive
type and configure the parameters to access it.  Its really gotten easy.  Not
perfect, and not quite MAC, but easy compared to the "old" days.

> from to use 16 meg SIMMS.  When I got my computer, it came with 8 MB of
> RAM, all in 1 MB SIMMS, and filling in all available memory slots.  Now I'm

Definitely make sure you have room for two more RAM devices.  For example, start
with 2 8's to make a total of 16.  This leaves room for an additional pair of 8s
or even 16s if you need them someday.  (all new Pentiums require RAM SIMMs to be
added in pairs).  Most Pentium motherboards have 4 SIMM sockets, some have 6.

> not able to add more RAM because of this.  Zip drives are really nice, but
> only if you use 2 or more computers and need to exchange files between them
> often.  Floppies are defiantly out.  

Here, here.  Also consider the Zip drive or its competitors as an alternative to
a tape drive for backups.  Backups?  If you keep any information you care about
and that you provided (documents, financials, whatever) on your computer,  BACK IT
UP.  NOW.  There are two kinds of data.  Data you don't care about, and data you
lost.

>As for processor speed, the higher the
> better.  166 is very common now, with 200 MHz becoming more and more

True.  But the speed increase per processor step is not nearly as big as you might
think at the high end.  (I'm assuming that all other parts of the system are the
same.)

> popular.  Also, depending on the prices, get 2 or 4 megs of RAM on your
> video card.  

Get at least two.  This will allow you to see graphics on the Web or in applications
as they really look.

>As for a monitor, all work fine.  14" are very uncommon now,
> and 15" are standard.  NEC makes some really nice monitors, but they cost
> more.
> 

I'd recommend a 15" monitor using an 800x600 working resolution as the starting
point.  640x480 doesn't let you see enough on the screen.  A 14" monitor is too
small to use comfortable at more than 640x480 unless you are still sharp eyed.
Most children's software runs at 640x480, so at 800x600, it only fills a portion
of your screen (under Windows), but this is fine.  Most children's software
requires 8 bit color (256 color mode).  So if you, like me, prefer to work at
16 bit (64k colors) or 24 bit (16million colors), you'll need to get good at
switching your mode back and forth.  TIP:  On the Microsoft web site, and elsewhere,
you can find the Microsoft Power Tools.  These are little tools the developers of
Win95 use, but aren't in Windows95.  The best is a little program which gives you
a little monitor on your Win95 status bar that allows you to switch between any of
your system's video modes (resolution and color depth) without having to restart
windows.

> Anyway, call some companies with ads in Computer Shopper.  Most
> salespersons are knowledgeable, but some can be a little pushy.
> 
> Good luck with your purchase.
> Yinon Bentor
> yinon@boone.net

Good luck as well,

-- 
Dan (Woj...)
dmaster@lucent.com
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"I felt so symbolic, yesterday.
"If I knew Picasso,
"I'd buy myself a grey guitar and play.
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