March, 2001      Diablo Blue      Page 9

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Ruth Mildwurm visited the meeting to show us her clever 'participle-book' school project, and share the delicious double-layer chocolate fudge cake with whipped cream frosting dessert.
Craig said he would have the pre-meeting game again at the March DVPC meeting on the 1st, with a new topic.

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from them. Do not be afraid to buy a system that does not include a monitor so that you get a good monitor separately.
If you bought a good monitor last time and want to use it on your new computer, that is okay too, unless it is wearing out. Compare the quality of your old monitor with the latest models and be sure your monitor is still worth using.

The tough part about recommending a system is that no two companies offer the same options. In addition, the recommendation system would be different, based upon the intended application. This recommendation is for typical home use (word processing, spreadsheets, Quicken, e-mail, and Web browsing). It will work fine for most games but it will not be the fastest on the block. It will work fine for Webcams but it is not necessarily a good video editing system. It could serve as a workstation but would not make a good server.

500 MHz to 1 GHz processor (Intel or AMD)
10 GB Ultra DMA hard drive
64 MB SDRAM memory
CD-RW drive, 1 floppy drive
10/100 Base-T network card
1 USB port, 1 serial port, 1 printer port
V.90 K56/flex modem
AGP graphics card
17" Monitor
Keyboard, Mouse
Sound card and speakers

The price of such a system will vary based upon the processor selected. I calculate that the base price for the system above without the processor and motherboard would be $900. To that we need to add in the cost of the processor and the appropriate motherboard. Based upon pricing at the beginning of September 2000, here are the prices you should expect to find for any given processor:

• The sub-$1000 systems will probably be based upon the AMD K6-2 or a low-end Intel Celeron and run close to 500 MHz. By Christmas, expect that same amount to get you a 600-700 AMD Duron or Intel Celeron system instead.
  
• A system with a speed range of 600 MHz to 700 MHz of processor should cost under $1100. The processors could be AMD Duron, AMD Athlon, Intel Celeron, or Intel Pentium III.
  
• A system with a speed range of 700 MHz to 800 MHz of processor should cost under $1200. The processors could be AMD Duron, AMD Athlon, Intel Celeron, or Intel Pentium III. This is the best buy area. You get more power for your dollar in this range of system.
  

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