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BuildOrBuy News Today: Dateline: Wed., 04-11-2001

• october01_v5.xls or ...printer friendly. (Revised 10-25-01)

• Comparative PC Build Specifications - March, 1997 To April, 2001 -

  • For May 2001 Build Session
• RECOMMENDED MINIMUM CONFIGURATION FOR NEW Bang For The Buck PC!
  • How Fast Does Your PC's Heart Beat? Ready For Gigahertz Speeds?

 

Components	March 1997	April 2001
Processor (CPU) Speed	Intel Pentium or AMD 133 MHz	AMD Athlon C chip (266MHz FSB)  1 GHz (GigaHertZ)
Motherboard / Chipset - PCI BUS	Intel 430TX	MB Brand: Giga-Byte: GA-7DX... AMD-761 north bridge + VIA 686B south bridge
RAM Capacity + Type	16 MB (72 pin SIMMS - EDO)	128 MB (SDRAM, PC133 or DDR)
Graphics/video accelerator card	2 MB Video RAM	16 / 32 Meg + options...
Hard Drive - Capacity + Brand	1.6 GB - WDC (ATA/16)	40 Gig Maxtor (ATA/100)
Floppy Disk Drive + Brand	1.44 MB (3-1/2") Teac	1.44 MB (3-1/2") Teac
Monitor: Size, Resolution + Brand	15" or 17" (1024x768) ADI or Viewsonic	17" or 19" (1280x1024) Flat Screen CRT
Pointing Device	Mouse, Trackball or Tablet	Mouse, Trackball or Tablet
Keyboard	101 or 104 Keys	104 Keys or Internet / Multimedia
Additions / Options
2nd Floppy Disk Drive	1.2 MB (5-1/4")	N/A
CD-ROM	.	40X
Sound Card and Speakers	Sound Blaster AWE 64 (ISA)	Consumer: SB Live (PCI)
Modem (Speed) - For Internet & BBS	USR (33,600 speed)	Backup Dialup
NIC (Network Interface Card)	100BaseT (Internet/LAN/DSL/Cable)	100BaseT

Technology Watch Marches On... 

Serial ATA, Broadband - Fiber or Copper? Networking - 100BaseT, Gigabit to Terabit! CAT5 Copper cabling is still viable. Denser RAM? Faster CPUs.

• Microlithography 2001 Advance Technical Program
  

• BusinessWeek's Telecom Summit 2001: Broadband Connections - April 25 - 27, 2001, Dallas, TX. Fee: $2450
  
• Federal Trade Commission - Consumer Protection - Taking the "Bait" Out of Rebates
  
• Shop TEAC 2: Product List

• Williams Energy Discounts T1 Prices - $700 a Month! - Williams Communications.com
  

• How well Connected Is Your ISP? Compaq Houston NAP 
  • NAP (Network Access Point) A junction point where major Internet service providers interconnect with each other. MAE (Metropolitan Area Exchange) Originally known as Metropolitan Area Ethernets, MAEs are major network access points (NAPs) on the Internet. Definitions From ComputerLanguage.com CD-ROM.
• Broadband Connection Down? Get a Backup DialUp... BamNet - Backup ISP - Metered Internet

Fiber Or Copper Future? 

• KMI Fiberoptics Conference - KMI Corporation - World Leader in Fiberoptics Market Research
  

• U.S. Army - Bandwidth: A Major Data Communications System Overhaul
  
• Communications Cabling on the World Wide Web
  
• ITS Projects Fiber Optics Basics
  
• Story: The Fiber-Optics Challenge (Will It Make Cable and DSL Obsolete?)
  
• Robots lay fiber-optics in city sewers
  
• The Birth Of Fiber Optics
  
• Fiber Optics and Category 5
  
• On Topic - Fiber beats copper
  
• OSA OpticsNet: Optical Society of America
  
• Lightwave Magazine - Subscription Form: Lightwave, Broadband, OptoElectronics, Fiber Optics & DWDM

For The Digitally Distraught, What About The Electrically Challenged?
Ever Try To Run A PC Without Electricity?

• Power Choices in Texas - Texas Electric Choice: PowerToChoose.org

  • Choosing A Retail Electric Provider (REP)

• Pacific Gas and Electric Company Files for Chapter 11 Reorganization 

  • California Pacific Gas and Electric Co.
    
  • News Release: April 6, 2001
    
  • Yahoo - ANALYSTS VIEW-Pacific G&E bankruptcy filing - Link Gone!
    
  • California Energy Crisis

Philanthropic Efforts 
Donate Your Unused Computer Resources! Mentoring...

• Virtual Supercomputer! The Intel(R) Philanthropic Peer-to-Peer Program
  

• Intel-United Devices Cancer Research Project
  
• VolunteerYourPC

• BBB Philanthropic Advisory Service
  

• The Philanthropic Initiative
  
• THE NATIONAL PHILANTHROPIC TRUST
  
• National Association of Philanthropic Planners

• April 2001 - Mentoring Awareness Month! www.NBCI.com/ tmyk  - The More You Know - Link Gone!
  

• The National Mentoring Partnership: National Mentoring Month - January 2002

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