Re: buying a computer

  • From: "Dale Leavens" <dleavens@xxxxxxx>
  • To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Sat, 14 Jan 2006 23:11:52 -0500

Well like I said, the Centrino processors don't run any faster than 1.7 GHz as far as I know but the way in which they process many functions is different and therefore the clock speed isn't the best measure of actual speed. You can get them with pretty big hard drives and as I said, probably a gig of ram is what you will want for best performance and maybe more depending on what you need to do. Some will want 64 bit processors but so far it doesn't look like there are a lot of applications taking advantage of that technology. Similarly, I am not aware of many programmes that use multi threading technology. Probably the next generation will have more need for those capabilities.

You would probably not want to buy a Pentium with much under 3 GHz in a desktop or a laptop but I wouldn't recommend a Pentium in a laptop for reasons of power consumption and of course heat.

There is no good reason not to buy a desktop model it is just that I bought a pretty reasonable Acer just before Christmas at Circuit City for $945 Canadian, a little light on the memory but I can push it up for another hundred and fifty bucks for now all it will be doing is a little e-mail and word processing.By the time you put a monitor to a desktop the price gets pretty similar with no portability, wireless or Infra red.


----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Baldwin" <mbaldwin@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2006 10:17 PM
Subject: RE: buying a computer



I have been looking at new computers. I have thought of a notebook, but the
limited clock speeds have me concerned. I think the fastest processor for a
Dell notebook is 2.26. How do the centrino processors compare to the
Pentium 4 with HT in desktops? For about the same price I can get a desktop
with a Pentium 4 3.6 with HT. I currently run a Pentium 4 2.0 with 786 Mb
of RAM, and some times it is not enough computer.


Michael




-----Original Message----- From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Dale Leavens Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2006 11:55 To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: Re: buying a computer


I am really becoming partial to laptop, also known as notebook computers.
The lower priced ones are very competitive in price too to a desktop with
monitor but it is much smaller and somehow buying, wiring, running a monitor


bothers me. You may need one occasionally for use by sight enabled persons
when jaws goes belly up and when you don't need it the monitor on a notebook


is small and mostly out of the way. The built in mike on both of mine
appears to be adequate for voice applications like for-the-people and Skype.


Both I have now do everything I have needed and with wireless a lot more. I
bring it along travelling and a small USB powered scanner and I can read in
a hotel room, do e-mail and have even used Skype from a hotel.


Even the desk top machines these days are getting small because there is
little need for additional cards, the machines have most of what people need


built in and the cheap Acer I bought just before Christmas has 5 USB ports
on it so you can hang just about any custom devices on it if you want, say a


second sound card, printer or pretty well what ever you could think of.

Like Cy said, processor speed isn't usually much concern and on these
centrino technology chips many functions are processed simultaneously so
processor speed is a less reliable measure of performance.

So, my advice is to consider a portable machine as a good alternative. You
can take it with you next hurricane.


----- Original Message ----- From: "Cy" <cselfridge@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2006 10:33 AM
Subject: RE: buying a computer



Lou,
It all depends on what you do with your computer.
For those of us who are blind we just really don't need all that
blazing speed because we do not play a lot of virtual reality type
games. Most any computer over about 1.5 GHZ processor speed will
process Eloquence nicely. Now, this may well sound like herisy but,
you just might want to look into a mini Mac because their new Tiger
operating system includes a screen reader.
Otherwise Consumer Reports gave the E Machine a very good rating.
If you wish please contact me privately so James won't have a stroke.
cselfridge@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Look forward to hearing from you.
Cy, the Ancient Okie...

-----Original Message-----
From: jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:jfw-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Louana
Sent: Saturday, January 14, 2006 6:03 AM
To: jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: buying a computer


Hi all, I am needing to buy a new computer. I would like to get some input from you all on what kinds you are using. I need some specific information on processor speed, hard drive size among other things. I have no idea on what to buy. The one I have is five years old and was in my apartment with water after Katrina for about two weeks before I could get it out and I am afraid it will not last much longer. Thanks for any help you all can give. Lou -- To post a message to the list, send it to jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send a message to jfw-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line. Archives located at: //www.freelists.org/archives/jfw

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