Q. I am shopping for a new computer. I’m comparing a Pentium II with chip speed of 266 MHz and 32 megabytes of RAM with a Pentium II with a chip speed of only 233 MHz, but 64 megabytes of RAM. Which is more important, RAM or chip speed?
Boris Geeza @cmg.fcnbd.com
A. I’ve got your number, Mr. B., and it’s 233 MHz. RAM gives your computer far more wham than do a few more megahertz in the chip’s clock cycle, and so it is better to get that 64 megabytes of RAM and 233 MHz than to lavish funds on a 266 MHz (or 300 MHz) screamer and then skimp on the memory it will use to perform its most speed-intensive functions.
When your RAM maxes out because you are doing such now-routine tasks as running Microsoft Word in one window, the Netscape Communicator Web browser in another and America Online in a third, a PC compensates by off-loading parts of the code for those programs onto the hard drive, which greatly slows things down.
With lots of RAM, multiple programs run lightning fast because they don’t need to off-load onto the slow hard drive.
By contrast, speed trials show very little difference in how the new Pentium IIs perform based on whether they offer 233 MHz or 266 MHz or 300 MHz.
PC World magazine’s respected PC WorkBench survey of the best machines, in the December issue, showed that all three machines were virtually identical running Word, Excel, Picture Publisher, Paradox, Word Perfect and 1-2-3.
You’re far better off to save $400 by getting the 233 MHz machine you describe.
And if you couldn’t find a 233 MHz with 64 megs, you’d be better off adding some RAM chips than moving up the Pentium pecking order to a 266 or 300.
Q. I am considering buying an encyclopedia and dictionary software but don’t know which one to buy. I would like to get the best one available for an adult.
Stephen Galayda @flash.net
A. One of the happiest problems facing computer shoppers this year is which of some really glorious CD-ROM encyclopedias to select.
IMHO (in my humble opinion) there is only one answer to your question for adults–Encyclopaedia Britannica (www.eb.com). For $125, the two-disc Britannica CD 98 package includes the full text of all 32 volumes of the venerated reference set, as well as some marvelous Internet enhancements. You also get a searchable version of Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. For adults, this just wins hands down.
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But, if you’re shopping with children in mind, I’d point you at another Chicago-based outfit, World Book 1998 Multimedia Encyclopedia, with a suggested retail price of $70 and a brilliant collection of multimedia features that take full advantage of your PC’s graphical powers to do things like present time lines, world atlas information and other reference material.
It would seem that old rivalry where Britannica boasted superior scholarship and serious content but World Book shone as a kid’s title has slopped over into cyberspace.
Q. I often try to send files from my computer at work to my home. At work we are on an NT network and at home I use Microsoft Word as my editor. When I open my e-mail at home, I get a message indicating that my editor cannot read the file because of the MIME format. Please help.
John W. Williams @oceusa.com
A. MIME, the acronym for Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions, may be the worst thing to hit the mail since the envelope with the little glassine window that tells you there’s a bill inside. If two computers are in perfect synch, MIME works great and lets you move everything from pictures to complex spreadsheets as binary computer code attached to ordinary e-mail messages.
But more often than not, one machine zigs while the other zags and MIME gives you garbage and error messages that make the e-mail useless.
As long as you’re dealing with just words, a great solution is to simply write your stuff in the word processor at work and then chose the “select all” and “copy” commands to put the words in your clipboard. Then open the e-mail and select “paste” to drop the words into the text of the message. It will come out on the other end as regular computer text called ASCII rather than the garbage that actually is the codes that the word processor adds to a document to handle fancy formatting, fonts, and other bells and whistles.
Q. I have a Packard Bell computer with a Pentium 75 MHz processor and 24 MB of RAM. I recently installed Windows 95 and noticed a significant decrease in performance. The most obvious example is during the boot-up process–it takes about three times longer to get to the opening screen vs. 3.11. I followed the recommendations in the Windows 95 install, which suggests that you leave 3.11 on your system. I’m wondering if having two operating systems on my hard drive is contributing to this speed problem. If so, what if any risks are there with totally eliminating 3.11?
Jim Bobus @dataflo.net
A. There’s a lame saying in the computer business that goes: “That’s not a bug, it’s a feature.” Critics sometimes call it Windoze 95 because the 32-bit operating system just flat-out slows down earlier generations of computers like yours, a machine that a mere two years ago was top of the line and now is a relic.
If you want your machine to be fast, the answer is not to remove the 16-bit Windows 3.11 operating system but rather to get rid of Windows 95. In this writer’s opinion, however, the somewhat lengthy boot-up is worth the trouble.
Q. What’s the difference between a cheaper scanner ($100 or so) and a more expensive one ($500 or even $600)? They all seem to be either 24-Bit Color or 30-Bit color. Most of them seem to scan in 300×600 dots per inch (dpi), although I do note that the more expensive ones scan in a higher dpi. . . . Does that really make a difference?
Ed Spletzer @ Worldnet.com
A. Your answer lies in realistically deciding why you want a scanner. Unless you really intend to scan in glossy photographs and then print them out on a sophisticated color ink jet printer, a good brand name and a low price should be your guiding lights.
Most of us wind up relishing our scanners because they let us capture images that we find in our photo collections or in newspapers, books and magazines, and then suck them into our computers for viewing on-screen and for showing off. The largest single use made of scanners may very well be to produce custom wallpaper photos of our kids and grandkids on our PC and Mac desktops.
The deal is that a monitor can’t display much above 75 dpi anyway, so you only need the higher resolution for stuff you’re going to print out on glossy paper using a color printer. Here you need at least 600 dpi, so a more costly scanner is required. Otherwise, low-ball it.
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Contact Jim Coates via e-mail at [email protected] or snail mail at the baiduhai, Room 400, 435 N. Michigan Ave., Chicago 60611. If you think you’ve got a better answer to any of these questions, add your point of view at www.chicago.tribune.com/go/askjim.