1) does having a network of computers slow down the modem speed to all the computers- I do have that impression from reading a thread somewhere.
basically yes. first, your modem speed is always the same (e.g. if you have an isdn modem its always 64kbs or 128kbs with channel bundling). but you'll get the max speed only if one netcomputer connects exclusively to this line. if 2 network computers access the same modem at the same time you get only half of the speed, thats worst case (they have to share the line). if you have N netcomputers accessing to the line you'll get only 1/Nth of the bandwdith for each computer...but thats only a very rough estimate. practice is different and a lot more complex.
the crucial point here is, is the loss in speed really visible to each indivial user? its very hard to give a general answer here. for my network at home its not a problem. but i only have 2 network computers.
2) how many monitors with Win 95, Win 98 support?
win95 doesnt support multi monitor configuration.
you need special hardware & software for this..so called 'multiple monitor graphic adapter cards' and special driver software designed for these type of cards. the features offered by vendors like appian,colorgrafic & stb has nothing to do with win95. so you must read very very carefully what the features are.
the max number of monitors is usually limited by the number of available pci slots. if you use 'multimon cards' you can attach up to 4 monitors to one card. then, e.g.for a mother board with 5 pci slots you can use 4x5=20 monitors.
win98 has multi monitor support, but i dont know the limitating number of the OS itself. the other limiting factors are the same like the ones i mentioned above: the number of available pci slots.
3) why wait for Win 98 to go multiple monitors if I already have Win 95?
win98 offers you more flexibility for a multi monitor configuration and you can start with only 30$ for a dual monitor configuration (not counting the additional monitor)
win 95 doesnt support multiple monitors. this means you have to buy special graphic adapters. if this is a drawback for you, i cant tell. its a performance & money question: e.g. there is no multimon graphic card with AGP bus available right now; you need a resolution of 1900x1200? no multimon card can do this ..and so on. multiple graphic adapter cards are always more expensive than standard cards of the same performance range.
another point is compatibility: once you have decided to buy an appian card you cannot buy a colorgraphic card for additional monitors. the cards of different vendors are not compatible . you must be even more careful, e.g. you cant combine j2 and j3 appian cards.
using win98, you can use multiple standard graphic adapters, they dont need to be of the same type. additionally, you can use different resolutions, different refresh rates for each individual monitor.
win98 offers you the cheapest way for a multimon configuration:
e.g.if you have a pc right now, and lets say you have an old monitor you just buy a cheap no name S3 trio64V+ card, you'll get a dual monitor setup for only 30$. |
