At 08:21 AM 5/7/2009, Tom Anderson wrote:
>Any suggestions what I need to look for as far as extras, like a video
>card, etc?
I would go to your local computer shop--the neighborhood type who
will build you what you want from scratch.
Tell they you want a fairly fast machine (2+GHz) with a reasonable
amount of memory (2+GB). You want:
(4) RS-232 serial ports
(4+) USB-2 Ports
(2+) Firewire Ports
(2) decent 16-bit sound cards
(2) decent video cards. Ideally both with analog and digital outputs
or one with analog and one with digital.
(2+) SATA disk drives
(2+) external SATA ports
Windows XP Pro (small shops aren't stuck with Vista)
Let the shop decide which video and sound cards to actually
get. Tell them you are doing real-time data sampling, so you need
good stuff but nothing near the best. They know the market and what
will get you the most bang for your buck.
Specify SATA drives and ports as they are faster and more reliable.
If you have room on your operating desk, get two LCD flat-panel
displays. It's always nice to be able to have your radio control on
one screen and your program control on the other.
A general rule of thumb is you can't have too much speed, too much
memory, too much disk space or too many I/O ports.
This setup will probably cost you $1500 by the time you factor in the
displays. If the price comes in too high, just tell the shop you
need to dial everything back a notch to the next cost point until you
find a system you are comfortable with.
I can't emphasize enough the need to avoid the big box stores. Go to
your local computer shop that services local businesses. They
usually run around in a little car or truck with their name blazoned
on it and are hard to miss.
Standard disclaimers apply. Batteries not included.
Dick
--
Dick Flanagan K7VC
[email protected]
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