From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
In a message dated 7/29/2004 1:04:28 AM Eastern Daylight Time, Charles Martin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
Congrats, I'm sure you deserve it!Thanks, deserve really has little to do with it, but man is it nice to be fully up to date for once (at least as far as the computer itself goes). I totally see why you feel the need to upgrade every couple years or so, and we'll see if I can't manage to develop the same routine myself now that I've finally caught up.
I should reiterate for the benefit of other list users that I may use my computer in a much different way than most -- I use my main computer both as a work tool (Photoshop/Quark/InDesign/Illustrator et al) and as a learning tool (video editing, music composition, etc). Consequently, I'm always doing new stuff, which increases my need for more current computing power rather more quickly than someone who is just doing some email, light surfing and the occasional game.
So, I would say that "power users" probably need to upgrade their machines every two-three years, but light users can probably continue to hold onto their machines for four, five and more years. I was visiting tonight with a teacher who has a Performa 575 (that's 1994 I think) and is PERFECTLY HAPPY with it -- or would be if lightning hadn't fried her printer port and Zip drive ... she doesn't use the machine for net access, she just writes tons and tons of teacher stuff on good ol' Clarisworks 4.
So not everybody needs the latest and greatest all the time. :)
It does have a space that will take an airport card, but it requires an adapter. However, the guy i bought it from originally had an airport card in it, and I think he sent the adapter with it.
Looks like a cut-out piece of circuit board, IIRC ...
Because the iBook cost so much, I need to keep costs to a minimum, so I'm also trying to consider 3rd party cards, routers, etc to save costs.Personally, I think the Airport base station is the best deal going because it has ports for non-wireless machines, AOL compatibility (not every router has this, believe it or not), Appletalk compatibility and a spare USB port for wireless printer sharing, but having said that if you just need a wireless router, there are others and they are generally cheaper.
3rd party cards won't work in any of the Apple equipment except laptops that have PCMCIA slots.
This is the catch. I realize that two computers on the same dial up connection can create a serious bottleneck after getting other emails, but it's looking like broadband still is not and option for me. I will continue to research it, and while some decent options now seem to be available where i am, I don't have the right to make the decision for broadband to be installed here. Perhaps I'll be moving soon though...
Understood, though neither DSL nor cable is particularly "invasive" (ie holes drilled in walls, non-removable equipment etc). DSL works with existing phone lines and is simply a matter of a special modem and a phone-line filter/splitter. Cable requires a hole in the wall (if you don't already have cable TV), but other than that it's just a splitter and cable modem. Nothing that can't be rolled up and taken with you when (if) you move. Some of the DSL companies periodically offer what I think is a "good deal" for those wanting to make a break from dialup but who are on a tight budget: you get lower speed than DSL is capable of (say 192-384Kb/sec instead of the 1.5Mbps some people get) for a lower cost, like around $29/month instead of the usual $50/month. As I say, it's not as fast as it could be, but it's still 5-10 times faster than 56K dialup, which really makes a difference, particularly when sharing. Check with dslreports.com for more info on this, and good luck.
_Chas_
FL-MUG: central Florida's Macintosh User Group. Meetings: second Thursday of the month, 6-9pm, at the Orlando Science Center. http://www.flmug.org
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