Recommendations for Buying a Multimedia PC
Recommendations for Reading about Multimedia PCs
Technical Articles concerning Windows 95 & Multimedia
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Recommendations for Buying a Multimedia PC
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Recommendations for Reading about Multimedia PCs
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Technical Articles concerning Windows 95 & Multimedia
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Recommendations for a state-of-the-art (but affordable) Multimedia Personal Computer System: |
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| Industry standard system, components, interfaces and cables (generic, compatible, and easily & affordably upgradable) (not proprietary system and components: Avoid IBM, Compaq, HP) |
| AGP/PCI motherboard, 5 or 6 PCI slots, 1 AGP slot, ATX form factor. |
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Intel Pentium 4: - motherboard with DDR memory AMD Athlon: - motherboard with DDR memory AMD Duron: - motherboard with DDR memory Intel Celeron: |
| Award or AMI PNP Flash ROM BIOS with supporting web site |
| 256MB or 512MB RAM Memory DDR is best; avoid RAMBUS, too expensive & problematic |
| Windows 98 SE or Windows 2000 or Windows XP |
| AGP graphics & video (motion picture) 2-D/3-D accelerator with 32MB or 64MB, preferably DDR memory (preferably with nVidia GeForce2 MX with TwinView output, or GeForce3 or GeForce4) |
| Standard brand monitor capable of non-interlaced 1024x768 at 85 Hz., RGB True Color and .27 dot pitch or less (17" or preferably 19"). Monitor Information: Repair, Troubleshooting & FAQ website. |
| 8X or more CD-RW or 2X or more DVD-RW drive |
| 10X or more DVD, with PowerDVD Software. |
| 40GB or more Ultra IDE or Ultra Wide SCSI hard disk drive - 5400 or 7200 RPMs or more rotational speed - 11ms access or less - 66/100MBps or 40/80/160MBps max. data transfer rate - See StorageReview.com for performance comparisons. |
| 16-bit sound card, wavetable synthesis, GM, GS, & SB compatibility - GM: General MIDI (128 pre-defined sounds, 16 channels, drum kit) - GS: General Standard of the Roland Sound Canvas specification - SB: Sound Blaster specification by Creative Labs (preferably PCI with Aureal A3D Vortex 2 chip set) |
| Medium to large tower case, preferably ATX form factor and ATX 300 watt or more power supply |
| Powerful, high quality PC stereo or quad amplified speaker system (perferably with subwoofer and 4 satelites (left, right, front, rear)) |
| 4 USB 2.0 ports and preferably 1 or more IEEE 1394 port |
| High quality PC microphone in "hands free" stand or headset |
| Hayes compatible, standard brand, 56K V.90 data/fax modem, preferably with flash ROM. V.90 56K International Standard information. |
| DSL or Cable modem with Broadband subscription |
| 10/100 Mbps Ethernet Network adapter |
| Recommendations for Reading about Multimedia Personal Computers: | ||||
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| PC MAGAZINE (Ziff-Davis) | Vol | Num | Page | Date |
| Future of SCSI | 20 | # 14 | p83 | 08/01/01 |
| Technology Service & Reliability | 20 | # 14 | p114 | 08/01/01 |
| Disc Inferno: CD/DVD | 20 | # 13 | p176 | 07/01/01 |
| Testing Windows XP | 20 | # 9 | p58 | 05/08/01 |
| WinXP: Special Report | 20 | # 9 | p120 | 05/08/01 |
| High-Speed USB 2.0 | 20 | # 7 | p69 | 04/03/01 |
| Photography: Digital Darkroom | 20 | # 7 | p151 | 04/03/01 |
| Digital Video Editing Workstation | 20 | # 7 | p155 | 04/03/01 |
| Personal Audio Studio | 20 | # 7 | p163 | 04/03/01 |
| DirectX 8 Unleashed | 20 | # 1 | p30 | 01/02/01 |
| Evolving PC Platform | 19 | # 17 | p112 | 10/03/00 |
| Fast PCs: For Who? Why? | 19 | # 11 | p146 | 06/06/00 |
| Full Featured BIOS | 19 | # 4 | p95 | 02/22/00 |
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Other Multimedia Personal Computer Resources: |
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Tom's Hardware Guide Excellent, advanced, "power user", regularly updated, web page on state-of-the-art PC hardware |
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AnandTech.com Thorough reviews, analysis and benchmark tests of the latest hardware. |
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Computer Shopper magazine (Ziff-Davis) Finds Hardware and Software Products. Contains some articles, reviews and downloads. |
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ExtremeTech.com magazine (Ziff-Davis) Thorough reviews, analysis and benchmark tests of the latest hardware. |
