Choice of an OS and other system questions...

[Guest $iLk]

Normally I'm really good with computers, building them, choosing parts, etc. ... for other people. When it comes to my own system I am a little more nervous about decisions.

Problem #1: OS for personal use

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Alright heres the deal... I am running my system on a dual boot. Right now it is a 20 GB partition with Windows 98 and a 20 GB partition with Windows 2000 Pro. First I will list my specs:

• Pentium III 1Ghz Processor
  
  
• 256 MB of RAM
  
  
• DFI (i think) Motherboard
  
  
• 40 GB Hard Drive(2 partitions)
  
  

My Problem. Windows 98 does not take advantage of the 256MB of RAM. It reconizes but only uses 128. I have used FREEMEM PRO and it is okay but still sucks. I am really Happy with Win2000, but I want another OS instead of 98. So should I pick WINDOWS ME? From what I have seen it handles memory and processor capability quite well, just some of the *features* nag at me... Keep in mind that the side which holds WIN98 is going to be my gaming/personal partition and I want it to be compatible with BCM at least. I know Win2k is but would BCM run better on ME? For anyone saying wait for XP, I ph33r XP... hehe. So any opinions on that?

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Problem #2: My CD-ROM Drive (too fast?)

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Heres the deal on this one. I was tired of my two year old 16X Toshiba, so I gave it to my dad. I decided to spoil myself and buy me a 50X CDROM drive. (all well and good)

But - here are some things I have noticed:

• There has been no signifigant increase in data transfer to the HD. - If that is the case then is transfer determined by the rotations of the HD?
  
  
• I store files in bulk, my old CDROM wouldn't even warm up a cd, but when I transfered my 700MB of MP3 files the CD felt like I had stuck it in a microwave... (not quite that hot but really really warm)
  
  

So my question there is, what did I gain by switching to a 50X? Just overkill?

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Problem #3: Video Card

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I have a kick a$$ computer, but for one thing. I have a Voodoo 5 5500PCI, and as everyone knows, support is winding down to a close for those cards, and a few games are only paying partial tribute by saying they support 3DFX, albeit poorly.

I want a GeForce III, I have money to blow (not really but I will anyway), but would it be overkill? How long before GeForce III would be the standard? If not a GeForce III what are some other options that would be just as good or better?

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Problem #4: Simple Printer question

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I am using an HP DESKJET printer, I tried to install the drivers under Win2k but it told me they were not supported and wouldn't install. is there any way to do that?

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Final Problem: Digital Camera or WebCAM? and Scanner choice

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What is the difference, if any, between a Digital Camera and a WebCAM, and what would be the best (not necessarily expensive) choices of each?

And I want a good, fast, High quality scanner, with a Parralel port connection if possible, any ideas?

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Thanks everyone who can help...

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[GREG MILLER]

$ilk, this may help you out with your memory concerns for both Win98, and WinME. I too fear WinXP, but also fear it will become a standard some day. See anymore software made for Win3.1???

As far as vidcards are concerned I too am wondering. I just put together a new machine over the weekend, specs are:

AMD Athlon 1.2Ghz

512megs of PC133 SDRAM

Tyan Trinity KT-A Mobo

I am not listing any more specs Because the other stuff is just tying me over till I can get the replacements. For example, current Vidcard is a 4meg card that the V3 replaced in the PacBell.

I still want to see what the new ATI R200 brings to the table, but am starting to seriously eye up the Geforce3.

There is a huge difference between a web cam and digital camera. A webcam is just a camera that records real-time events. A digital camera is basically a picture camera without film. Instead of film, a memory card holds the picture until you d/l it into your PC through a USB port.

I currently have a Visioneer 3100b Parralel port Scanner. It serves we well, and you may be able to find one at Office Max.

Don't know about the CD, I am working with a 40x and 36x. I know the 36x in the Pacbell was a nice relacement for the stock 2x.

If HP, doesn't provide Win2k drivers on its website, I don't know what to tell you, other than see if a generic driver from Win2k will work.

[ 07-26-2001: Message edited by: GREG MILLER ]

[Guest $iLk]

Thank you very much for the link, it is very useful -

As far as the CAM's go, I have more questions - as far as realtime video chat, what would be the best way to go with a webcam (cost vs benefit)?

And what would be the best Digital Camera I could get>?

And what would be better as far as video creation? a web cam or a regular camera with a direct plugin to computer. (What hardware would be required to record regular video over to digital?)

[Soback]

What about that digital camera that doubles as a video camera and a webcam. I saw it over at good guys or circuit city, one of those stores, it's expensive as hell, but oh man is it cool.

[Guest Vaipa]

For the OS I would reccomend Windows ME , as it's very stable (or at least in some cases).

As for the cd, 50x is overkill imho, it takes longer to get to full speed, which is bad for reading small bits of data. One thing that may help you squeeze some more speed out of the CD , in case you have an Ultra ATA 100 HDD is to make sure they (hdd and cd) don't share the same power cord or controller.

The GF3 is not worth it right now, unless you're a programmer and want to do GF3 specific stuff. For games nowadays, a GTS , Ultra or even a MX is enough.

For scanner I reccomend the some Genius models I've used for printed press, the HR6(it has backlight for scanning photo negatives) or Colorpage Vivid Pro , the regular model This last one should be enough for family pictures, or even a small publication. And it's very cheap too.

hope it helps ..

[Kush]

Ah this one's easy.

#1

Don't bother with Win ME. It may be a great OS, but XP is just around the corner. I highly doubt the lawsuits will be a challenge for M$ lawyers. Go with Win ME if you don't care about playing any legacy DOS games. XP should handle them fine if you do want to play them.

#2

Maybe it's overkill, but if it was cheap, who cares. If I were you, I would have invested in a solid CD-R by Plextor. I just recently bought a cheap burner and if I don't run it at 4x it just makes coasters. If you don't need a burner, you did just fine. Don't sweat it.

#3

If you have the money, buy a Geforce 3. There is no other choice.

#4

You may be SOL. Check their Web site, they may have an update. If you've done this already, then you'll just have to wait until you change your OS to ME or XP.

#5

Depends on what you want to do. Want to make movies, get a digital video camera and a firewire port. Want to edit high res digital images get a digital camera. Want to be able to wave to the lovely lady in Luxembourg who is scantily clad and taking your money, get a web cam.

And there are tons of great scanners on the market. Why you want a paralel port scanner is beyond me. I'd go USB if I were you. Good, Fast and Paralel Port are not words that go together often.

[Guest Vaipa]

Btw, you can play almost any dos game under ME. You can activate DOS mode too. So far BC3k 1.0 was the only one that DIDN'T work under ME for me.

[Guest $iLk]

Thanks for the replies guys, you have been very helpful.

Here are some things I found and some final questions hopefully.

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The HP Printer

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I checked yesterday and on the outside of my box for the printer it specifically says windows 2000 compatible. The driver disk doesn't see it that way though so I will check and see if I can get upgraded drivers through Hewlett Packards website.

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I'm working on this too...

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I bought like $150.00 worth of computer books yesterday to get up to speed, I am still living in the old PC times of say 4 months ago so I have fallen out of touch

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The Geforce 3 info I uncovered from Maximum PC

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Okay I did some reading and from what I have seen and heard, the Geforce 3 takes the load off your cpu and does all 3d handling and manipulation by itself. Normally for gaming this wouldn't matter if you have a fast processor and a decent 3d card, but I hope to get into game development eventually as a hobby, and the Geforce 3 will set that standard I believe.

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The OPERATING SYSTEM

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I have a friend who bought a copy of Windows ME but switched over to Win2k so I will buy his copy from him for 50 bucks or so.

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Final Comments and questions

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Full spec list:

• DFI motherboard for intel PIII
  
  
• Pentium III 1 ghz Processor
  
  
• 256MB RAM
  
  
• Voodoo 5 5500PCI 3d card
  
  
• 10/100 Ethernet PCI NIC Card
  
  
• 50X CDROM with CDRW read support
  
  
• 10X Burn HP CDRW drive
  
  
• 19" Monitor
  
  
• 40 GB Hard Drive (divided into 2 partitions.
  
  
• Windows 98
  
  
• Windows 2000 Pro
  
  

The reason for listing is to ask a few more questions.

What needs upgrading?

With what?

What else do I need? (It goes without saying that I have a keyboard, mouse, and joystick)

But perhaps to phrase that question I need to say what I want to be doing with it.

I want to be able to have digital video that isn't laggy or jumpy or skippy.

I want conversion tools that allow me to import VHS recorded video and I want the hardware to do it.

I want to be able to import photo quality images to digital images. I want a good (not cheap but not too expensive)scanner that can do this.

I want to be able to import sound from a regular microphone and want the hardware to do it. (or do I have it with my sound card?)

As for what I use it for:

[*]Programming ; HTML,JAVA,C++,VISUAL BASIC,etc.

[*]Digital Media editing;sound,video

[*]Gaming

[*]Photo Editing

[*]3D Editing

What hardware and software would be best for each of these?

Thanks guys for all your help so far, just bear with my queries for a little while longer.

[Kush]

Silk

Looks to me like everything's a ok.

Vaipa

BC3k ver 1 won't work because it's a DOS game. ver 2.09 will work because it has windows support.

Microsoft made it clear with the release of ME that they are leaving DOS behind. I don't have ME, but I know enough people who do and have had many issues with it. But if you like it, bully for you. Personally win 98 is stable enough for me to use until XP comes around. But that's just me.