A.I.M Users Group Bulletin Board Message Board

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : A.I.M Users Group Bulletin Board

Public Reply Prvt Reply Mark as Last Read File

Previous 10 Next 10 Previous Next

To: OldAIMGuy who wrote (4357)	3/24/1998 4:22:00 PM
From: Bruce A. Bowman	Read Replies (1) of 18928

Hi Tom- You mean the 386DX-33 isn't still under warranty? Bummer. :-) I imagine you'll be pleased with the performance of this current generation of machine. Amazing stuff. It probably won't be an issue, but avoid Windows NT unless you have expert help available. Great operating system, but setup is a difficult. If the machine you're buying has the new X2 modem technology (US Robotics; Rockwell has a variation identified as K56), make sure it meets the newer V.90 spec. They've been delivering these modems for several weeks now and vendors are dumping the older designs. I don't know how you feel about mail/phone order purchases, but Gateway support has been excellent. Also, Ev's company buys everything from Dell. Both Gateway and Dell are generally well thought of for home computers. Both offer 1-yr on-site service as part of the purchase price and 3 yr. warranty. Both offer an additional 2 yrs. on-site support (3 total) for an extra $99. Both use Intel m/b, but the board is probably to a special configuration we can't buy (translation: they're cheaper because they eliminated something). Dell is maybe 2% - 5% more expensive than Gateway. I chose Gateway because I could get the configuration I wanted and I couldn't at Dell. One last opinionated comment: you probably won't do this again for another 7 years, so don't trim the configuration to close to the bone when you make your selection. Eliminating things like sound boards or not getting a lot of RAM (32 MB min, more is better) or Video RAM (4 MB min) or getting a small monitor (be nice to your eyes!) or not getting a fast (as much as you can afford) Pentium will be to your disadvantage. You can't buy components as cheaply as computer mfrs., so better consider these items now. Even things like a TV card can have its place: some of these cards allow you to capture images from a VCR and save the image to a .gif or .jpg file. Some even support converting the VCR images to movies (they capture 4 - 8 frames/second) that can be uploaded to your site. Admittedly the stuff that's 'gee whiz!' today might be passe in a year, but if you're careful and think about what you want to do, you can make the computer a real workhorse. Bruce

Report TOU Violation

Share This Post

Public Reply Prvt Reply Mark as Last Read File

Previous 10 Next 10 Previous Next