Hardware Upgrade Tip of the Day #37


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Hardware Upgrade Tip of the Day

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*1. SET-TOP GAME BOXES VERSUS THE PC--PART 1 OF 5          
  
You may think your PC does it all. You can run standard applications 
(like a word processor), browse the Web, or even run the latest 
computer games for you or your kids. But have you considered the 
dedicated set-top game console? The latest game consoles have come a 
long way from the old Super Nintendo. Products like Sega's already 
available Dreamcast (http://www.sega.com), the upcoming Sony 
PlayStation 2 (http://www.playstation.com), and Microsoft's x-box 
(http://www.xbox.com) offer custom hardware, expandability, stunning 
gameplay, and affordable startup costs. Over the next few days I'll 
pass along some things you should know about the newest game boxes and 
how they compare to the PC. 

First, you should know that the latest, hottest game-oriented video 
cards for the PC, featuring NVidia's GeForce2 GTS 
(http://www.nvidia.com), start at over $300 for the 32MB version and 
over $400 for the 64MB version. You can purchase a whole game console 
for the price of one of these video cards.


*2. SET-TOP GAME BOXES VERSUS THE PC--PART 2 OF 5          
  
Don't think you are limited to your own home when you buy one of the 
game console products, such as Sega's Dreamcast (http://www.sega.com). 
It and all of its soon-to-arrive competitors can connect to the Web 
for browsing or multiplayer gaming. The Dreamcast features a 56-kbps 
modem and includes a Web browser. Reportedly, Sony's PlayStation 2 
(http://www.playstation.com) will feature broadband (cable or DSL) 
capability when it arrives in the United States sometime this fall.


*3. SET-TOP GAME BOXES VERSUS THE PC--PART 3 OF 5          
  
Game consoles may make better use of DVD-ROM technology than your PC 
does. Both the upcoming Sony PlayStation 2 
(http://www.playstation.com) and Microsoft's x-box 
(http://www.xbox.com) include DVD-ROM drives, and both are 
specifically designed to connect to TVs for game and movie playback. 
With PCs, on the other hand, you often have to jury-rig the connection 
between your DVD playback board and your TV or just suffer through 
playing your DVD-ROM game or movie on your small computer monitor. 
With both games and movies, bigger is better.


*4. SET-TOP GAME BOXES VERSUS THE PC--PART 4 OF 5          
  
FireWire technology has many names, including I.Link and IEEE 1394, 
but your PC probably doesn't know any of them. Very few new desktop 
systems ship with this superfast new bus technology that lets you plug 
and play with audio and video gear such as digital camcorders. Guess 
what? Sony's upcoming PlayStation 2 (http://www.playstation.com) game 
console does recognize FireWire. How the PlayStation 2 will use 
FireWire is still anyone's guess, but until the box arrives this fall 
in the United States, we can just imagine the possibilities.


*5. SET-TOP GAME BOXES VERSUS THE PC--PART 5 OF 5          
  
Feel the need for speed? The first version of Microsoft's x-box 
(http://www.xbox.com) game console will ship with a Pentium III 600MHz 
processor. That's probably faster than the PC you currently have on 
your desk. While pricing has not been finalized, Microsoft says it 
will price the x-box similarly to its competition, the $200 to $300 
game boxes. Once again, for gameplay speed, the PC has little or no 
advantage over a dedicated game box.


*6. OPTICAL DRIVE FEATURES--PART 1 OF 5          
  
The optical storage drive appears to be here to stay. With faster and 
faster drives and the addition of DVD-ROM and record-capable CD-RW, 
the choices in optical drives is only growing vaster.   

What features should you look for in optical storage? Over the next 
few days I'll pass along some things to keep in mind the next time you 
go shopping. 

First, look for a drive that features CD playback controls (next 
track, previous track), a volume wheel, and a headset jack on the 
front of the unit. With a drive like this, you can quickly plug in 
headphones and listen to your favorite music CD even if a microphone 
and speakers  are consuming your sound card ports (or if your 
headphone cable is too short to reach to the back of your PC).


*7. OPTICAL DRIVE FEATURES--PART 2 OF 5          
  
In a minitower-style PC case, the PC is meant to stand straight up, 
usually under your desk. With a desktop-style case, the PC is designed 
to sit on top of your desk, usually underneath the PC monitor. 
However, at times you'll want to store this type of PC underneath your 
desk too, standing it on one end to save space on a small desk.  

In this case, you'll need an optical storage drive meant to operate on 
its side. Many optical drives can manage this, but they must feature 
small plastic arms that hold the CD in place while you open and close 
the tray. Look for these disk holders on any optical drive you plan to 
buy.


*8. OPTICAL DRIVE FEATURES--PART 3 OF 5          
  
Newer, small-footprint PCs have a very limited number of open drive 
bays. You may want both a high-density DVD-ROM playback drive and a 
recording CD-RW drive--but you may not have the sufficient number of 
drive bays in your system.  

Take heart. Products like Ricoh's MediaMaster MP9060A 
(www.ricoh-usa.com) package a CD-RW drive and a DVD-ROM drive in a 
combination drive that fits into one PC drive bay. While combo drives 
are generally not the fastest-performing drives available, their 
space-saving designs are good for certain upgrade scenarios.


*9. OPTICAL DRIVE FEATURES--PART 4 OF 5          
  
Remember all the industry struggles over the recording format for DVD 
media? In the beginning, a host of formats and names battled for 
center stage, and great confusion reigned over their mutual 
compatibility.  

Well, most of the confusion has fallen away. The first available and 
currently clearly dominant DVD-recordable format is called DVD-RAM. 
Currently DVD-RAM drives can use two types of media. Type 1 is 
double-sided and can record up to 5.2GB per disk; Type 2 is 
single-sided and stores 2.6GB per disk.  

If massive storage is your goal, look into a DVD-RAM drive, with a 
caveat: Just a handful of the very latest DVD-ROM drives on the market 
support DVD-RAM playback. Also keep in mind that you can only remove 
Type 2 discs from their standard cartridges, so you won't be sharing 
your recorded DVD-RAM media with many other people.


*10. OPTICAL DRIVE FEATURES--PART 5 OF 5          
  
Some people own a PC with a DVD-ROM drive but use a notebook that only 
supports CD-ROM media--thus limiting their ability to use DVD-ROM 
discs while traveling. One way around this problem is to purchase a 
portable DVD-ROM drive for use with your notebook. For example, 
Port-Noteworthy at  

http://www.port.com 

offers a DVD/CD-ROM PC Card drive for $399. Similarly, Addonics at  

http://www.addonics.com 

sells its FireWire-PC Card interfacing PocketDVD drive for $423.
