European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - November 02, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse Tuesday. November 2,19931 computers the stars and stripes Page 11ask around before you buy by Donna Larce the Hartford cot Irant you be decided it s time a Home computer. Maybe it s because your kids want one every kid they know has one. Maybe it s because you want to write v More professional looking letters. Maybe it s because you have office work to do at Home. Or maybe you bought one several years ago and need to upgrade to run More sophisticated programs. The world of computers can be inti dating. You talk to friends who have one and they Are communicating in a kind of techno speak that makes your eyes Glaze Over Dos Microsoft windows this sounds like major work. And to make4 matters More difficult computer technology changes quickly. There s always a newer faster machine in the pipeline. I always Tell people by the time they get the computer out of the Box it s obsolete says Jerry Long president of pc consultations a training company in Bloomfield Conn. And that s True. If you were to pay strict attention to the computer magazines you d never buy anything. But at some Point you have to jump in. And before you do you need to do a Little Homework. Here Are a few questions to ask that May help get you started. Q what am i going to use the computer for. If you can answer this you Are Way ahead of the rest of the class. " the question you arc really answering is what kind of software do i need to do what i want software is the pro Gram that tells the computer known As hardware what to do. In some ways this is a Chicken and egg kind of question because if you be never owned a computer it can be hard to know just what you can do j typically someone will come in and mention they want to do some writing they want a comp hrs their kids can do better at school am they want to do some family finances says Kenneths Baker president of computer resources an Apple dealer in Wethersfield Conn. A Good Deal of the time they Don t really know anything about family finances. It just sounds Good to say that. So Baker recommends making a list of tasks you want to do. If you re going to do any kind of writ ing whether it be research papers for school or a newsletter for a Community organization you la need a word process ing program. If you want to balance the family Check Book or keep track of Stock investments there Are programs to do that. If you need artistic capabilities look for a graphics program which can Range from charts and graphs to sophisticated illustrations. Once you figure out what kind of soft Ware you want then you la have a better idea what kind of computer you need to operate that program. Recommendation decide what work you need done and then determine the appropriate software. It s always Best to test drive before you buy. Bring a pizza Over to a Friend Shouse and try his computer. Q should i buy macintosh ism or Ana ism clone in the computer world there Are two. Families. Ism and Apple which makes the macintosh. Within the ism world there Are compatible computers called clones that use technology that Speaks in the same language As ism. Macintosh is a world unto itself. In the world of per Sonal computers macintosh has a smaller share of the Market than ism and its clones. A software program is either ism compatible or macintosh compatible Al though this should change in the future because ism and Apple Are working to make All programs compatible. The conventional Wisdom used to be that ibis and their clones were cheaper but harder to use. Apple macintosh computers were More expensive but easier to use. It also was often said that if your use would be mainly writing you could go with an ism or clone. If you needed graphic capabilities the macintosh was now the line is Burrier. Microsoft in s windows operating system has been around since 1985. But three years and its windows 3.0 version broke through with wide acceptance that made ibis much easier to use giving a pretty fair imitation of macintosh s Point and Click mouse method of moving around a program. A mouse is a Palm size device that controls a Pointer on the screen to move Type and artwork the newest ver Sion is 3.1. Also software now is available that allows you to use ism compatible programs on macintosh computers Aker says. So Case of use is pretty much a moot Point. Clones Are Likely to be cheaper the Anim or macintosh. Ibis and macintosh Are closer in Price when you re compar ing systems of similar strength an loaded with similar software packages. When you re buying the clones i advise sticking to names you be heard of Long says. These Are such names As to Shiba Compaq Dell and Nec i prefer ism and clones because i work in the business world. But macintosh makes an excellent this has to be a personal Choice. Try them All. Q How much should i expect to spend whether you re buying ism styles or Apple s macintosh a decent Home sys tem can be had for $1,500 to $2,500. The Price May vary depending on where you buy How much you buy and what soft Ware you buy. Accessories such As print ers and modems generically known a peripherals will often be extra. Emerging technology helps drive Down the Price of older machines. In the ism world a faster processor called the pentium series is hitting the Market. Pentium systems run $6,000 to $10,000. That should make the older series come Down in Price so that s Good news for Many Home users who should be Able to do everything they want with the earlier technology. Recommendation chances Are you Don t a cd the latest top of the line product. Your purposes will probably be Well served with a earlier How do i know How much Speed and memory a computer has that information is conveyed by those numbers that can be so intimidating 486dx-25mhz, with 200 megabyte drive and 4 my Transfer rate. Each generation of chips the heart of the Central processing unit and the brains f the computer has a number assigned to it. The higher the number the faster the machine responds to commands. The last three digits of the Chip number Are All you need to know. You la see numbers such As 386 and 486 in the advertise ments for ibis and clones. The new Apple adds to screen to pcs Cupertino Calif. Up1 Apple computer inc. Has rolled out its macintosh to device combing an Apple macintosh personal computer television and cd rom stereo sys tem into one compact unit. Apple said it would sell the system for $2,079 and target users at Home and in higher education institutions. The company said the macintosh to reduces both the Cost and space requirements if the to computer and cd rom player were bought Sepa \ Randy. The macintosh to includes Amablo ready 14-Inch color to and double Speed audio cd player. It can be hooked up with a videocassette re Corder a camcorder laser disc player or video game player. The computer Industry and the consumer electronics Market Are con verging and Apple is at the forefront of this transition said Brodie Keast director of product marketing for the Apple personal computer division. With macintosh to Apple extends its popular All in one computer design with new Media capabilities that Cre ate a whole new category of computing and entertainment is Susan Harris generation the pentiums is 586. With the macintosh the entry level perform line has a 68030 Chip the faster line Centris has a 68040 Chip. The do part of the code tells you the computer contains a math coprocessor. So Means it does not. If you re doing heavy duty number crunching you should consider a computer with a math coprocessor. Some macintosh lines such As Quadras have one. It can be added to other models the 25 is the clock Speed measured in Megahertz or millions of cycles per Sec Ond. The 200 refers to megabytes Here a measure of the storage capacity of the hard drive. If you re planning to run lots of programs get at least 120 my. The 4mb is 4 megabytes another Mem Ory measure used As a Power measure on How fast the computer will mation. Many windows programs recommend at least 2 megabytes to operate. Buy a machine with a hard drive which is stored inside the computer and allows you to permanently record software pro Grams so that you Don t have to work from a floppy disk. It allows you to get to work quicker because the computer has already stored those commands. Your machine will also probably have two floppy disk drives one 3w inches wide and the other 5v4 inches wide. Macintosh uses Only the smaller floppy. Recommendation the general Rule of thumb is you need the largest fastest computer your budget can afford. But consider your needs and uses Don t buy what you Don t need just because you can afford do i buy hardware and software separately the computer makers and Sellers have it together systems that already come add with popular software such us quicken a finance program Claris works word processing and Lotus financial spreadsheets. This practice is called bundling in the Trade. Bundling can be done with components from the same manufacturer or with parts from Many makers much in the Way a stereo system can be assembled. Macintosh sys tems usually use All of their own components but another manufacturer s Monitor or fax for example could be used. More sophisticated programs such As those for desktop publishing Are nut usually included in a package program
