Re: gift of new computer - should I switch or maintain 2 units

From: Jim Macklin (p51mustang[threeX12)
Date: 10/18/04 

Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2004 15:46:03 -0500

Both computers have USB 1.1, but you can add a USB 2.0 combo
card and add Firewire and USB 2.0 to both using only one PCI
slot. 

-- 
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
"R. C. White" <rc@corridor.net> wrote in message 
news:eN6e31UtEHA.2808@TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
| Hi, Mary.
|
| Lucky you!  That sounds like a very nice new computer! 
;<)
|
| A couple of key comparisons between old and new should 
tell us most of what
| we need to know:
| Old:  Intel Pentium 3 - 930 GHz --  I'm sure you mean 930 
MHz
| New:  Intel Pentium 4 - 2.4 GHz SSE2
|
| The Pentium 4 is much more capable than the Pentium 3, and 
even if that were
| not true, 2.4 GHz is nearly 3 times as fast as 930 MHz, 
since 1 GHz is a
| Billion Hertz, or 1,000 times the speed of 1 MHz, which is 
a Million Hertz,
| so the comparison should be pretty clear.
|
| DVDs will hold 4.7 GB, typically, which is about 7 or 8 
times as much as a
| CD, which typically holds about 700 MB.  Again, a G is 
about 1,000 M, so the
| comparison is clear.  With the higher speed, plus the DVD 
drive's ability to
| also easily read and write CDs, you gain a lot and lose 
nothing with the DVD
| drive.
|
| USB 2.0 is only about 3 years old, so your old computer is 
probably capable
| of only USB 1.1 unless you've added a card to it.  As you 
probably know, 2.0
| is about 40 times as fast as 1.1, so your new one is 
definitely better.
|
| Since, as you said, "video editing is processor and hard 
drive intensive",
| your old computer probably would take hours to do a job 
that your new one
| can do in minutes.  You would gain much more than "a 
little processing
| speed".  You need a good printer, too.  Parallel port is 
plenty fast, but
| you may like other improvements built into newer printers.
|
| I'm just one guy with one computer.  I've never had a 
laptop or a network,
| so I won't even attempt to deal with those questions.
|
| RC
| -- 
| R. C. White, CPA
| San Marcos, TX
| rc@corridor.net
| Microsoft Windows MVP
|
| "Mary Fowler Leek" <mleek@arkwest.com> wrote in message
| news:OkPfFAUtEHA.904@TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
| I have been given a:
|
| Dell Dimension 4600 w/ Windows XP home, Intel Pentium 4 - 
2.4 GHz SSE2, 512
| mb ram, NVIDIA GeForce4 MX 440 (64 mb ram) w/ AGP8X, NEC 
DVD-RW dvd drive,
| DVD/CD drive, floppy drive, built in network and SoundMax 
Integrated Digital
| Audio card.
|
| I currently use a:
|
| Dell Dimension 4100 w/ Windows XP home, Intel Pentium 3 - 
930 GHz, 512 mb
| ram, NVIDIA GeForce2, CD-RW drive, DVD/CD Rom drive, 
floppy, network card,
| iEEE 1395 firewird card and Creative SB Live! audio card. 
This computer is
| networked with an IBM laptop here at home, where we share 
the DSL internet
| connection.
|
| I have an old monitor attached to the gift computer but 
this gift computer
| is not networked with our home network. One day, I'd like 
to work with
| archiving our old video tapes and move the 8mm and Hi8 
movies onto digital
| media. Would your advice be to move to the new computer 
now or just keep it
| in reserve to use with future digital video work? I've no 
idea how soon I
| can do the video work, probably months down the road. I 
know video editing
| is processor and hard drive intensive so maybe a dedicated 
computer would be
| best to use. I would have to either switch the firewire 
card or purchase and
| install another card in the gift computer if I keep two 
computers.
|
| Is one computer superior over the other? I'm not sure what 
I'd gain by
| moving, other than a little processing speed. I'm not 
certain if my old
| computer uses USB 1 or 2. If USB 1, I guess that would be 
an advantage to
| moving. It's been so long since I purchased the old 
computer, I've forgotten
| what USB speed it recognizes. This is what it says in the 
device manager
| list: Intel(R) 8280 1BA/BAM USB Universal Host Controller.
|
| I do have a color laser that uses a parallel port. It is 
slow. Would
| purchasing a USB 2 connector switch to use with the 
printer help speed up
| the printing process? If so, that would be an advantage of 
changing
| computers.
|
| Would you guys who are technically knowledgable please 
comment as to the
| benefits of moving?
|
| Is there a problem with running two different Windows XP 
home installations?
| The person who gave me the computer uses Windows 2000 on 
his computer.
|
|
| My sincere thanks for your help.
|
| Mary
| mary at arkwest.com
|

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