The Hand-Me-Down PC
DOS and Windows 3.1
|
|
The Hand-Me-Down PCDOS and Windows 3.1 |
|
|
This book has been replaced in most usages by my latest book:
PC Repair and Troubleshooting. Click here to get there:-) Copyright 2005 , 1996 by Morris Rosenthal Few of us acquire a PC as a status symbol, or try to find one in a color that goes well with our eyes. How much PC you need is entirely dependent on what you want to do with it. Although extensive software reviews are beyond the scope of this book, it is largely the software that sets the minimum hardware requirements. Therefore, we mention some popular software packages by name and discuss the "box" requirements, the minimum suggested hardware configuration. With the exception of some games, compatibility with the Microsoft Windows operating environment is a must for using store bought software. This excludes PCs older than 286s from our discussion, unless they are already loaded with the software you will use. That doesn't imply that an older PC in working condition should be refused or thrown out, but upgrading a 286 PC to run with Windows essentially involves replacing everything except the case and power supply. PC AT clones (286s) can run Windows in a limited fashion, but only with older, less demanding programs. For any of the tasks we consider, a new Pentium costing $1000 would be more than sufficient. In fact, some companies have broken the cycle of buying new computer every two or three years because the older Pentiums or 486s they have are still performing adequately. How much performance you require is pretty much dependent on how patient you are and how much time you spend using the computer each day. For example, when repositioning a picture in a desktop publishing program, a new Pentium may redraw the screen in a half second, while a hand-me-down 486 might take 15 seconds. If you don't think 15 seconds is that bad, try repositioning the picture 20 times to get just the right look. Then imagine formatting 50 pages a day, or paying an employee to sit around for over an hour each day in accumulated 15 second increments. Operating Systems and EnvironmentsWhenever you turn on your PC, it loads an operating system, a large software program that controls how any subsequent programs you run get along with the hardware. The operating system market for PCs is dominated by Microsoft, who got their foot in the door by cobbling together the original operating system for the IBM PC. The operating system came to be known by the acronym DOS (Disk Operating System), pronounced like "loss" with a "d." There is actually another layer of software that works even more closely with the hardware than the operating system, called the BIOS (Basic Input Output System), and this software is permanently stored on the motherboard. We'll talk more about the BIOS in the upgrading and troubleshooting sections of this book. The DOS operating system provides a number of necessary structures to allow general purpose use of the PC. The organization of files (containers of text and data) on the drives is defined and controlled by DOS. When a file is printed, it's DOS that sends the data to the printer port, and reports back if the printer can't successfully complete the job. One of the most important jobs DOS does is to organize the memory (RAM) into blocks dedicated to housekeeping functions or program use. The biggest complaints users and developers have about DOS is the rigidity with which it manages memory. Most of the problem stems from history. It didn't occur to programmers of the original DOS operating system that PCs would ever have more than 1MB of RAM, because when DOS was being developed, RAM cost almost a hundred times as much as it does today. By the same token, nobody thought the programs would ever get as big as they have. The 512KB (a half of a megabyte) that shipped with the IBM-AT seemed more than enough for any software challenge. Finally, the whole philosophy of the PC, which does stand for Personal Computer after all, was that only one person would use it at a time. This freed the creators of DOS from worrying about multi-tasking, the ability of a computer to shuffle memory and jump from task to task, something that multi-user mainframes computers are required to do. As the years went by and PCs became cheaper and more powerful, programmers wanted to take advantage of memory sizes over 1MB, and introduce multi-tasking features to make their software faster and more flexible. Along came a bunch of band-aids, like the Expanded Memory Specification (EMS), which set aside a small block of regular DOS memory to use as a revolving door for accessing RAM on a special adapter. Other fixes involved software products that took over certain memory management functions from DOS and squeezed more room out of standard block set aside for programs. Competitors of DOS that boasted better memory management and multitasking included IBM's OS/2 and different flavors of the UNIX operating system, which was sold by a number of companies. Both OS/2 and UNIX continue to have some success in niche markets today, particularly in areas where multitasking is the primary requirement. Microsoft Windows did not eliminate all of the DOS limitations, because it is an operating environment which runs on top of DOS. Microsoft Windows NT, which has been winning market share from OS/2 and UNIX, is an operating system in its own right, and the similarities between NT and the other Windows operating systems are superficial. Windows 3.1 and Windows 95Another complaint users had about DOS was that it wasn't easy to learn. The only way to communicate with the operating system was to enter commands on the keyboard, like "PRINT myfile.txt" or "DIR C:," meaning "Show me a DIRectory of the files on the C: drive." Another approach to working with the operating system called the Graphical User Interface (GUI), pronounced "gooey," had been developed at Xerox and popularized by Apple with their Macintosh computers. Microsoft soon had a competing product out for the PC, the Windows operating environment, but it wasn't until version 3.0 or 3.1 that it became attractive enough to convince software developers to begin developing exclusively for Windows. In 1995, Windows '95 was introduced, which supports higher performance software at the cost of requiring higher performance hardware. Most hand-me-down PCs will arrive with Windows 3.1 already installed, and we use this as a baseline for our Windows discussion. Windows offers several advantages to both software developers and users. The biggest advantage for developers is they don't need to write a new software interface for every new piece of hardware that comes down the pike. For example, a DOS word processor like WordPerfect or Word had to include a special piece of software known as a "printer driver" for every printer that the word processor would work with. This not only required a lot of work for the developer, even if subsidized by the printer manufacturer, but meant the user would have to go through the printer selection step with each new word processor, spreadsheet, or other piece of application software installed. Windows functions as a sort of middle-man, so that the user only needs to install a printer driver once, the Windows driver, and the applications developers write printer drivers not for specific printers, but for the Windows interface. The same holds true for all the other hardware components that would otherwise need special software to communicate with each different program, like scanners, video adapters and sound cards. Another advantage to the user, which is often taken for granted, is the fact that programs written for Windows all look pretty much alike. Anyone who has used one Windows application can go into a totally new one and already know how and where to save a file, get help, change the fonts, or print. While mice were certainly supported by most later DOS applications, Windows programs are designed from the ground up to take advantage of such pointing devices. The mouse can be used in Windows to do all of the communicating with the operating environment. The only typing the user can't avoid is typing text or entering data. It is possible to work in Windows without a pointing device, using the "Alt." "Ctrl" and "Tab" keys in conjunction with the other keys to navigate and execute menu commands, but it's not a lot of fun. One feature in Windows, which is often ignored by users, is that it does support a primitive form of multitasking. Some users learn that they can "Minimize" a screen window by clicking on the "down" arrow in the upper right hand corner, which leaves the application in sort of limbo rather than closing it all together. Another application can then be started by clicking on the appropriate icon (pictorial representation). The easier way to move from program to program is to hold down the "Ctrl" key and press "Esc." This brings up the "Windows Task List," and allows users to change from one task to the next with a click of the mouse. Using one of Window's other slick features, the "Copy," "Cut," and "Paste" commands included in the "Edit" menu of every Windows program, users can then move text, pictures and data from one application to another with a few clicks of the mouse. Windows 95 has captured nearly 100% of the new computer market since coming out a little over 2 years ago. '95 does an admirable job of supporting older Windows 3.X and DOS applications, it's very rare to come accross something that you can't get to work. Windows 95 can be purchased as an upgrade to the Windows 3.X on your Hand-Me-Down PC, but installation can turn into a real headache if some of your "legacy" harware isn't supported. If you're currently working on a 386 or a 486 with Windows 3.X installed, I wouldn'd recommend upgrading to Windows 95 unless you absolutely need to run a newer software application that is only supported by '95. Even then check the software requrements carefully to make sure that your CPU, memory, and hard drive capacity are all up to the task. Windows 95 is covered more extensively in the printed book and the Midnight Question. PC Application SoftwareBefore we look at the hardware/software configurations for different tasks, we need to discuss some of the software components that will be common to many users. Accountants, students, office workers and entrepreneurs are all likely to use spreadsheets, and almost everybody needs a word processor. Databases are used in every type of business operation, and most people will want to get on the Internet at least for e-mail. Computer networks are also introduced here, even though they are more closely related to operating systems than applications software. Once we've summarized the common application software, we'll move on to discussing how the PC, software, and peripherals combine to make a powerful, task specific tool. Our discussion of applications software focuses on brand name shrink-wrap packages. This software is usually an evolved product, that has been developing new features and improving usability for years. Brand name software is extensively tested for bugs, which are errors in the program's construction. These bugs can make usage difficult, or even cause data loss. Perhaps the most important point is that big software companies offer many kinds of technical support, often free, to licensed users of their software. If the database you've been using for three years suddenly refuses to accept any new customers, or your accounting package stops printing invoices during months with even numbers of days, you can count on support. Most software companies release upgrades to their applications at least once a year, and licensed users can buy them at a steep discount. The main alternative to brand name software is shareware. Shareware consists of software applications written by individuals or small companies that are distributed free, or for a nominal fee. Shareware is obtainable on floppy disk at computer fairs and from some stores, or can be downloaded from numerous archiving sites on the Internet. Users are invited to register their copy by sending a reasonable fee, normally between $20 to $50, to the creators of the software, in exchange for instruction manuals, enhanced versions, or other goodies. Support is sometimes included, but this doesn't compare to the kind of support a big company can provide. I don't suggest shareware to anybody who can scrape together the $100 to $200 that most brand name software applications cost, and I especially don't recommend it for the work environment. The two exceptions I make are for software addicts, people who need to try out as many programs as possible, and people looking for very specific items, like a Windows application for running the office football pool. A brief note about computer viruses. Computer viruses are self-replicating, malicious little programs that are put into circulation by destructive individuals. Viruses are spread by contact, through sharing infected floppy disks, by downloading compromised software from the internet, through running infected programs on a network, or any other procedure that allows the virus to enter your PCs memory. You can protect your PC from viruses by purchasing virus shield software. Infected PCs can be cured after the fact by virus doctor software, although damaged files may be lost permanently. The important thing to remember here is that viruses affect software only, your investment in hardware is not threatened. In the worst case scenario, virus damage can be repaired by wiping the hard drive clean and reinstalling all of your software from the original disks. The PC as a SpreadsheetSpreadsheets were the first application that made people stand up and take notice of PCs, and they originally defined the term "killer app" in industry parlance. The IBM PC was primarily a business tool when first introduced, and Lotus 123 was the spreadsheet product that convinced managers to spend several thousand dollars on these otherwise uninspiring paperweights. Spreadsheets are chiefly used for doing financial analysis due to their ability to easily produce "What If..." scenarios that can involve multiple interdependent calculations. A family might use a spreadsheet to manage a monthly budget while a real estate tycoon could use a spreadsheet to determine whether or not to invest in a new complex. The spreadsheet used by the family might involve nothing more complicated than addition and subtraction of income and expenses while the tycoon's calculations would depend on factors like interest rates, taxes, utilities, rental rates and occupancy projections, construction costs and of course, profit. The power of the spreadsheet becomes apparent when the tycoon says to himself "What happens to my investment if rents drop from $18/sf to $17.50/sf ?" A couple of keystrokes to change the rent figure, and his formula for construction variables reworks the other numbers to tell him what interest rate from the bank and cost of construction he'll need. Or, a couple keystrokes to change the cost of construction with everything but the interest rate held fixed, and he learns that the scenario requires a 8.82% bank loan for the profit he desires. We considered the spreadsheet task first for one reason. The spreadsheet obviously worked well enough on the IBM PC for it to have been declared the "killer app." Why not use a 15 year old PC to run a 15 year old copy of Lotus 123 today? The answer is, you can! Even though the original PC had a monochrome monitor, no hard drive, and predated the first good version of Windows by about 10 years, it made some real estate tycoons very happy. Now, go out to the local store and look for a copy of Lotus 123 or Microsoft Excel, the two most popular spreadsheets in use today. On the spine of the box are listed the minimum requirements: 4MB of RAM, 386 or higher, requires Windows 3.1 or Windows 95. You can't buy a modern spreadsheet that will run on the IBM PC. Are the software makers in collusion with the computer manufacturers to make us buy a new computer every year? Not necessarily. Software makers traditionally try to differentiate themselves from their competitors by offering more options. One of the first enhancements to the basic spreadsheet was a feature that would automatically produce color graphs from the numbers. This isn't such a big deal, but it definitely requires a color monitor to be effective. Another feature was support for more numbers and calculations of the sort that would bring an old PC to its knees. The programs got bigger as they included on-line help (on screen help on demand), conversion of data from competing products, 3-D (three dimensional) graphing and so on. Pretty soon, the programs became to big to be run from floppy disk and require a hard drive. Next, they run too slow for anything less than a 286 with a math co-processor. Extra memory goes a long way to compensate for poor programming rushed out under competitive pressure. Finally, the software producer gets tired of paying for new code to guarantee compatibility with every new printer and video adapter that comes along, and the product is moved from DOS to Windows. In two or three years it may be impossible to find a spreadsheet that works with Windows 3.1. The PC as a Word ProcessorEquipped with a letter quality printer and a software package for word processing, a PC is a lot more than a replacement for a typewriter. Basic features supported by word processors include font control, style sheets (for quickly formatting similar documents), spell checkers, footnotes, page numbers and anything else you can imagine that's useful for creating documents from correspondence to books. More advanced features include support for tables, mail merge (for sending the same letter to a whole list of addressees) and grammar checkers. Features that were once the exclusive domain of desktop publishing programs are now common in word processors: frames (for precise positioning of pictures), tables, graphics; and tagging words to create a dynamic index that always gets the page number right. Box requirements for word processing software began to explode a few years ago. Even WordPerfect for DOS began to demand 6MB of memory to run the spell checker! Microsoft Word 2.0 ran pretty well under Windows 3.1 with just 4MB of memory, but the Windows '95 version obviously needs Windows '95, which requires at least 8MB of memory, a 486, and a big hard drive to do well out of the starting blocks. Word processors always include a "Search" or "Find File" function buried in their "File" menu. The reason becomes apparent to anyone who has used a word processor for a year or two. You simply forget the names of your documents (files) and where you put them. Word processor search functions will search all of your drives for a file name, author name, documents saved in a range of dates, or even a random bit of text you know was in the document, like an addressee name or the odd ingredient in a recipe. There are lots of schemes for intelligently naming and organizing files, in order not to lose them, but most of us won't bother organizing until the cow's left the barn. The PC as a Desktop Publishing SystemDesktop publishing software can produce output for typeset quality printers to create camera-ready galleys for offset printing. With the advent of digital presses, typeset documents can be created directly from software, without an intermediate photographic step. While it is primarily the ability to create printing press ready documents that separates desk top publishing software from word processors, tdesk top publishers can also be used with regular laser printers for producing very professional looking documents. The market is currently dominated by Quark XPress and Adobe Pagemaker, but Ventura Publisher, now owned by Corel, is making a comeback. All of the desktop publishing packages currently run on Windows, but Ventura Publisher, originally a Xerox product, was available for DOS to run on a PC-AT almost 10 years ago. One of the features that separates desktop publishing packages from word processors is their precision. Placement of objects on a page to within one thousandth of an inch is standard, and a greater range of font sizes and gradations are available. Other features include kerning, color matching and snap to grid, which automatically aligns objects precisely along existing lines. New desktop publishing software includes more and more of the features traditionally found in photo processing packages, like acquisition of images directly from scanners, cropping and drawing tools, and color definitions. Another strength of desktop publishing packages, even in their earliest incarnation, is true WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) output to the screen. A larger, high resolution monitor is required if you are going to display full pages and still be able to read the text, but it's comforting to know that what you see on the screen is truly what is going to roll out of the printer. About the only thing you can't do with desktop publishing software is word-processing, at least not as easily as you could with a word processor. The PC as a DatabaseWhen you call up your credit card company to complain about a bill, the first thing they ask for is your name and social security number. The service representatives type these bits of information into their computer, and have instant access to your charges last month, your address and phone numbers, and maybe even the color of your hair! If their computer system has problems, they can't do a thing for you, and aren't shy about saying so. This is an example of a powerful database application, the kind that some sectors of the business world, particularly in service industry, have become utterly reliant upon. Databases on PCs are commonly used to control inventory, produce customer invoicing, simplify purchasing, track sales contacts, and log shipping and receiving transactions. All of these functions are often combined into a networked database/accounting package which can even do payroll and generate up to the minute profit and loss reports. In some ways, PC databases are as powerful as multi-million dollar systems. While PC databases can't support hundreds or thousands of simultaneous users, or fit millions of customer records on a single hard drive, the methodology for entering and retrieving data can be identical. Databases are normally built from information the operator types into special forms. A form consists of a "fill in the blanks" screen, where information like name, address, phone and social security number are entered via the keyboard. A completed form is stored in the database as a "record," and can be manually updated, have other information automatically added to it by software at intervals, like an employees cumulative pay for the year. Database programming used to be an arcane skill that forced would-be designers to adapt to the style of the database, but modern databases running under Windows can be quickly built and modified by anyone with a knack for organization. Retrieving information from databases can be performed through direct query, or through report generation. A direct query uses a unique identifier, like a social security number, to retrieve the record or records associated with that individual. This works very quickly, because only the field storing social security numbers must be searched for a match, and then the whole record is retrieved. Reporting, on the other hand, can search every field of every record to generate new information. The database in a credit card company might be used to find all women between the ages of fifty and fifty six, with an income over $50,000 a year and a monthly credit balance over $3000, to target for a special marketing campaign. This sort of reporting where new facts are brought to light is often referred to as "data mining." The PC as a Game MachineLearning can be a game, but even when it's not, games can be a lot of fun. Game players are usually the people who buy the most advanced PCs, loaded with special features and expensive add ons. Games that play out in real-time, such as a flight simulation or a battle with monsters, often push the operating system completely out of the way to squeeze out every last drop of performance they can from the hardware. As PCs become more and more capable, game designers push the envelope harder and harder, trying to create "virtual realities" with their software. Fast video adapters and big screens are a must for the serious gamer, along with a quality sound system, a fast CD drive and a joystick. While game designers have recognized that support for older hardware allows them to sell into a much bigger market, games remain one of the most demanding PC applications. A good gaming PC is a good multimedia PC, which is the next topic discussed. The PC as a Multimedia PlatformMultimedia remains a catch all phrase that means entirely different things to different people. Salesmen think of multimedia as a tool they use to give snazzy sales pitches, with rock music thumping in the background, and Madison Avenue style camera angles and cuts. Such presentations are normally "canned," that is, they play through from beginning to end like a VHS tape, and often use video footage as their primary "media." A supermarket might contain a multimedia PC inside a touch screen kiosk for locating grocery items. The popular multimedia Microsoft Multimedia Composer series includes an entire symphony from each composer per CD, along with on screen sheet music, commentary, instrumental solos and learning games. CDs from the series, including Beethoven, Mozart, Schubert, Strauss and Stravinsky can also be played straight through in a normal stereo system. A multimedia PC requires the presence of several hardware components that are often absent from hand-me-down PCs. These include: a sound card (16 bit or better required for most applications), speakers, a microphone (if you are creating your own multimedia), an SVGA adapter with a minimum of 512KB RAM and configured to display 64,000 colors or more, and a CD drive (2X or faster). Multimedia PCs built for presentation or games will often contain special video adapters that can display full screen, full motion video from a specially compressed data stream. Adapters following the MPEG (Motion Photographic Experts Group) standard have taken over this field from scores of proprietary competitors. A different approach uses special software extensions to the operating system, such as Intel's Indeo, Cinepak's Quicktime, or the software version of MPEG. The software decompresses specially prepared data into motion video, but the smoothness of the resulting movie is dependent on the overall performance of the PC. The PC as a World Wide Web BrowserOne of the most popular activities for home PC users is "surfing the Web," following links from site to site on the graphics oriented addition to the Internet know as the World Wide Web. The main limitation for almost all home users is the speed of their modem, which enables the connection to the Web. A 14.4K modem is adequate for patient individuals, a 28.8K modem is twice as fast. Either speed is a snail's crawl compared with a networked connection at the workplace, university, or at your local Internet cafe. Whether you can get by with at 14.4K modem, or need to spent the $100 for a 28.8K modem, depends entirely on how you want to use the Web. Users who only plan to do text based research and fact finding will see little benefit from the higher speed. Most people will want to browse, which involves loading pictures that might take from 15 seconds to a minute each to arrive using the 14.4K modem, depending on Internet traffic. Downloading a piece of software or a motion video to your hard drive can take from 20 minutes to an hour. Cutting these times in half makes a lot of sense, particularly if you are paying by the hour for your Internet access. Faster computer hardware will improve performance for the more graphics oriented material, but an old PC -XT will do fine in "text only" mode. Text mode functions include the ability to send and receive e-mail and to participate in chat groups and news groups. The PC as a Network WorkstationOne of the best features of Local Area Networks (LANs) is that they allow low cost workstations access to fast storage and expensive peripherals. My favorite budget-stretching public school customer used Leading Edge XT computers, just one generation removed from the original PC, to give an entire classroom of students access to Word Perfect word processing software on a 386 based network server. Granted, without hard drives in the workstations, the software took a few extra seconds to load, and the monitors were old-fashioned amber monochromes, but output looked great on the networked laser printer. At the most basic level, the only thing a PC needs to become a network workstation is a network adapter and the software driver that lets DOS talk to it (must be DOS 3.3 or higher). Now, onto the real world. Most users, in businesses, schools, anywhere a network is set up, will want to run Windows. Depending on the applications software available, they may have to run Windows. This means saying good-bye to PCs older than 386s. Next, many people will want to run Windows '95. Now we're looking at needing a minimum of a 486 with 8MB memory. In other words, the requirement for the hardware investment in each workstation is not set by the network, but by the applications software. Requirements are set by the highest common denominator, meaning if one application needs 16MB of memory, another requires a Pentium processor and a third needs a 4X CD drive, the workstation must be equipped with all three. The PC as a Network ServerOne of the most common mistakes made in PC purchasing is to reflexively spend megabucks on network servers, and upgrade them as frequently as next generation parts become available. How much muscle is needed in the network server is determined by the NOS (Network Operating System) software, and the model of networking followed. In many schools, offices and factories, the network server really functions as a print server and post office, and nothing more. A print server is a PC with one or more printers attached to it, where the other PCs can send their printing work, known as "print jobs.." When the desired printer is free, the print server sends it the next job, according to the order the requests came in, or some other priority based scheme. The post office function on most networks is a low demand task, holding and routing e-mail or files to users. If the client/server model of computing is used, we have a different story all together. In this case, the server actively processes requests submitted by clients, which may include complex database searches, financial transactions or updates to shared information, as required in an airline reservation system. Since the clients are constantly accessing information from the servers drives, and adding the load of processing requests to the servers normal duties of routing information and handling print jobs, a super fast server becomes a necessity. The two easiest ways to judge your server's performance are by checking the utilization percentage, which should be low, or to use the less scientific method of listening to user's complaints. Not even a $10,000 PC on steroids can handle corporate type traffic, which requires mid-range and mainframe type computers as servers, and utilizes PCs as mere interfacing devices. Custom ComputingNow that we've reviewed some of the basic applications software, we can move on to a consideration of how several software products can be combined with a hand-me-down PC and peripherals to create a complete work environment. One of the biggest changes to have crept into the industry in just the last couple years is the advent of the cheap software "suite." A suite consists of several applications from a single company, usually a word processor, a spreadsheet and a database, along with one or two special offerings like a drawing package or multimedia presentation software. The three players in the suites market are Microsoft, Lotus and Corel (Corel now owns WordPerfect). The bundled cost (cost when included with a new computer) of suites run about half of the retail cost in the case of Microsoft, and much lower with Lotus and Corel. That's why the majority of new systems are sold absolutely loaded with software, sometimes taking up as much as 400MB of space on the hard drive! Low bundling costs also explain how PCs sold as complete systems can sometimes be cheaper than doing it all yourself and buying the software retail. In each case we'll concentrate on the minimum requirements, from the standpoint of both hardware and software. If a better machine is available through either luck or a good credit rating, both performance and user satisfaction will rise. Computing for School ChildrenProbably the number one reason (or excuse) for bringing home a computer is for the student in the house. Parents who were just getting used to constant demands for $150 sneakers, and other examples of high fashion in the school yard, now have kids clamoring for the latest Pentium. The main reason? Games. For the parents who are genuinely concerned that their children don't get left out of the information age, but aren't overly concerned at the speed with which they can play Doom, good news. A 386 PC with 4MB of memory, an 80MB hard drive, an SVGA monitor and a CD drive is still a pretty good platform. You'll probably have to add a CD player to a hand-me-down PC which is this old, and the only salvage value is in the monitor and video adapter, but if you can pick the whole thing up free, or for under $200, it's not a bad deal. The CD drive is necessary for the wonderful reference software available, like an encyclopedia, or the complete works of Shakespeare. In order to print homework and otherwise use the PC as a typewriter, you'll need a printer. A free printer is the best kind, but if you have to buy one, the choice is a little more difficult. A $100 dot matrix will get the kid printing, but a black and white inkjet for under $150, or a color inkjet for $200, will be able to handle all of your family needs for the near future. There are several pieces of "gotta have it" software for any used system, the first two pieces of which are DOS 5.0 (or higher) and the Windows 3.1 (or higher) operating environment. Make sure you get the original diskettes and manuals when you pick the PC up. A five year old copy of Word or WordPerfect comes with most hand-me-downs; the books and diskettes would be a nice bonus. What can your kid do with this system? Well, the first valuable skill they'll learn is how to use Windows. Kids pick this up incredibly fast compared to adults, because they're used to experimenting with things to find out how they work. Besides word processing skills, which they'll use until computers start taking dictation, they'll be able to run most of the education or edutainment software you buy them. While a sound card is a nice feature, it's just not necessary, nor a particularly good investment to make in a 386. Besides, don't you remember what happened what you finally caved in and bought that annoying video game that hooks up to the TV? Computing for College StudentsThe days when the only college students with PCs were rich kids or technology majors are long forgotten. Universities, which resisted the idea telephones in dorm rooms, are now wiring the same rooms to give students access to the World Wide Web. Some universities even require students to buy PCs, spreading the cost over four years of attendance. Four years provide an interesting key to this discussion, since four years ago, 486s were just beginning the final push to take the mass market away from 386s. Whatever computer a student brings to college will seem as obsolete as a 486 does today by the time a degree is earned. The minimum configuration for a college bound student should be a Windows '95 capable machine. A new $1000 Pentium 166MHz MMX, with 16MB RAM, a 1.6GB drive and a fast modem is a reasonable investment. For hand-me-downs, a 486 with at least 8MB of memory, a 400MB hard drive, a CD drive, an SVGA monitor with adapter, and a modem is better than nothing. Software suites are ideal for students, and while the word processor and the spreadsheet will be the most used components, don't be surprised if the database also get a work out. A printer can make life a lot easier, but students can also put their work on a floppy disk, and bring it (sneaker net) to the library or a computer lab for printing. Universities are not in the business of providing free software, except in special cases where the program is an integral part of course material. Internet access is provided free by most schools, and students will receive an e-mail address as part of orientation. Public School ClassroomThe biggest dumping ground for hand-me-down PCs is our public schools. Businesses can choose to donate discarded PCs for a number of reasons: 1) To generate good will in the community 2) The tax write-off for undepreciated machines is often higher than their resale value 3) Selling PCs to employees can be problematical 4) Nobody will buy really old PCs, but schools won't turn them down Except in extraordinary cases, schools end up with such a hodgepodge of donated equipment that it takes a serious volunteer effort to sort it all out. Any school receiving donated equipment can save a lot of time and money by following these guidelines: 1) Don't count your PCs before they boot! 2) Never spend a dime repairing donated equipment 3) Always be prepared to cannibalize, but make sure the eaten PC doesn't work better than the one you're trying to fix. 4) A primitive sorting effort by teachers and students, such as trying every monitor on a working PC, will reduce storage space and allow volunteer technical talent to make better use of their time. 5) Don't try using old network adapters unless you have enough of the same kind to complete a lab. 6) Throw out printers (except lasers) unless they work the first time you try them 7) Don't mix 286s and lesser machines in a room with 386s or higher 8) Ask for the DOS and Windows diskettes and manuals! The biggest problem in making good use of donated computer equipment in schools is the lack of uniform operating system and application software. Schools are some of the worst offenders when it comes to software pirating (illegally using copies of software), which doesn't send a good message to the students. Most software companies will sell to schools at a special education price, which is a fraction of retail, and the software can be transferred to the next generation of PCs. Classroom computers are often dedicated to a single purpose due to the way schools are organized. Providing printing for each of the PCs is always a challenge, though some schools start by getting a cheap dot matrix to go with every machine. Some subjects really benefit from a special purpose printer or plotter, like a laser printer for a word processing class, a color inkjet for a business computing class, or a plotter for a CAD lab. There are three basic approaches taken when sharing a central printer or plotter between a large number of PCs. The simplest approach is to hook the printer or plotter up to a single machine and have students carry their work to it on floppy disk for printing. The downside is that this PC usually ends up being dedicated for printing only, though it can often be a cheaper PC that's too slow for normal use. The intermediate solution uses a "smart" printer switch, where each PC is connected to the switch box by a serial or printer cable, and the switch has a single connection to the printer or plotter. The hardware and cables cost a few hundred dollars, but the software comes with the switch, and is easy to set up. Finally, a LAN (Local Area Network) solves the problem, but each PC must have a network adapter installed, cabling must be run, and software is expensive and often balky. Word-processing and typing are normally taught in the same room, with early classes learning typing skills with special tutoring software. Whatever word-processing program is chosen, it should be a Windows program, since using standard Windows features is a big part of word-processing. Educational materials, including course books, can be purchased for the major word processors. Older 386 machines will perform adequately in this task, although 8MB of memory may be required to use some advanced features. Many schools use old 386 PCs with small hard drives (80MB or less) in these classes, just enough to hold DOS, Windows, the application software, and a little free room necessary for operating system use. All of the work the students do is kept on a floppy disk that is given to them at the beginning of the course. This approach works well with word-processing, since the files remain fairly small, and most of the time is spent typing, and not waiting for the computer to work with the information on the floppy. CAD (Computer Aided Design) is the successor to drafting. Most schools cannot afford the industry standard AutoCAD, even at education pricing, but a variety of look-alike programs are available in the sub-hundred dollar range. CAD labs are one of the few instances where DOS programs will do as well as Windows applications, and the skills learned can be easily transferred to the Windows environment when it is encountered in the workplace. The minimum realistic hardware platform for a CAD lab is a 486 PC with 4MB of memory and a several hundred megabyte hard drive. CAD programs will run on older PCs if they have a math co-processor installed, but don't get involved in upgrading machines this way. Any extra money should be invested in big monitors, which don't become obsolete. A plotter is required for actually printing finished drawings, so provisions for sharing the plotter must be made. Business computing is commonly taught in vocational schools, and the focus is preparing students for office jobs in the "real world." Software suites are popular in business computing classes, as they provide boundaries to the Curriculum as each one of the applications is studied for a length of time. Spreadsheets are particularly useful for introducing business use of math in a fun way. A color inkjet is handy for printing pie charts, bar graphs, and other visual displays of data a spreadsheet can generate. Learning how to enter and retrieve database information is a good skill that is used in many entry level jobs, from telemarketing to shipping and receiving. Since the goal of these classes is to prepare students for the modern workplace, the most up-to-date software, namely Windows '95, is desirable. School libraries have been under siege for over 20 years to turn themselves into "media centers." The audio/visual learning tools that comprised the "media" of the seventies have been transferred to computers. The first rule for putting multimedia computers into a library is: trade the speakers for headphones. Be prepared to pay real money for good headphones, the cheap ones break. Multimedia products are using more and more video, which requires a minimum of a very fast 486 system to be displayed without skips. CD drives are also a necessity, since most of the software is sold on CD. Libraries often get involved in networks, to provide access to electronic card catalogs and reference CDs, which are permanently stored in a CD changer attached to a local server. The Moonlighting AccountantAccountants are often thrifty people, and when they do buy a new PC, they're liable to still be calling it "my new PC," well after the three year rapid depreciation schedule is finished. Two of the most important purchases for an accountant who will complete multiple tax returns are a laser printer and a modem. The IRS will accept the forms generated by computer tax software only if they are printed by laser printers. Tax agencies are also expanding support for electronic filing, which allows the submission of tax returns by modem. The actual speed of the PC isn't terribly important for the one-man accounting office, and most tax software is available in both DOS and Windows versions. The more important issue for most accountants will be protecting against data loss. A tape drive is often used to back up data, and copying important files onto floppies is better than nothing. A 17" monitor costs under $400 and is nice for working large spreadsheets, or simply seeing numbers more clearly, as eyelids droop in the middle of the night. Monitors have also proven to be a pretty good investment, as they are easily transferred from one PC to the next, and their prices drop much more slowly than any other computer component. Outside SalespersonsSalespeople love notebook computers. Nothing fills my heart with fear like seeing a harried salesmen on his way to an appointment, typing away on a notebook computer balanced on the steering wheel of a car traveling in the lane next to mine. Notebook computers let a salesperson take their office on the road with them, and stay in touch with faxes or local calls to an Internet access provider. I wouldn't even consider notebooks as hand-me-down computers if not for the fact that salespeople upgrade whenever they can afford it, which means a lot of second hand notebooks. A loaded Pentium based multimedia notebook often sells for over $5000, so the notebook it replaces can have some real value left in it. Purchasing second-hand notebooks is largely a matter of comparison shopping, and I wouldn't touch anything under a 486DX2-50 with a color display. Stick with big brand names which haven't bowed out of the notebook business. Be prepared for sticker shock if you need to replace the battery; prices over $200 are common. Some notebooks support standard batteries, like those used in cameras, for emergency backup. If you purchase one of these, at least you'll always have the option to buy some batteries at the airport, and make it through a flight. A Drafting (CAD) WorkstationMost CAD workstations will run the industry standard AutoCAD software from AutoDesk. AutoCAD cost almost $3000, so trying to economize on hardware at this point would be a little silly. However, CAD computers are normally built with lots of expensive parts, like big, fast, hard drives, nice tower cases and lots of memory, so they are one of the most sensible candidates for a motherboard upgrade when a new generation becomes available. A good CAD monitor will run in the $1500 to $2000 range, and plotters vary from $500 to over $12,000, depending on the paper size, speed, and quality. One thing that every workstation will need is a digitizer, where the small size (12" X 12") starts around $225. Free standing digitizers in sizes up to 4' X 5' cost around $1500, and are used for tracing drawings and maps. If several workstations running AutoCAD in a drafting department are to share a plotter, a network is necessary. Sneaker net and "smart" printer switches don't cut it for serious CAD drawings. Desktop PublishingEarlier we noted some distinctions between word-processing and desktop publishing software. It's also important to draw the distinction between word processor operators and desktop publishers. Desktop publishing is a job for a graphics artist, or a person with similar skills, and experience in page layout, font selection, and the commercial printing process. A well equipped desktop publishing workstation will have two major software applications: the desktop publishing software (usually Quark XPress or PageMaker) and Photoshop, about $1000 in combined software. A scanner is a must for bringing photos and original artwork into the computer, and a laser printer with PostScript is the best choice for creating proofs. Photoshop is often bundled with scanners at a reduced price, so keep this in mind if you're just setting up and don't own either yet. The basic requirement for a desktop publishing system box is a fast 486 or Pentium, a 1GB or better hard drive, and the Windows operating environment. Memory is as important as CPU speed for desktop publishing, 16MBs of memory are good, but 32MBs of memory are better. As with CAD, there's no safer place to put your money than in the monitor. Large screen (bigger than 17"), high performance monitors are easy on the eyes, show more detail, and hold their value. Backup is especially important in desktop publishing, and the Syquest cartridges which are commonly used to transfer files and artwork are a better solution than tape drives. CD Recorders (CDRs) are becoming more common in desktop publishing, because the person who writes the CD can be confident that anyone receiving it will have a CD drive. Home Office or New BusinessThe best reason for a home office or a small startup to go the cheap route with a hand-me-down PC, is to save the money for new software and peripherals. Remember, a PC is a general purpose computer, but your business is (hopefully) focused on a specific market. For starters, a suite of Windows application software is a must for any business, along with a laser printer. After that, you'll want to look at software applications written specifically for your business. Unless your business is entirely unique, somebody who got into it before you did has written a customized windows application that they'll be happy to sell you. The best place to find these really specific programs is in trade publications, and if you haven't found a trade publication for your type of business, your business in unique!
|