On Fri, 2006-03-17 at 19:17 +0200, Avraham Rosenberg wrote: > Hi, > Thanks to Gilboa, Didi and Alex for their answers. I think I got > the picture. > As the last time I bought a computer was three years ago (for my > wife), the only information I had about the hardware available > nowadays was from advertisments in the newspapers. These are > mostly geared towards the cheapest standard configurations, do > not explain the differences between the different versions and do > not care about linux compatibility. By the way, the issue did not > pop up in your answer. Either the situation improved greatly, or > you were certain that I am going to check this point myself.
Things somewhat improve the last two years. Due to the propagation of the Internet people are more educated and less inclined to buy junk-yard PCs. A good indication is the number of AMD suppliers. The first time I bought an AMD CPU (K6) I had to order one from the U.S. When I got the K7, I needed a special order. Getting an Athlon MP was a bit easier. Last week I ordered two Opteron 270 (a workstation chip) and I got it within two days. > > Two more points I would like to clarify: > 1-Floppies, in my mind are important not for carying data but for > boot and repair in emergencies. What does one use nowadays? > bootable usbsticks? Either that, or Live Linux CDs. (There's literally hundreds of them.) I couple of good options: Damn small Linux. Full Linux in 50MB http://www.damnsmalllinux.org/ Knoppix: The father of all Live CDs: http://www.knopper.net/knoppix/index-en.html System Rescue CD: The best CD rescue: http://www.sysresccd.org/Main_Page Helix: Saved my Fedora a couple of times: http://www.e-fense.com/helix/ > 2-Considering the importance of good cooling for the health of > the computer and that of the quiet for the health of my nerves, > I'd love to get from Alex something more specific (than google) > about sources of information on such details as the size of the > ventilators installed in the case or its level of noise. > Same about other moving devices (Power supply ventilator(s), CPU > ventilator, hard disk...). > In general, the bigger the fan the lower the RPM required to keep the CPU/case cool. When you ask for price quote, ask the vendor to use big (and slow) 120mm fan for the case and at least 92mm fan for the CPU. More-ever, as the vendor to use a brand names fans. E.g. Thernalright, Thermaltake, Sunon, CoolerMaster, Vantec, Zalman. > Once more, it's fun to ask this list for advice. > Cheers, Avraham Gilboa ================================================================= To unsubscribe, send mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with the word "unsubscribe" in the message body, e.g., run the command echo unsubscribe | mail [EMAIL PROTECTED]
