Cool Tech Discuss

2004-05-14T15:58:00.000-04:00

PC Magazine is an awesome place to go for the latest technology reviews, etc. PC Magazine - Computer, Software, Hardware and Electronics Reviews, Downloads, News and Opinion

2004-05-14T15:53:00.000-04:00

The E3 Convention is showing off a lot of new technology that will be used frequently. Watch what comes out of it carefully, as it will probably determine the future of technology...

2004-05-13T20:25:00.000-04:00

Getting a New Computer

If you are getting a new computer- what are you going to do.
Build your own computer!!
Is that clear?
If that isn't clear, than just buy a prebuilt computer.
What pricetag do you want?

$500: Recommendations:
Company
-Athlon XP compaq or hp
-Dell Dimension 2400
-emachines
-or go to tigerdirect.com for rock hard prices
-do not go to ebay...
Recommendations
-17'' or 19'' CRT Monitor
-Horrible Integrated Graphics
-Integrated Sound
-256 or 512 Megabytes of RAM
-40, 60, or 80 GB Hard Drive
-CD-ROM drive

$1000
Company
-www.puget.com
-www.tigerdirect.com
-www.compaq.com
-hp
Recommendations
-19'' CRT monitor
-8X AGP Graphics: NVidia GeForce 4 MX or GeForce FX 5200.
-512 or 768 or 1024 (1 GB) Megabytes of RAM
-80, 120 GB Hard Drive
-CD burner/DVD drive

$1500
Company
-www.puget.com
-www.ibuypower.com (get an athlon xp)
-www.compaq.com (get an athlon xp)
-hp (get an athlon xp)
Recommendations
-19'' CRT Monitor or 15''/17'' LCD Monitor
-1024 (1 GB) Megabytes of RAM
-a 3000+ or at least 2.6 Ghz Pentium 4
-8X AGP Graphics: NVidia GeForce FX 5200 or better
-120 GB hard drive or larger

$2000
Company
-www.ibuypower.com
-www.abspc.com
Recommendations
-Look at the $1500 price tag recommendations and see what you want to improve on.

2004-05-01T10:25:00.000-04:00

GOOGLE NEWS:
The Google IPO should be a huge success with ambitious investors
+
Google founders Lawrence Page and Sergey Brin will get lots of money to invest in new things
+
GMail (the Google Email client) is starting up
+
Google Calculator is better than a normal calculator
=
ROCKS!

2004-04-28T16:53:00.000-04:00

iRiver iFp 390-T

The iRiver iFP 390-T is an amazing 256MB MP3 player that everyone should love!
When I bought my iRiver, it was the top model, but iRiver is moving so fast they already have many new models out.
First of all, along with most MP3 players, the 390-T is very small and portable. It's looks are also really good, and it has been nicknamed "The Craft" for its beauty.
The 390-T has many features, all which are very convienient. Among those features are MP3 and WMA playback, voice recording, line-in recording (very convienient: all your music doesn't have to be digital), and a FM radio.
Also, there is good battery life and sound quality. The battery lasts up to 24 hrs. and the sound quality is good, especially with the included iRiver headphones.

One of my only complaints is that the battery cover was a little hard to open the first time, but once I got the hang of it it was fine. ALso, the controls, which consist of a five-way joystick and three buttons require some learning. However, the USB connection worked every time, and everything else was flawless. Overall, this little MP3 player deserves a double thumbs up!

$179.99 retail price
iriveramerica.com
iRiver's 390T site

2004-04-17T17:16:00.000-04:00

Chapter 1:
Did you know that you can get 1350 MB of storage space for free on Spymac.
You can also get 20 MB of storage space for free on Yahoo Breifcase, not add supported!

Chapter 2:
Rules for building a computer: (if you seriously need cheap prices)
(last updated: 4/17/04)

--Try not pay more than $350 if you want to buy a 17'' LCD
Make sure your max resolution is at least 1280x1024
--Try not pay more than $1 for 2 GB of hard drive space
Make sure the hard drive is 7200 RPM and has an 8 MB Cache
--Try not pay more than $1 for every 5 MB of RAM
For PC2700 Ram

2004-04-15T19:42:00.000-04:00

Now, I just feel like comparing my desktop to geoffery's laptop. My desktop is a Dell Dimension 4400, and it was an awesome computer in its time, 2001. It has an 18'' CRT Monitor, a 40 GB Hard Drive, a 1.8 Ghz Pentium 4 Processor, a CD burner but no DVD drives, an optical mouse, 256 MB RAM...

2004-04-14T17:07:00.000-04:00

The first technology review is here!

The Toshiba Portege 4005, the computer I am writing this with, is an ultralight, powerful laptop that can efficiently get things done while letting business travelers take it with them. The Portege 4005 has a powerful 750 Mhz Intel Pentium III processor. It also includes a 20 GB hard drive with an IDE interface, and 256 MB of RAM. Another feature is a DVD-ROM optical drive! A fax modem is included, and it has a 12.1 in screen that shows colors very well. All of this, and it only weighs 4.41 pounds! Also, it has a decent 2 hours 30 minutes of battery life in a Lithium-Ion battery. A nice feature is a screen closure detector. I know this is standard on many laptops, but it is enormously helpful. My only quibble is that the speakers don't sound that great. But the sound is fine when listening with headphones, especially because the sound output is from a sound card. Overall, this amazing ultralight laptop will fulfill everybody's basic computing needs!

2004-04-13T20:35:00.000-04:00

Sneak Preview: the first 2 technology reviews will be products I actually own: an iRiver iFP 390-T MP3 Player and a Toshiba Portege 4005 ultraportable laptop!

Look forward to these reviews and suggestions!

2004-04-13T18:57:00.000-04:00

From now on I will be trying to do technology reviews periodically. I will try to do one each week, but don't get your hopes up too high! There should be at least one every few weeks. Note: I probably will not own most of these products. This is just informing you about these products.

2004-04-12T12:33:00.000-04:00

P4 vs. Athlon -- More Info from PC Magazine!

The reason a 2.2 Ghz Athlon 64 does better on benchmark tests than a 3.4 Ghz P4 is because it has a shorter integer pipeline. A long pipeline is good for streaming-media apps, but it tries to predict a lot. That means that on typical business applications it has to flush and reload many times because of predicting wrongly (since business apps are unpredictable). Therefore, a P4 doesn't do as well on some of the tests as the Athlon does.

2004-03-28T13:11:00.000-05:00

create the most amazing computer websites of the future and show them to everyone who reads this blog!

2004-03-24T16:34:00.000-05:00

Microsoft fined $613 Million! : ( Oh well, they have $50 Billion in cash reserves anyway. : )

2004-03-21T14:48:00.000-05:00

INTEL PENTIUM 4 VERSUS AMD ATHLON XP - I have uncovered the truth!

Many people argue whether Athlon XP or Intel P4 processors are the best.
Let's see which one is the best.
The basics: Athlon XP 3000+ = Intel P4 3 Gigahertz... or not?
Note: chapters 1-5 have been deleted in order to save space and get you to the good stuff!

Chapter 6: Conclusion
Well, I'll just present the data in a little list...
Athlon XP: A computer with $200 cheaper than a P4 computer. Performance is equivalent to the P4, as in the graph below.
Intel P4 (with HT Technology): $200 more expensive than the Athlon XP. Performance is equivalent to that of the Athlon XP, as in the graph below.
Intel P4 Extreme Edition: $800 more than a normal P4. $200 more than Athlon 64 FX. 15% gain in performance from Intel Pentium 4. Equivalent performance as Athlon 64 FX.
Athlon 64: Same cost as Intel P4. Performance is equal, if not better, than P4, but this has 64 bit technology.
Athlon 64 FX: $600 more than Athlon XP, $200 less than intel p4 extreme. Performance same as Pentium 4 Extreme Edition. Performance 15% better than a normal amd athlon 64.
And now... the big question.
Athlon or Intel?
It seems that the two processors have their good things and bad things. But, I say Athlon. Here is a fair chart, and I favor Athlons becuase they are so much cheaper!

2004-03-21T14:47:00.000-05:00

WOW WOW WOW!!!

2004-03-21T14:42:00.000-05:00

Many people argue whether Intel or Athlon processors are the best.

2004-03-21T10:55:00.000-05:00

My dream computer is this:

Hard Drive 1:
500 GB Raid
Hard Drive 2:
500 GB Raid
Hard Drive 3:
500 GB Raid
Hard Drive 4:
500 GB Raid
8 Media Drives, all 500 GB Raid.
(Total internal Data Storage=6 Terabytes
8 USB 2.0
USB 2.0 1: 8 Megapixel Camera
USB 2.0 2,3,4,5: 4 1 TB external hard drives
USB 2.0 6: 2 GB Memory Key
USB 2.0 7: 30 GB MP3 Player
USB 2.0 8: 40 GB iPOD
10 IEE1394 (2.1 Gigabits per second):
IEE1394 1,2,3,4,5: 5 Canon XL 1S 3CCD Mini DV Camcorders ($5000 pro camcorders)

(20 spare camcorders, all camorders with top gear)
IEE1394 6,7,8: 3 1 TB External hard drives
(Total Data Storage=13 Terabytes)
IEE1394 9: External 52X CD burner/DVD drive
IEE1394 10: Unnocupied
Video Card:
NVIDIA Quadro FX 3000 256 MB w/ dual DVI ($5000 video card)
Awesome Redundant Power Supplies
Sound Blaster Audigy ZS 2 Platinum PRO!!! (THX Certified)
RAM:
32 GB DDR
Processors:
64 XEON 3.06 Ghz Processors (200 gigahertz of processing power)
Optical Drive 1:
16X DVD-burner, once available in September
Optical Drive 2:
Blu-Ray 50 Gigabyte Burner, once available in September
Optical Drive 3:
8X Ultimate DVD burner (burns DVDs in less than 7 minutes), all format burning
Optical Drive 4:
Unnocupied
Floppy Drive Included
Zip Disk Drive included
Best motherboard available
Best Cooling Systems available
Remote Control
7.1 Creative Gigaworks THX Certified Speakers (700 watt, $500)

TV Tuner
Monitor 1:
30'' CRT ($4500 Flatscreen)
Monitor 2:
30'' CRT ($4500 Flatscreen)
Surge Protection:
2 Belkin Universal UPS 1200 VAs with $500,000 warranty with serial and USB ports
Multimedia Keyboard
Optical Best Available 8 button Mouse
$250 Headphones
Wireless internet
Wireless network
Removable Storages:
500 Mini-DVs (for video camera)
500 50 GB blu-rays (when available)
500 3 GB Multimedia Cards (for digital camera)
500 DVD-Rs
100 DVD-RWs
700 CD-Rs
200 CD-RWs
200 Zip Disks
200 Floppy Disks
50,000 sheets of office paper
5,000 sheets of photo paper
Paper supplies and stuff, book covers, etc.
Nice and Expensive Packages for all removable storages
Best printer (connected to any unoccupied outlet)
Software:
Windows XP Media Center Edition (Just becuase it costs a lot)
Abode Video Pro
tens of thousands of dollars worth of software

2004-03-18T16:02:00.000-05:00

Challenge: Decide what type of dream computer you would get if you had, say, $50,000 or so to spend.

Mine:

-2 3.4 Ghz P4EE (Pentium 4 Extreme Edition)s overclocked (with a 2 MB L3 cache and 800 Mhz system bus for each)!
-2 500 GB RAID hard drives
-1 external 1 terabyte hard drive
-10 GB of DDRAM
-DVD+/-burner
-DVD/CD drive
-nVidia GeForce FX Graphics Card
-An awesome sound card (whatever)
-Monitor- $20,000 Plasma TV
-THX Certified Surround Sound System
If there's anything I've forgotten, tell me.

2004-03-13T13:25:00.000-05:00

Chapter 2: firewire versus usb
Here is a larger chart of firewire speeds:

2004-03-13T11:52:00.000-05:00

Imagine! This is a PC that can be bought for less than $2000: (It's a compaq)

Intel Pentium 4 with Hyper Threading Technology at 3.4 Ghz qith 512 K Cache (best P4 ever)
Windows XP
3 year warranty
1 Gigabyte of RAM
160 GB 7200 RPM Ultra Hard Drive
8X (wow) DVD burner/reader /CD burner/reader combo (best available)
48X CD burner, 48X CD reader (seperate drive)
Floppy Drive included
256 MB DDR ATI Radeon 9600 w/ tv out; dvi in; best available video card ever
Sound Blaster Audigy 2 with Firewire ports (THX certified)
17'' LCD FLAT PANEL display
6 speaker sorround sound (Altec Lansing) One of the best speakers ever!!!
Normal Keyboard
Optical Mouse
Microsoft Work Suite with Word 2002, Works, Encarta, etc.
pack of 5 DVD-Rs
pack of 3 DVD-RWs
and more!!!!!!

2004-03-12T16:47:00.000-05:00

I say Firewire b (IEEE 1394b) would be the best type of data transfer you could imagine. 3.2 Gbps! It blows the others out of the water!!!

2004-03-11T19:43:00.001-05:00

Firewire Versus USB 2.0
Chapter 1:
Which is faster?

It seems that, on average, firewire is faster.
to be continued...

2004-03-09T19:08:00.000-05:00

And now... the price guessing on a computer!!!
Look at these tech specs:
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2.66 Ghz with 533 Mhz Front Side Bus
OS: Microsoft Windows XP
RAM (memory): 1 GB DDR
Hard Drive: 120 GB 7200 RPM
Floppy Drive: Yes
Optical Drives: DVD-RW/CD-RW combo drive and a seperate fast CD drive
Software 1: My DVD Deluxe (edit video, burn DVDs, etc.)
Keyboard: Normal, 104 keys
Mouse: Optical USB
Software 2: Microsoft Works (Encarta, Word, Works, Money, etc.)
Software 3: McAfee Security 90 day trial
Monitor: 17 inch Flat Panel (an awesome monitor)
Sound Card: Sound Blaster Live 5.1
Video Card: Intergrated Intel Extreme Graphics
Speakers: Speakers with subwoofer
Software 4: Real Player 14 day trial
Software 5: Microsoft Plus! Digital Media Edition
Software 6: Dell Jukebox
Software 7: Dell Picture Studio
DVD/CDs: 3 DVD-RWs
Ports: USBs, etc. and 3 IEEE1394 (firewire) ports
Software 8: 6 months of AOL
Modem: 56K Telephony Modem
Network Interface: Intergrated Ethernet
Warranty: 3 Years!
Printer: Dell Printer w/ Cable
Surge Protectors: Belkin Surge Master 7 Outlet
... and now the moment of truth ....
What will be the price?
$5,000
$500
$4,000?
The price, in US$s, is:
6 in the ones digit
0 in the tens digit
8 in the hundreds digit
1 in the thousands digit.
$1,806.

2004-03-06T15:48:00.000-05:00

Awesome dream computer!!! I want it.

2004-03-06T15:47:00.000-05:00

I'm a big Ipod mini fan.

2004-03-06T14:33:00.000-05:00

What do you think of this dream computer:
(make sure Aaron sees this)

Processors
5 3.0 Ghz Intel Xeon Processors with 4 MB Caches
(A total of 15 Ghz and 20 MB Cache)

Memory
32 Gigabytes DDR Mirroring

Monitor
21 inches

Hard Drives
12 146 GB 10,000 RPM SCSI Hard Drives
(A total of 1752 GB, with 10,000 RPM)

Everything else the best available.
And the cost is $50,000!

I also found over 40 TB Data Storage available!!!!!

2004-03-06T14:28:00.000-05:00

Hi.

2004-03-05T16:52:00.000-05:00

Welcome to Cool Tech Discuss. I'm the administrator, Geoffrey.