Hardware Upgrade Tip of the Day #39

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Proudly presents:
Hardware Upgrade Tip of the Day

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*1. NEW PC COMPONENTS--PART 1 OF 4          
  
Shopping for a brand-new PC? Now you can customize most if not all of 
the components within your system--usually just by selecting items 
from a drop-down box on a manufacturer's Web site. 

Over the next few days I'll pass along some tips to keep in mind 
regarding customizable components. 

First, consider going with a recording-capable optical drive instead 
of a playback-only CD-ROM drive. These days, CD-R and CD-RW media are 
a cheap and effective method of sharing files and archiving data. Some 
PC makers let you pick a CD-R or CD-RW drive instead of a regular 
CD-ROM drive, and the price difference is usually minimal.


*2. NEW PC COMPONENTS--PART 2 OF 4          
  
Many PC manufacturers still include a floppy drive in the computer 
whether you like it or not. A floppy drive is a legacy piece of 
hardware we just can't seem to let go of. With some PC makers, 
however, you can opt for a SuperDisk drive that the manufacturer will 
install in place of a regular floppy drive. SuperDisk drives work with 
120MB SuperDisk media, and they can also read and write regular 1.44MB 
floppies. If you share disks with other PCs (or PC users) that use 
SuperDisk media, you might consider this type of swap the next time 
you purchase a new PC. 
        
        
*3. NEW PC COMPONENTS--PART 3 OF 4          
  
Do you own legacy ISA card-based computer products? If you intend to 
use these products in your new PC, you might need to specify that the 
vendor add an ISA riser to your new system in the configuration stage 
of the purchase. Some manufacturers are phasing out ISA slots, 
replacing them with more PCI slots. Check for this feature if ISA 
slots are important to you.


*4. NEW PC COMPONENTS--PART 4 OF 4          
  
Do you plan to use a cable-modem connection to the Internet? If so, 
you may want to have the manufacturer install an Ethernet Network 
Adapter card in your system. In addition to a cable modem, you'll need 
an Ethernet card to connect to a cable service's network. It's 
generally cheaper to purchase the card from your PC maker rather your 
cable service company.


*5. WIRELESS LAN TIPS--PART 1 OF 5          
  
In case you were wondering, new office wireless LAN products aren't 
just for mobile PCs. In several scenarios a wireless LAN, or a 
wireless LAN extension to a wired LAN, is the best fit--even for a 
network comprised many of desktops systems.  

Need examples? Retrofitting an older building with the standard LAN 
cabling and gear may be costly. A wireless LAN allows you to install a 
network with a minimal amount of construction. 

Another example is the temporary office space where employees work 
while waiting for the permanent space. It would be a waste to spend 
the money on LAN cabling and wall jacks in an area that will only have 
a temporary need for network access. Using wireless LAN products to 
install network access in a temporary space is much more efficient. 

Over the next few days I'll pass along tips regarding wireless LANs. 

First, make sure you build a system compatible with the IEEE 802.11b 
wireless LAN standard. This will allow you to remain flexible in your 
future equipment purchases and won't force you to buy the same brand 
of gear. If your current wireless LAN gear and your future wireless 
LAN purchases all support IEEE 802.11b, then all your network hardware 
will interoperate.


*6. WIRELESS LAN TIPS--PART 2 OF 5          
  
If your wireless LAN hubs and adapters support the IEEE 802.11b 
standard for wireless LANs, then you can move your equipment (or just 
carry your mobile PC) from one place to another within your office 
space with automatic switching between wireless LAN hubs. However, you 
should make sure you don't need to reboot your PC if you move your 
gear. Particularly for notebook PCs, it's much more useful if you can 
keep your system up and running (and attached to the LAN) even while 
you move around the office.


*7. WIRELESS LAN TIPS---PART 3 OF 5          
  
Investigate the speed at which your wireless LAN gear operates. Most 
of the new products transfer data at 11 Mbps (megabits per second). 
But some products slow this rate dramatically, down to only 1 or 2 
Mbps, when you request encryption of data before it gets passed around 
wirelessly. Look for products that maintain a high data transfer rate 
with encrypted data.


*8. WIRELESS LAN TIPS--PART 4 OF 5          
  
Positioning your wireless LAN network hubs is a more critical and 
difficult task than it is for wired LAN hubs. You don't need to 
maintain a line of sight between your wireless LAN hub and your 
wirelessly connected PC. However, if you place your hub behind filing 
cabinets or far away in a corner, you may be shortening the maximum 
distance at which your hub and PC can connect. Your best bet is to 
follow the positioning instructions included with your wireless LAN 
hardware, but also experiment with placing wireless hubs in different 
locations and hooking up your network before you permanently mount the 
hubs to the wall.


*9. WIRELESS LAN TIPS--PART 5 OF 5          
  
You may find that many wireless LAN products only support notebook 
computers initially (by using a PC Card interface for the wireless LAN 
adapter). If you find this is true of gear you are considering, ask 
the salespeople whether the company has plans to produce wireless LAN 
adapters for desktop PCs. You'll make your wireless LAN more flexible 
and more valuable as a company asset if you can add both notebook 
computers and desktop computers to it.


*10. BIG HARD DRIVE

You have many choices for extra storage: you could consider removable 
storage devices, virtual storage from an Internet company, a CD-RW 
drive, adding a second hard drive, buying an external USB or FireWire 
hard drive--or you could just buy one of the biggest hard drives on 
the planet.

IBM's new DeskStar 75GXP, available at

http://www.ibm.com

features 75GB of storage. Who needs archiving when you have that much 
space?
