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Pastimes : Computer Learning -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JG who wrote (4286)	7/4/1999 5:16:00 PM
From: mr.mark	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110642

hi jim, if you haven't been to the thread before, welcome. i'm a big fan of dell computers. #reply-9247052 as for what kind of system to buy, jeez... you must feel like a kid in a candy store! so much good stuff to choose from. <g3> just for simplicity's sake (and there's often wisdom in simplicity) i'd say stick with the middle of the road in both price and features. what you can get right now from dell for like $1700 is awesome, imo. look to minimum of 64mb of ram. 128 is livin' large, as they say. a 400mhz processor is righteous, and 17" monitor is fine, tho 19" is sweet. built-in zip drives are also cool, and certainly more standard than ever before. personally, i like the iomega 1gig jaz drive, plus the 2gig drive is available too. i'd look to adding on one of those. externals are nice in case you want to move it to other pc's that aren't networked. as for drive size, i'm stunned at the hard drive sizes that are being offered. i can't imagine filling up a 10gig drive. i'd look for smaller partitions, if i were you. i have a 3gig partitioned into a 2 and a 1. perfect for my needs. from what i've read and heard, large drives without partitions are cumbersome, for want of a better term. can't go wrong with dell, jim. <g3> man, i wish i was in your shoes right now... shopping for hardware! good luck. :) mark

To: JG who wrote (4286)	7/4/1999 5:39:00 PM
From: D. Long	Respond to of 110642

JG, I cant help you with where to buy a new computer, but I hope I can give you a few hints as to what to look for. If you only do light computing tasks like word processing and surfing the net, dont let a saleman talk you into buying a $3000 computer, you dont need it. You can get a very sweet machine right now for $700-800. There are a lot of high end components they will try and sell you on, but by the sounds of it you wont need a 16 or 32 meg 3d video card or a 20 gig hard drive. Here's some guidelines for a cheap but hardy machine: Intel Celeron processor 300a-366 suffices 32-64 megs RAM (RAMS cheap right now, could probably get 64 for a song) A 4-8 meg video card should suffice for your needs. Make sure the card has a sufficient refresh rate for the size monitor your getting however, bug the salesman and make sure A 15-17" monitor. 17" are relatively cheap nowadays, and theyre easy on the eyes. You can save about $100 by getting a 15" though 4-6Gig hard drive. You probably could do with less space, but megs are cheap currently and the older 1-3gig hard drives Ive found anymore are rebuilds. If speed is what your after, look for an UDMA66 with a 5400 rpm and at least 10 ms seek time or less, preferrably less. All the major brands are fine, Quantum, Western Digital, SeaGate, etc. A nice sound card, if that grabs you. A Creative Labs Sound Blaster64 is good for a value if you can get one in a prebuilt anymore. If you like your sound, go for the Creative Sound Blaster Live Value or the Diamond MX300 (the Ferrarris of sound cards, IMHO) and a set of Altec Lansing speakers. You can find other very good quality speakers as well. Spend on your modem tho. Dont skimp here because the old saying "you get what you paid for" definately applies. If you can, get a US Robotics, they are reliable and quality made. Any CD drive, a 32-40x is plenty fast and cheap. Mouse and keyboard, of course :) Components will vary depending on who builds it, theyve all got their own agreements. But the system above would cost you between $700 and $900 tops. Good hunting and hope Ive helped some. Derek

To: JG who wrote (4286)	7/4/1999 8:49:00 PM
From: dea8	Respond to of 110642

FWIW Just some sites to explore for your info Mostly just experimenting with my new Clipmate 5 Progam<G> Sorry not organized just a potpouri of sites?? Later Dean cifelli.com product.warehouse.com This Trackball is a must have<g> logitech.com zdnet.com earthlink.net ttrc.com zdnet.com zdnet.com asus.com pcworld.com zdnet.com shop.intel.answerexpress.com pcmech.pair.com tomshardware.com nasdaqtrader.com gotenoughpc.com

To: JG who wrote (4286)	7/4/1999 9:16:00 PM
From: dea8	Respond to of 110642

Jim Opps forgot this one! You might as well go all the way!<G> Later Dean samscomputers.com

To: JG who wrote (4286)	7/5/1999 9:31:00 AM
From: PMS Witch	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 110642

Computer stuff to get --- I recently acquired a new system. It came with a 100m Zip drive and a DVD. If I were to get another system today, (I'd be wiser today.) I'd skip the Zip and the DVD and get a CD burner instead. For software, I'd get Symantec Systemworks, PowerQuest DiskImage and PartitionMagic. This stuff makes my life MUCH easier. I went from a small CRT to a big LCD. I'd definitely spend the loot to get a big screen. In fact, I'd spend a whole bundle on a big screen and keep it when I upgrade the box, which 'ages' faster. Cheers, PW. P.S. I'm using my second DELL. I liked the first one so much (since 1991) I went back for another. I own DELL stock, so maybe I'm biased, but I bought the stock before buying my computers.