Sorry, olroy, without the Secret Handshake, we can't communicate with you...

Seriously, every PC has a BIOS ("B"asic "I"nput-"O"utput "S"ystem. It's what wakes the computer to employ the operating system [OS] (like Windows 98 or XP).

Among its knowledge is the hard drives installed and where to look for the OS. Some also have facilities to overclock the CPU and memory; mine currently is a Pentium IV 2.6 and I run it at 3.0 GHz (memory is likewise tweaked); the video card is also overclocked about 20%. This is a value implementation. Many CPUs and video card chips (GPUs, or "Graphics Processing Units") are conservatively rated, and a bit of tweaking brings out the full potential. In short, doing the tweaks to my system has increased its performance to that of one costing $500-700 more.

Facilities to overclock CPUs and GPUs are in many BIOSs, but it's not for the faint-hearted...

quote:

Originally posted by Bill N.Y.:
He's a little bit on the Geezer/Geek side but I have found him to be quite energetic with his responses!

Thanks for making my point there Rusty

Bill N.Y.

Hmmm. Just learned more about how my wife's computer works than I ever knew! Thanks for that Rusty.
So, you can hotrod your own pc? Kinda like adding the 4BBL, headers/freeflow exhaust and hypo cam to my wife's 66 Mustang back when we were first married.
Can I make her desk-top loud too?
Don

As a chip fabrication process matures, more and more chips approach the maximum potential, so many "culls" that don't meet the specs for the highest-end applications are still capable of performance well in excess of the marked speeds.

Overclocking uses that "free" reserve.

You can indeed make your wife's desktop louder (bigger, faster fans) but she'll not be pleased.
In any event, the contemporary $500 computer is plenty fast for just about any use except intensive graphics or gaming.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:

In any event, the contemporary $500 computer is plenty fast for just about any use except intensive graphics or gaming.

Um, how about someone who has music streaming in while surfing, keeping perhaps seven windows open, one of which might be Word?

Shouldn't stress your rig. Streaming music is limited by the pipeline (i.e., your ISP provider's data rate). Keeping seven web windows open is no load - only if you decide to update all seven at once, then again the ISP's pipeline is the bottleneck.

Web surfing imposes very little load on the CPU.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:


Web surfing imposes very little load on the CPU.

I guess I was thinking more of RAM than CPU. Is 512 enough for what I mentioned? I will probably be buying a laptop this year, and don't want to underbuy.

Only graphics-intensive apps really require more than 512 Meg RAM (but that's just over the practical minimum for Win XP). However, the usual deal on a new laptop is that there's a fairly decent price on a 1 gig upgrade. Unlike desktops, which may have up to 8 RAM slots, upgrading a laptop (which usually has no more than two) means you discard the old RAM (or sell it).

If it were I, I'd spring extra for 1 Gb RAM and for a Pentium (in a Centrino system, which includes other features), or an Athlon/Turion, over a Celeron or Sempron.

We are never in an RV park, always unplugged in the boondocks, so no wireless. It is likely we will be connected by our Verizon cellphone, so would such a slow connection be able to use a gig? I won't be doing much surfing at such a slow connection. Just eMail, probably. However, I am leaning toward the Centrino, for heat issues if nothing else.

IF you don't do any graphics-intensive work (surfing the web or editing snapshops isn't graphics-intensive), 512 Mb RAM should be plenty - I use my laptop (actually a "desktop-replacement": 3.2 GHz Pentium, 512 Mb RAM, 60 Gb/7,200 RPM HDD) for graphics in the field (processing astrophotos), and it performs very well.

Wireless performance is only one feature of the Centrino system -specs here - very long battery life is another. You shouldn't need to spend extra for a HDD upgrade (most come standard with 40 Gb, 4,200 RPM drive).

However, I'd not dismiss the capabilities of wireless, as they're becoming more widespread and functional. And because you're online, the extra security features (although overstated by Intel) are a welcome addition.

ANY computer connecting to email or the web should at a minimum have:

1. A firewall (I endorse the free version of Zone Alarm)
2. Anti-Virus (Fave is AVG in paid or free version)
3. Spyware detector/removers (Ad-Aware SE and Spybot Search and Destroy)

Hmmmmm..............It's been two weeks. I wonder if Joe is going to let us know it all turned out.

Checked the batteries. OK but not great. San Francisco not the greaatest place to work on your Barth or to buy tools. Also had to change storage place. Til I can get my stuff together, I'm using the engine battery cut off to protect it from drain. joe