~ GaySatyr (ABB)

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As for "in addition to zip", those things are very dated. It's hard to even find them now, so I would say instead of maybe. But with the boom in digital cameras, that's why so many are coming with the all in one card readers.

Personally I would suggest you ditch that old zip drive and convert your zip back ups to a UBS flash drive.

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USB drives are good for transporting files and all you need is windows 98SE or better and a free USB port. The above link suggest you don't use them for backup.

Edited by - oatmeal on 2/2/2006 10:17:08 PM

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P.S. From my exp. USB drive do not work well with Win98 (either edition). They normally require drivers that do not come with the drive when bought and Win98 has USB problems even outside of flash drives. Can you get them to work, yes. Easily? No (well from what I have dealt with and that's around 400+ comps).

Edited by - PL on 2/3/2006 10:40:53 AM

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When I get a new Dell (as soon as I can afford) what do you think will be on it for backing-up files..in 1-2 years?

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I managed to get a replacement unit before they went out of business but haven't used it because you can't get drivers for it and I'm not really interested.

you can get a good Dell PC for $600 without monitor. It will come with a CD/DVD burner.

To upgrade your current system you can get a Liteon burner (with some software) for about $50 and a stack of DVDs for under $50.

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When you get your new computer, you will STOP using "Zip" technology, and start using USB Flash memory drives. You could even use a camera-style memory card and just leave it in your card reader slot(s)... it just wouldn't be as universal and easily transportable as a USB Flash drive.
EVERY new computer in the past 3-4 years has USB ports, whereas memory card readers didn't become common practice until this past year.

Your old computer probably has the ability to burn CDs (not DVDs)already. And this is fine!
Burn back-up CDs from your existing Zip disks.
Other than about a quarter per blank CD, this transition will be about as cheap and painless as possible :)

You will easily be able to read your burned CDs on your new computer :)

You can buy USB Flash drives very inexpensively!
256 MB drives will cost as little $20 after rebates.
If you want to get 512 MB and 1 GB drives (for backing-up or transferring files larger than 256 MB) they're reasonable too.

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Processors

Intel® Pentium® Extreme Edition Dual-Core with HT Technology - (3.20GHz,800MHz FSB,2MB Cache)
Intel® Pentium® D with Dual-Core Technology - Up to 840 (3.00GHz,800MHzFSB,2MBCache)
Intel® Pentium® 4 with HT Technology - Up to 670 (3.80GHz,800MHzFSB,2MBCache)


Operating System

Genuine Windows® XP Professional Edition
Genuine Windows® XP Home Edition
Genuine Windows® XP Media Center Edition 2005


Chipset

NVIDIA® nForce4 SLITM X16 MCP chipset

Memory

DDR21 is a memory architecture that enables systems to improve performance and reduce power consumption. The amount of RAM you have determines how many programs can be executed at one time and how much data can be readily available to a program. It also determines how quickly your applications perform and how many applications you can easily toggle between at one time. Simply put, the more RAM you have, the more programs you can run smoothly and simultaneously.
Up to 2GB Dual-Channel DDR21 SDRAM (667MHz, 2 or 4 DIMMs)
Up to 2GB Dual-Channel DDR21 SDRAM (533MHz, 2 or 4 DIMMs)

Hard Drives

The XPS 600 supports up to three hard drives, each with up to 500GB2 space - a potential capacity of 1.5TB3. And with RAID 1 and RAID 0 options, you can configure your storage to meet your needs, whether it's for storing large quantities of files, backing up system information and files, or improving performance with data striping.
Up to 1.5TB3 Multiple Serial ATA Hard Drives (3 drives utilized)
Up to 500GB3 Single Serial ATA Hard Drive

Optical Drives

Multiple Single and Dual DVD and CD Drive/Burner Configurations Available
Dual 16x DVD Drive and 48x CD Burner
3.5" Floppy Drive and Media Readers Available

Graphics

Dual Graphics Card Configurations for NVIDIA GeForce 6800 and 7800 GTX with SLI
256MB NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX
256MB NVIDIA GeForce 6800

Sound Cards

Sound Blaster X-FiTM XtremeMusic with Dolby 5.1
Sound Blaster AudigyTM 2 ZS with Dolby 5.1

Ports, Slots, Chassis

Externally Accessible
Video: 2 DVI and 1 S-Video
IEEE 1394: 2 Ports (1 Front, 1 Back)
USB: 10 Ports (2 Front, 6 Back, 2 internal)
Audio: 7.1 Channel Out (3 jacks), line in, microphone and headphones (front)
Network: Integrated Gigabit4 Ethernet
Legacy: 2 PS/2 Ports, 1 Serial Port

Internally Accessible
Single IDE Channel: 40-Pin Connector (2 Devices)

Expansion Slots
PCI: 3 Slots
PCIe x1: 1 Slot
PCIe x16 (Graphics): 2 Slots

Chassis
650 Watt Power Supply
3.5" Bays: 4 bays
5.25" Bays: 3 bays
Memory DIMM slots: 4 available
(H x W x D): 19.3" x 8.7" x 19.2"

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the second option only allows you to store on a cd(700MB)

edited to add:
This computer has a Raid option so you can use 2 hard disks to store the same data on both automatically. When one crashes the other still works and has all the data.

Edited by - de25ge on 2/3/2006 11:59:46 PM

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Once the data on my internal drive is too big to fit two generations on the external, I will just buy a second external drive and swap back & forth from week to week when I make the copies.

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This computer will handle just about anything you can throw at it, and was available this week at Office Depot for $399 after rebates (yes, the computer/monitor/printer package for less than the suggested price of the tower alone).

The Athlon 64 processor makes this an incredibly powerful computer. And, since it is a true 64-bit processor, you will be able to get the most out of "Vista" (the next Microsoft operating system, which should be out no later than next Spring) should you choose to move from XP to Vista down the road.

I have a very similar computer and am thrilled with it.

I added an extra 512 MB memory (about $40 after rebates when on sale), an extra 250 MB internal hard drive (about $100 after rebates when on sale) and am very satisfied.

I also added a second optical drive (just for convenience... you don't need to) by taking it out of my previous computer for free :)

FYI, my previous computer got fried when the power supply failed and took out several things on the mother board :(
Fortunately, ALL the major components (hard drives, optical drives, memory, etc.) were not affected and have found their way into other computers :)

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personally I'd avoid emachines like the plague but that's just my opinion. I really only look at Dell or "boutique" manufacturers like Alienware.

All that being said, I think there's a big change in technology coming with Vista and 64 bit computing and would hold off for a year if possible.

if not, there's always the fun AOpen Mini PC... once they get the noisy fans taken care of, start to offer 5.1 surround and drop the price to around $300.

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link, but they are not the fastest

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Fact is, I don't understand why people continue buying Dell. Dell is always more expensive for less computer than is routinely available.
I'm not saying there is anything wrong with Dell. They are just seriously over-priced.

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Apple makes incredibly high-quality products that also give you tremendous software value right out of the box.

OS X still hasn't been broken by the virus pinheads.
How much is that worth?
I never had to do a complete restore -- and lose everything -- on any of the six Macs I have owned.
How much is that worth?

My Macs from 10 years ago are still being used.

The only real reason I am now on PCs is due to Apple's decision to take away the ability to boot natively into OS 9 about three years ago. I use several expensive programs that don't work in the OS 9 emulation contained within OS X. It would have cost me about $3,000 to have moved to OS X just to do what I was already doing flawlessly on OS 8.6 and OS 9. So, Apple lost me as a customer.

I now have a tremendous investment in PCs, PC peripherals and PC software that I have built-up over 2+ years.
And, the fact is Windows XP is pretty darn good.
It's not like the old days when Mac OS was so obviously superior to "WinDoze."

So, just a long-winded response to stick up for Apple and suggest that their products are fairly-priced for what they provide to the average consumer. Their high-end stuff costs a fortune... yet that is precisely their niche with high-end audio/video/music creation & processing/graphics professionals that continue to support Apple.

I don't want to start a flame war over this "Apple detour."
So, please, let's not get into a spec war about Apple.
Apple will lose a spec war everytime...
But they will also win the user experience war and the true lifetime cost-of-ownership too.

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I still have a 9 year old Mac...and I remember how much fun it was to get graphic cards(flashing X86 Hardware), cpu extension, Level-2 caches, Video-RAM, RAM or Network cards.

I felt like an idiot when all the others could get the same for 1/3 of the price in the store around the corne, where I had to order from one or two online stores.

But without a competition on the hardware sector, the price will stay up...

I wonder why years ago Apple allowed to build clones and than....they were gone.

Funny how many old Apple user's are changing

Edited by - de25ge on 2/5/2006 12:37:53 PM

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Basically, every peripheral device that ever connected to a computer via any type of connection (printer, scanner, external hard drive, external CD/DVD drives and burning drives. and many, many more) plus many newer devices (digital cameras, flash memory drives, etc.) ALL are now made to connect to computers via USB.

If you have a front-panel USB connection, you probably have 2-4 USB connections on the back of your computer too.
The ones they put on the front are for convenience so you can temporarily plug in things like flash memory drives and digital cameras when you need to.
The ones on the back are used for "permanent" connections such as printers, external drives, etc.

What model e-Machine did your daughter buy?
There is an incredible difference in what you get between the "$300 after rebates" machines and the "$400-$600 after rebates" stuff. That's why the one I linked you to earlier was such a good value :)

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Basically, every peripheral device that ever connected to a computer via any type of connection (printer, scanner, external hard drive, external CD/DVD drives and burning drives. and many, many more) plus many newer devices (digital cameras, flash memory drives, etc.) ALL are now made to connect to computers via USB.

If you have a front-panel USB connection, you probably have 2-4 USB connections on the back of your computer too.
The ones they put on the front are for convenience so you can temporarily plug in things like flash memory drives and digital cameras when you need to.
The ones on the back are used for "permanent" connections such as printers, external drives, etc.

What model e-Machine did your daughter buy?
There is an incredible difference in what you get between the "$300 after rebates" machines and the "$400-$600 after rebates" stuff. That's why the one I linked you to earlier was such a good value :)

As for your 250 Zip, well a CD-R/CD-RWs hold about 700 Megabytes. I assume the 250 is what that Zip can hold, so your looking at a CD can hold almost 3 of your Zip tapes if that's true.

As for what kind, I would go with CD-Rs vs. CD-RWs. RW are less compatible from machine to machine and have more of a chance of failure, plus CD-Rs are cheaper, you can buy around 100 of them for like 20 bucks or so. Oh and to give you a little info, an RW you can write to it and then erase it where as an R you can only write to it.

As for brands, it's crap shoot. I have used everything from Memorex, to Fuji, to Verbatim and many more... All work fine and still work to this day. The CR-Rs I would stay away from are the NON-name brand ones as they don't usually have a good top coating on the disc which leads to the top getting scratched. Once that happens, everything on the CD is shot, so take care of your back-ups. Also, when labeling your back-ups, use a felt tipped marker/pen. They don't have a sharp edge that could scratch that top coating I was talking about.

Good luck!

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When e-Machines was FIRST introduced they were cheap and troublesome. THIS IS NO LONGER THE CASE!
They have matured into a solid manufacturer.
In fact, they were purchased by Gateway a year or two ago (because Gateway fucked-up their own retail line and needed a solid, established product line to re-capture retail shelf space).

A CD-R and/or CD-RW can hold between 650 MB and 800 MB -- MUCH more than a Zip 250!
Originally, CDs held 650 MB. But, as time went on, they've managed to get the newest generation of disks to hold about 800 MB.

The CD-RW simply means that your drive is capable of burning CDs -- including CD-RW (re-writable) disks.

When burning data for archiving purposes, CD-R disks (which can only be recorded once) are FAR more stable and are what you should use! They're even cheaper too.

CD-RW disks can be written multiple times.
This is an advantage when you're using the disk for temporary back-ups and transporting large files from place-to-place. But, they are a less stable media and should not be used for archive purposes!
They also cost more, and are often incompatible with older CD drives and set top CD audio players (if you were making audio CDs).

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I don't know much about emachine, I first heard about it here...as far as I know they use normal computer parts, so 10 years should be no problem.

Edited by - de25ge on 2/9/2006 1:47:25 PM

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For something like backing up Quicken Bill Pay on CD-R discs, I guess I would not need to keep but the last couple of discs. Otherwise I would have discs stacked up.

Why do they still put floppy drives in new computers?

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What is expensive in a good pc is the graphics card and the motherboard. You can spend less than 100$ for both or pay 300 $ or more for it.

As far as I have read you can upgrade the graphics card in an emachine if it has a PCI express slot.
The monitor I don't know, I paid 300€ for a Hyundai 19" TFT.

It's not surprising, when I build a system for myself I can be under 1100$ and have a perfect system.

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They DON'T put floppy drives in new computers any longer.
My newest desktop doesn't even have a connection on the mother board if you wanted to add one.
Since I am a musician -- and need to be able to read and write floppy disks for MIDI purposes -- you can still buy an external floppy drive that will connect to your computer via (you guessed it) a USB connection.

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As for even more of an explanation of cheap. 99% of the time they use integrated sound and video. The sound for most users will be fine, as for the video too. However if you have a machine with 512MB RAM with integrated vid, you will usually lose 32 to 64 MB of your RAM right to the graphics. So in a worst case, you end up with 448MB RAM. Personally I would never run Windows P with less then 512 - I recommend 1GB. Hell I'm on 2 GB now and see a diff from 1 GB.

Also the parts they use, such as the motherboard, are far less expandable. For example, my motherboard only has 3 PCI slots but I have 1 PCIe 1x slot and 2 PCIe x16 slots (for putting in 2 video cards at the same time). Most motherboards will come with 5 PCI slots. Also the amount of options the board comes with and the brand affect the cost, not to mention buying 10,000 motherboards of a brand is a hel of a lot cheaper than buying just one of those boards - ahh the benefits of buying in bulk.

So rest assured, you get what you pay for. A 300 dollar PC will last a few years, but in all reality is obsolete the day you plug it in hardware wise. However most consumers don't give 2 shits about some of the parts in there machines, they just want it to work and get on the net, and that's OK, just don't expect a $300 computer to last 10 years. However those who do pay for the high end comps are looking for performance - ask anyone with an Alien Ware machine or someone who likes to build and keep their machines up to date. God knows I have dropped a ton of cash into mine, but I get new parts ever 6 months or so...

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