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

From: peter (peter_at_nomalarky.net)
Date: 10/18/04 

Date: Mon, 18 Oct 2004 14:55:31 -0600

I have a small network at home and since RC covered the which is better part I
thought I would throw my 2cents worth in for networking.
I have comp.#1 with 2 network cards and #2 with 1 network card.All hooked into
Firewalled Router which is hooked up to a DSL modem.I can connect to the
internet directly with #2 without having to turn on #1 and I can connect from #1
to #2 directly and vice versa.
I would move the IEEE 1395 Firewire Card to the new system for future video
work. Then I would delegate the new unit as my main system and attach it to the
network.This way all of the stuff you have on the old system is accessible from
the new system.
Here is a website on
networking.........http://www.homenethelp.com/web/howto/net.asp
This way you get to use the new now and get familiar with all of its parts while
at the same time get to keep all of your work on the old and still be able to
access it.If you have the same programs you can access from the new computer.You
might find the new speed to your liking.
You dont even have to change OS to XP....2000 is a pretty good OS...but if you
aim to you do need to purchase another copy of XP..the license basically says
one copy per computer.
peter
"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

Relevant Pages

  • Re: gift of new computer - should I switch or maintain 2 units
    ... 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. ... Since, as you said, "video editing is processor and hard drive intensive", ... DVD/CD drive, floppy drive, built in network and SoundMax Integrated Digital ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware)
  • Re: gift of new computer - should I switch or maintain 2 units
    ... 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 ... I've never had a laptop or a network, | so I won't even attempt to deal with those questions. ... I'd like to work with | archiving our old video tapes and move the 8mm and Hi8 movies onto digital | media. ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware)
  • Re: Do I HAVE to have a NIC card?
    ... Its not a network interface card card so lets try and not call them nic ... You will need a special USB networking cable for the 2nd PC, ... an Ethernet connection and router to network PC's and have internet ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics)
  • Re: Do I HAVE to have a NIC card?
    ... > Its not a network interface card card so lets try and not call them nic ... > you are connecting with USB cables and a Hub. ... > using an Ethernet connection and router to network PC's and have internet ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.basics)
  • Re: gift of new computer - should I switch or maintain 2 units
    ... Why would you say the 4600 has USB 1.1? ... > card and add Firewire and USB 2.0 to both using only one PCI ... > | Since, as you said, "video editing is processor and hard ... > | DVD/CD drive, floppy drive, built in network and SoundMax ...
    (microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware)
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