Step
7: (Monitors)
I just love seeing people doing
21" work on a 15" monitor. Kinda gives a new meaning to "kissing"
the screen. Looks stupid too. If you really need a large monitor (say 19"-21")
then by all means get one. 1280x1024 on a 15" is ridiculous, I should know,
I’ve tried it! If you want to view an 8.5"x11" standard page full size,
then you need at least a 19 incher, preferably a 21 incher. If you don’t type
much and only do light webbing, a standard 15 incher running 800x600 will suit
you just fine. Remember, whatever you get, you’re gonna be staring at it for hours
and hours, so get the largest screen affordable. When was the last time you heard,
"Gee John, I just gotta unload my 21 incher cause the print is too big!"
Step
8: (Printers)
Seems like only
two choices, Epson
or Hewlett
Packard. Both are great for most applications. Grab
an Epson if photo quality printing is your forte’, grab the Hewlett Packard if
laser-like black text print is the requirement of the day. USB (Universal Serial
Bus) connectivity is the newer method of making your printer talk to your computer-faster
too.
Step 9: (Sound Cards)
I’m
an audio nut, so nothing but the best (within reason) for me. If you have speakers
in the $5-$15 range, don’t worry about fancy sound cards, you won’t be able to
hear the difference. If you play 3D games and/or do audio mixing, the Creative
Labs Sound Blaster Live! Value is an excellent choice. In any case, for surround
sound, you’ll need a card that supports EAX (Environmental Audio
Extensions), A3D, and/or Dolby Pro Logic. Don’t bother with those $200+
jobs; ever heard the phrase, "diminishing returns?"
Step:
10: (Case, Power Supply and Fan)
Power
supplies do make a difference. In fact, Athlon owners
know very well that they have only a small fraction of them to choose from due
to lousy manufacturing tolerances. I would suggest that any serious computer owner
get one on AMD’s
recommended list if only to see just how stable
and reliable one can be. Otherwise, get at least a 230 watt unit. If you go mondo
bonkers with hard drives and other IDE/SCSI devices, nab a 300 watt unit.
An extra case fan can easily keep the interior of
you rig 5-10 degrees (farenheit) cooler and that can make or break the hairy-edged
overclocker. Oleg
(who is he anyway J ?) told me he has 10 fans
spool up whenever he pushes his go button. I suppose that if you don’t mind the
sound of a twin-engine prop airplane in your bedroom or office, grab lots of fans.
Put 'em on everything. Put one on your floppy (uh, the one inside
your computer). I only run two, one in the power supply and one on the processor
chip. I wanna hear my CD music and telephone ringing.
InWin
is a favorite of mine for boxes. The A500
mid-tower ATX case is great for most applications,
except those who need more room for huge heatsink/fan rigs attached to their Celerons
and Pentiums. The Q500 is a smartly designed full-tower ATX box for those with
boatloads of peripherals, or those that just wanna claim, "mine is bigger
than yours." Of course, get the box that serves its purpose; check out Pricewatch
for the latest deals on cases and everything else.
Step
11: (Other Peripherals)
This covers modems. OK
hate-mailers; get ready to bombard me with the best you’ve got! I use a WINMODEM!
That’s right, an el cheapo Lucent 56K V.90 Data/Fax/Voice Winmodem. FYI, my pings
(on AOL to boot) are in the 100-150mS range, so online fragging is pretty good.
Downloads are excellent as well. On average, I sustain data transfers in the 5-6KBps
(40,000-48,000Kbps) range, with peaks easily double those figures. Of course,
I wired my own phone line right to the main terminal block with a 6", 8 turn
inductance loop to roll off high frequency hash. Works wonders. The Lucents typically
sell for $15-$25. If you have $75 to blow, get a USRobotics. They’re cool, but
cost a bundle.
For general data
transfer and backup service, I recommend the Plextor
Combo. Yeah, I know there are 50GB tape drives out
there, but have you ever actually done a full recovery from one of those things?
We’re talking hours and hours here folks. The data transfer rate is dog slow,
but the storage space is simply huge. I try to keep my backups to a few 650MB
CD-R’s. I can read in the entire CD in less than three minutes.
Big boomers or small screamers? Speakers aren’t essential
for speed but they sure make or break a gaming or audio recording setup. Unless
you’re a total audio nut (like me), don’t spend more than $125 on a set. Relatively
good pairs can be had for as little as $25 though. Reviews of two favorites, the
Altec
Lansing ACS-48s and the MidiLand
Mli-460s can be found on this site. For a surround
sound rig, you need two pairs or grab a 5-piece setup (4 satellites and sub-woofer).
Please refer to Step 9 for audio card recommendations.
Step
12: (Operating Systems)
This
is almost a no brainer. If you want, no need, total compatibility,
get Windows 98SE. Not only is it fully Y2K
compliant right out of the box, it is the most user
friendly and stable version of Windows to date. Windows NT is great for servers
or dual processor setups, but it costs significantly more and needs service pack
5 to be compliant. Linux and BeOS are growing in popularity, and have their strong
points, but if compatibility and support are a big priority, 98SE is the only
way to fly!
Step Finished:
(I’m Pooped)
I thought I could do this in 12 steps,
and I did. If I’ve missed any crucial step, let me know and I’ll throw your "custom
step" in the ring. Although I’m ready to respond to loads of hate mail, I’d
appreciate the occasional note of confidence too. This multi-step guide is only
just that, a guide. Your individual requirements or preferences will necessitate
closer examination of other configurations. Consider this a Holiday guide to more
informed computer shopping.
