No guarantees?

[kayofcircles]

With limited means, we try hard to research everything we buy either through Consumer Reports, or various places on the Net. I particularly like customer reviews, but notice that they can be divided into two catagories usually...the "love it" and the "hate it" crowd. One review will say "it runs like a top on mine" while another will say something like "the pos crashed my puter". While checking on a recent purchase, saw a letter from someone who said they had bought two burners (same model)..worked fine on the HP puter but wouldn't work at all on the Dell. ??

So, my question is: Once you get past the "minimum requirements" for the software/hardware you're thinking of buying...is there any way to know if it's actually going to work on your system?

[Rick]

A good place to start is here.

A simple question asking everyone If they have used a piece of hardware with a specific configuration .

A lot of the trade magazines also do tests. Then post reviews.
I know I saved myself a lot of head aches by reading the reviews on cd burns before I picked up my first one.
A few IDE cd-burners still don't play nice with other IDE cd-rom's. ( I Love SCSI)

[tjaymadison]

Goofed, back later http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/redface.gif


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"I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
-- Charles Babbage, mathematician, computer pioneer, analytical engine designer (1791-1871)

[This message has been edited by tjaymadison (edited 05-08-2001).]



[This message has been edited by tjaymadison (edited 05-08-2001).]

[mjc]

Kay, looks like we've corrupted you, you'll be breathing the rarified air a the the top soon enough......

But what Rick said is a good place to start, you can also click on the link in my signature and it'll take you to my website posted there you'll find links to some review sites and some hardware info sites...

The Buying and Upgrading area here is the place to ask the burning questions will this work with what I've got and does it really work at all.....

------------------
mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/highrise/11/index.htm)

All Control Agents must memorize Rule 5 before proceding to Rule 6

[tjaymadison]

Sorry about that goof before -- the house was on fire, but that's OK, at least I got the computer out. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

Grab a cup of coffee, put your feet up and get comfortable, Kay. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif

You've made an excellent start -- Consumer Reports is great, especially to narrow your search.
If they give thumbs down to a specific model, why argue? However, don't base your entire
decision on just a few users' feedback comments, since it's hard to judge their experience level.

Visit a hardware review site like Tom's Hardware or Anandtech, but they tend to focus more on
'bleeding edge' items. CNet and ZDNet also have review databases you can search. Or even try a
Google search on "Sony and CD-RW" and then search within those results for "review", for example.

Narrow your field to two or three items that sound good, then visit those manufacturers' web sites.
Most of them will have FAQ's and/or troubleshooting sections, and sometimes forums like this one,
for user questions and requests for help. If they don't, you'll be relying on phone and/or e-mail support.
If the FAQ and other sections are full of repetitious, recurring problems or 'PoS' gripes and flames
about lack of updates, that might be you one day soon. Most people there won't be shy about saying
they felt cheated, or they had to wait weeks to get an answer. OTOH, if the mfr's responses are
prompt and thorough, that's a big plus.

To get an idea of potential Windows problems with your choices, search the Microsoft web site
for the mfr's name. (Try Compaq sometime!) Search for "Creative" or "Maxtor" for example,
and read a few of the articles the search returns. If you get pages and pages of search 'hits',
and many refer to your intended purchase, Windows just might not 'like' that item, or the maybe the
mfr doesn't provide well-written or current drivers. You can search The PC Guide or PC911 (http://www.pcnineoneone.com/cgi-bin/dcforum/dcboard.cgi?az=list&forum=computer&conf=conf1) forums
for references to the mfr or the model name/number to see what might have already come up.

If you can get your candidates down to two or three, post the specifics on them here or on other
forums like this that you visit. List all your current system specs and what you want to add,
and ask for opinions. I've done well at PC911 with this. If you include links to a page of specs
on the item(s), people can take a quick look and then respond. Some real top-dog hardware
gurus over there. They use the same UBB codes as we do here.

Another consideration is the power supply. If it's getting a little 'long in the tooth', it could be
close to its limit, depending on what's already in your system and on what you want to add.
Although the only moving part is the fan, the rest of it does eventually 'wear out' just from being on,
much less from cold boots. They also run cooler and more efficiently at 50-60% of rated output.

Taking all this verbiage into account, if you've made sure that you have the most recent BIOS
upgrade, the newest chipset and other hardware drivers, any firmware upgrades, and the current
OS updates/service packs, you will not often have a problem adding another hardware device
from a major-name manufacturer. Like you said, you need to meet the system requirements,
and even better exceed them in CPU speed and RAM. And, to paraphrase This Old House, as far
as the instructions go, 'Read Twice (at least), Install Once. And even before you start the install,
check the web site for new drivers or other uprades, because the one you bought may have been
on the shelf for a while, and not have the very latest ones.

(Boye the spel cheker shure reely wurkd gud thiz tim did'n it I think sew howe a bout ewe?) http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif



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"I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
-- Charles Babbage, mathematician, computer pioneer, analytical engine designer (1791-1871)

[kayofcircles]

All I can say at this point is "thanks", and I wish that I had found this place before I bought...but that's the way it goes sometimes. I have been collecting a lot of links thanks to you all, and better prepared if I should ever again try to add anything! (Just kidding...or not.)

Btw, Sea, my husband is green with envy. Congrats on recent good fortune!

Yes, TJay, I admired your spelling checker article..and the new program seems to be working very well.

My husband picked up a Norton Utilities on clearance last time we went to the big city. He's been pushing me to install it, or run it off the CD. So, I should now go to some of the links you just gave me, right? And check it out. Last time he wanted to do this kind of thing..System Mechanic..I let him and he had the program remove all files not in use (or something along those lines) and deleted ALL my pictures in the scanner program! Lucky for him, I had most of the ones I had used saved elsewhere, and I can rescan the others if necessary. But seems to me there are ALWAYS unforeseen consequences.

Saw a comment here somewhere..don't know who to credit, but the gist was "I resent spending time working on my puter to get it to work. I just want it to work so that I can work on it!" In accord with that.

[This message has been edited by kayofcircles (edited 05-09-2001).]

[kayofcircles]

Forgot to say, mjc, that I don't think you guys are corrupting me at all...you're teaching me to fish.

Sorry to be so dense, TJay, but just wandered all over Microsoft's various sites and put Compaq (just to see) in several search boxes and got nada relevant. ??? Could you send stupid me a link to the Microsoft site you're referring to? (Refurring? Need that checker too, huh?) TIA

[tjaymadison]

Ma'am, your wish .... etc. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

For some reason, known only to MS wonks I guess, you can do it two ways:

1. Go here (http://search.microsoft.com/us/SearchMS25.asp).

Click the 'Clear All' button
Click the box for 'Support & the Knowledge Base'
Click the drop-down arrow by 'Using:' and select 'Exact Phrase'
Type whatever in the 'Search for:' box
Click the blue Search button
Behold the results

2. Go here (http://search.support.microsoft.com/kb/c.asp).

Select your OS, or any other MS product in fact, from the first drop-down list
Select 'Exact Phrase' from the second drop-down list
Type whatever in the 'My question is:' box
Click 'Go'


For reasons I can't explain, the results are sometimes slightly different.
Must have something to do with the '&' in #1, or MS quirks.
In any case, you can see what's there. After I found these methods,
I've searched for all my present hardware, and major software titles too.
You may find solutions, tips or just neat 'stuff'.

Should be great for what you want to do. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/wink.gif

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"I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
-- Charles Babbage, mathematician, computer pioneer, analytical engine designer (1791-1871)



[This message has been edited by tjaymadison (edited 05-09-2001).]

[tjaymadison]

As regards the NU, my recommendation would be:

First, make sure that it's a version compatible with your OS.

If you already have an anti-virus program installed and you like it, don't install NAV also. Many problems.

Try the programs that will allow running just from CD without installing.
Get used to those first. Then decide.

There can be problems with NU -- so many thousands of system configurations to encompass.
Might work well for you, but your neighbor may cuss and hate it. Nature of the beast, sometimes.
I guess it's because so many people do have it, but many questions at PC911 about it.

NU has been around forever, in many releases. Ol' Pete KNOWS PC's, that's proven.
Doesn't necessarily follow, though, that he knows YOUR PC all that well. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/biggrin.gif

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"I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
-- Charles Babbage, mathematician, computer pioneer, analytical engine designer (1791-1871)

[kayofcircles]

THANK YOU! I grant you that I didn't spend a LOT of time looking, but haven't been able to access the Microsoft database since they "improved" their Website over a year ago.

"Taking all this verbiage into account, if you've made sure that you have the most recent BIOS upgrade, the newest chipset and other hardware drivers, any firmware upgrades, and the current OS updates/service packs, you will not often have a problem adding another hardware device
from a major-name manufacturer." Yes, I read that, TJay...and therein is, no doubt, the problem. I haven't "kept up". Part of the reason is laziness, but another part is downloading. My husband spent well over 6 hours downloading 5.5 (before they sold it on CD) because he kept falling offline. Fortunately he could reconnect and "resume" but is still a time consuming process.

So taking that into account, I probably should either have my husband build me a newer system....or stick to "older" software/hardware. Still looking for a Works program newer than the 95 version, but older than the Corel WordPerfect 8 which "ate" or corrupted no less than 8 system files and killed the intro on my PSP program. (Called Jasc and they helped me reinstall the PSP, and sent me several of the missing/corrupted files and I found the rest later.) Sucked though.

[tjaymadison]

Two programs might help solve some of the things you mention.

The first is called Download Accelerator Plus that works very well.
It may not increase your actual connection speed all that much,
but it will seem so. If you ever get booted off somewhere in the middle
of a long d/l, it has a 'resume' feature to pick up where it left off,
rather than starting all over. And, if the file is available from more
than one web site, it will let you select the fastest/closest one.
It will also integrate a download from as many as four sites simultaneously,
grabbing the fastest server available when it's ready to receive more
data. It sounds complicated, but in use, its all automatic and seamless.

The second is a 'suite' called Star Office. It will do most of what MS Office will do,
or at least the Word, Excel and Access parts. I'd guess it might also
read your Works files, especially if those aren't excessively complicated with a lot of
font changes, table look-ups, macros and the like. Although I don't have
it myself, it's very highly rated by the review sites. It can run on a lot
of different configurations, even Linux, it's small and tight, and best of all -- it's free.
It was released to public domain/shareware by Sun Microsystems,
and originally available only with their workstations.

Don't have the exact links right now, but I'm sure you can find
both at CNet or ZDnet, probably in their 'most popular' sections.

As far as your phone line speed, if you haven't already seen my epistle
on that in one of your other threads, it's in this one (http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/Forum2/HTML/001276.html).

If you want to, why not start a new thread in 'Buying & Upgrading',
and list all the specs you know about your system -- vendor/clone, CPU,
RAM, the drives, etc. -- and I'm sure you'll get some help tracking down
any info you don't already have, some recommendations for tuning it up,
and improvements you might want to consider. Something like
'What are my options if I want to...' or 'What can I do to improve...' or similar.

Hope this helps. http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

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"I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question."
-- Charles Babbage, mathematician, computer pioneer, analytical engine designer (1791-1871)



[This message has been edited by tjaymadison (edited 05-10-2001).]

[kayofcircles]

Will check on the Star office..thanks. My Works got cranky about inserting pics into text...gives me a "your hard drive is full" message, which is a crock. Wrote some tutorials and needed screen shots, so had to use the Corel. Once the "damage" was done installing the stupid thing, it seems to run without error...but "sluggish" compared to Works in the typing. So inserted pics into Corel, then copied/pasted text from Works.

My husband has a download accelerator...will ask him which one.

Too upset at moment about current problem, but will post a question about building new system soon. Really soon, because this stuff changes so fast. Know I am an old fuddy duddy, but I don't want or need a 50 GB hard drive (what..half a year of Scan Disk and Defrag? okay, I know, but still) and I have no complaints about my 400 chip..seems fast enough to me. My point is that if I want a smaller hard drive and a "slow" chip (like say 700), we better buy them soon cuz they'll soon be extinct.

[This message has been edited by kayofcircles (edited 05-11-2001).]