Labels:text | screenshot | majorelle blue | electric blue OCR: Welcome Fall has arrived. Leaves are falling, and so are prices. A few months ago I wrote about falling prices. This is still a good time to buy and with Christmas right around the corner, I think we will be flooded with sales and maybe even lower prices. Shop wisely. One reader wanted to know if the system he bought now would be outdated in a year. I told him it most likely would be outdated a week after he bought it! I am kidding, but nothing we buy that has to do with computers has a long life. Then again, with 586s nearby, I still have readers who use XTs. Do you remember XTs? Those systems that ran so slow you could shower and shave, or the ladies could wash their hair and dry their nails before the system even booted! I give everyone the same advice, "Buy the best system you can afford at the time you are purchasing it." If you go into a store and they have 586s, and you can only afford a 486 or a 486SX then I would buy that. You cannot worry about the future, or even wait until prices drop on the 586s. I have had a 386-33 for several years now and am very pleased with it. I paid around $900 for just a motherboard (I built the system myself). Today a 486-33 motherboard can be had for around $500. My suggestion for a person buying a computer today would be: (1) 486 or 486SX (Not much difference in price, so I would opt for the FULL 486 over the SX. (2) At least 4MB RAM. If you will dabble in Windows this IS the minimum, even though MS says 2MB is OK. (3) If you want to use OS/2, a minimum of 8MB RAM. (4) SuperVGA or better with at least 1MB video memory on card. To generate 1024x768x256 you will need this type of memory on the card. Cards like this can be bought for $129 or so. More for high end or faster cards. (5) Matching monitor. I like the Panasonic PanaSync c1381i. It is under $400, and has same dot pitch and other capabilities of high price nodels. If you are upgrading your modem, and you do faxing, you may want to look into the line of FAX/modems on the market. I will be reviewing several in the upcoming months. I do own a FAX machine. One day I had to do something on my computer and FAX it to the company. It was 31 pages. I had to print them out, on my LaserJet, and then stand there and insert several pages at a time. Time consuming and very costly. This got me into the FAX/modem phase. I have used a ZOOM 9624, which is 9600FAX and 2400modem. It did a good job. I am currently working with a BOCA 14.4 v.32bis. This modem has 14. 4modem capability. The prices for these units are not as big as you may think. The ZOOM is $99 (street price), while the BOCA is $279. 200M also makes a high speed FAX/modem that is $257. All these prices are for external and are quoted from a local store I go to. Hayes also makes them, as does US Robotics, of whom I am waiting for the Sportster 14.4 FAX/modem to evaluate. All are also available as internal modems for $10-30 less than above. I will be reviewing some FAX/modems in the coming months. This month, we have a review of AudioMaster. This is a sound card that has superior sound to any of the current crop of cards on the market. We also take a look at WinDRAW, a low priced Windows drawing package. Also on the list is WinDING, a rolodex-type program that has many other features. For those who need to keep track of appointments and other events, we look at AMAZE for both DOS and Windows. On board also is a review of ProComm Plus for Windows. Approach is a database for Windows that we also review this month. For you DOS people we look at QDOS, Norton Desktop for DOS, and MegaBack . In addition, Jamie Gannon has compiled a list of abbreviations that we all use on BBSs from time to time. New users sometimes do not know what things like: BTW, FWIW, :- ), and so on mean. Jamie explains these and more to you. This would be a good article to print out and have near you computer at all times. Finally, I would like to extend holiday wishes to my Jewish readers who are celebrating: Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkoth. Until next month, may you have all good sectors?
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