Posted on 11/16/2001 1:20:32 PM PST by ErnBatavia
Do you really need to upgrade from your 233? If you want faster internet, with sound and video, etc., you should upgrade your connection, not your computer.
Do you use a dial-up modem, a cable modem, or DSL? How do you connect to the internet?
Best machine made in the world. My advice would be to get as much RAM as you can afford and the CD-RW.
www.tomshardware.com
There you will find more information than you ever wanted to know. Good resource if you're thinking about building your own, too.
One good thing about Dell is their documentation for upgrading is pretty good. At least it was for the machine I bought (and am using now) in '97.
Do not go to your bargain discount appliance store and get an HP either. I've tried that twice--both machines had serious glitches and I had to fight like hell to return them without having to pay a restocking charge.
Consider a mom-and-pop shop that's been around for a while. Typically, they'll build your system to order, and will support it with minimal hassles. Get a list of "satisfied" customers from them before you do, though.
Suggest that instead of placing the order on-line, call their 800 number. Their sales technicians can help you by asking the right questions about your use.
It is a good time to buy. Lots of good deals available.
I also favor the best video card so it won't be outmoded soon. And I like having a woofer for games and sound.
A flat screen will be much better for the eyes. A smaller flat screen is better than a large, traditional monitor. They look so cool, too. Our college has a bunch of Mac's and they own their space in the computer pit, compared to all the IBM PC's.
Micron?
At least 256MB of RAM, don't go higher than 400MB. You don't need anything higher than 400MB. If all you do is Freep, write letters, surf the web, and use graphics programs, you won't go over 200MB usage with an NT-based operating system (these days, that's Windows 2000 and Windows XP). At the moment, with six IE windows open (separate processes), as well as Word 2000 and Adobe Photoshop 5.02, along with several instant messaging programs and system monitors, I'm only at 188MB of memory usage. 256MB is about all you need for anything, but even when I get into stuff like video editing or gaming, I rarely go over 400MB of memory usage. 512MB is maximum, but just to waste electricity and generate more heat, I have 768MB in mine. Heh.
As for video, it really depends on what you intend on using it for. In your case, I recommend staying with whatever the default video it is they give you, since you really don't need an Nvidia GeForce3 video card. That's only if you play games like most people breathe oxygen.
Don't go with Windows ME. WinME is a bug-ridden pile of crash happy crap, and that's putting it lightly. Go with Windows XP, and if they give you a choice, go with Office XP Professional.
With the CD-ROM drives, it's really a case of what you intend to do with them. If all you're going to use it for is to play audio CDs or install software, then just go with a regular CD-ROM drive. If you want to make music CDs or backups of programs, then get a CD-RW drive. If the computer is going to double as a DVD player, then get a DVD-ROM drive. DVD-ROM drives can also read CDs, and the same goes for CD-RW drives.
If you can, get a SoundBlaster LIVE! sound card as opposed to the integrated audio. Most "integrated audio" solutions are incredibly cheap (in value and performance, not price) and tend to cause hardware conflicts.
Looking through the tech specs (back to the operating system), I recommend you go with Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional with the Microsoft Windows XP upgrade. Again, Windows ME is not worth your time and money.
On to warranties. If you can, go with at least a 2-year warranty. You're probably going to use the computer for longer than just a year, so get that warranty. It'll save you a lot of trouble down the road.
As for the minor things:
You don't need an Iomega ZIP drive. They have problems anyways, especially the Internal models (the notorious "Click of Death", for one).
The "Enhanced Performance" Dell USB keyboard is a sham. It doesn't offer you any "enhanced performance", it's just a marketing ploy to get you to spend extra on a "faster" peripheral that doesn't function any differently than a standard keyboard.
The mouse is a different issue than the keyboard. Mice have a tendancy to die a lot more often than keyboards, especially if they're standard analog mice (that is, if they use a rollerball as opposed to an illuminated scanner). Plus you're saved the hassle of having to clean out the mouse every month or so if you get an optical mouse. It's really a situation as to whether you can handle the possibility of the mouse going out (they're easily replaced) and the hassle of having to clean the mouse out once-in-a-while, or biting the bullet to get an optical mouse.
The regular speakers they give you should work, although if anything I'd just tell them to keep the speakers and buy your own. Or, if you want to get creative, you can buy a 3.5mm-to-RCA speaker jack and some RCA stereo audio cable and hook your PC's sound out to a home stereo system. It tends to sound a lot better than the standard two-speaker systems they give you, but that's only if you use the computer for a lot of audio stuff like listening to MP3s or audio CDs.
Unless you're looking to run a network in your house, and I'm assuming you aren't, avoid getting a network card installed. A modem is fine, but you don't need to get a network card unless you're planning on networking your house.
I think that pretty much covers it.
Well for starters, P3 systems use standard PC-133 RAM which has gotten dirt cheap. $20-30 per 256 MB module. Most P4 mobos (motherboards) use Rambus memory, which costs three or four times as much, yields no additional performance that I can detect in everyday use, and is IMO a memory format doomed to fail.
There are also some issues about instructions-per-clock-cycle and clock cycles themselves that can cause the P3 to perform better than you might think vs. the P4. I haven't priced out a system in the past couple of months, but I think you could probably save somewhere in the neighborhood of $300-400 for the same level of machine just by going P3 instead of P4. I replaced a P3 with a P4 around six months ago after a lightning strike and it was definitely the wrong move.
RAM makes a huge difference. SPEED OF HARD DRIVE makes a huge difference. These are usually the real performance bottlenecks in a system, not the CPU.
MM
If it is easier for you, then do it. But copying the cd to harddrive, and then burning is really very easy. And with the speed of newer systems it only takes a couple minutes longer than drive to drive copies.
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