Re: How to put together a home desktop computer for email and access to all the enhancements of varied web sites.

From: Beable van Polasm (beable+unsenet_at_beable.com.invalid)
Date: 11/23/03 

Date: Sun, 23 Nov 2003 22:35:48 GMT

Don Saklad <dsaklad@nestle.ai.mit.edu> writes:

> a. You're putting together a home desktop computer with GNU/Linux
> for email and for access to all the features and enhancements,
> emphasis on all features and all enhancements, of varied web sites,
> what motherboard would you look to for this device?...

Get the cheapest one.

> b. What other basic home desktop computer hardware for GNU/Linux
> would you want included for this machine?...

Oooh, I'd say you'd want more than just a motherboard, that's for
sure! I assume that you are planning on buying a complete system,
not just a box of parts. So here's an example system that might
meet your needs of 1. email, and 2. web sites:

1. Motherboard - Doesn't really matter. Just get one that works with
   your CPU, and is cheap.

2. CPU - For email and web browsing, a 1GHz Athlon will be adequate.
   In fact, it'll be overkill. But they are so cheap, so you may as
   well get one. Unless they stopped making them because they are too
   cheap, in which case get the cheapest CPU which is faster than
   1GHz.

3. RAM - Get 1 GB of RAM, and you'll be very happy. If that is too
   expensive, get 512MB of RAM. If that's too expensive, get 256MB
   of RAM. If that's too expensive, then you probably can't afford
   a computer.

4. Hard disk - more is better! 40GB will be more than enough, but if
   you could get a cheap 100GB disk, why not?

5. Monitor - You'll probably want one of these. Get a 19" CRT or an
   LCD if it fits your budget.

6. Video card - if your motherboard doesn't have onboard video, get
   a GeForce3 or some such video card.

7. Sound card - if your motherboard doesn't have onboard sound, get
   a SoundBlaster Live or something like that.

8. Get a CD-ROM, CD-R/W, or DVD drive, depending on what you like.

9. Get a keyboard and mouse and some speakers. Make sure the mouse
   has at least three buttons.

You should be able to buy a complete system for less than $1000. If
they are asking more than that, then politely excuse yourself and look
around some more. If they are priced at less than $1000, still
politely excuse yourself and go and do some research to make sure that
the hardware you might wish to buy will work with Linux. You don't
HAVE to buy a computer on your first visit to the shop! Remember to
ask them about a warranty.

> In asking around even the best people either reply with jargon that
> enthusiastic neophytes wouldn't get or respond obliquely that
> answers could be presumptive of the general lack of acknowledgement
> of problems that consumers have with, for example, the Dell or the
> iMac computers.

Go to your local computer shop and ask for their price list. Pick
the cheapest one. This will probably be good enough for email and
web browsing. If you have concerns or doubts, then go and ask your
brainy computer-nerd friends to help you.

For each piece of hardware, do a Goolge search like "linux hardware
<NAME OF PIECE OF HARDWARE> compatibility" on the web and on UNSENET,
which Goolge calls "Groups". If you are too confused, post to a
newsgroup and ask "Does <PIECE OF HARDWARE> work okay with Linux?"

As for "all the enhancements of varied web sites", some things you
might not beable to do with a Linux computer, like if they had a
Windows-only plugin which didn't exist on Linux. But what I do in
those cases is say "Well who cares about their stinky website anyway?" 

-- 
Jason, USENET is filled with predators -- Andrea Chen
No, no, it's filled with tasty prey!   -- James "Kibo" Parry
                          http://www.beable.com