• Why Change?
• The Hardware Decision
• Buying a New Computer
• Upgrading an Existing Computer
• A Word About CD ROMs
• Software Decisions

 Why Change?

Your current hardware and software work, so why change ?

This is a difficult question to answer in the abstract. The world turns around, changing as we work. It happens in small increments; a piece of hardware here, a software improvement there, then an innovative technology appears. Time passes; hardware gets faster, software more functional, and technology lets us function in new ways.

 One day you look up from the work you are doing, on equipment that still works, to find that the world around you has essentially changed. Your options are to keep on, keeping on, or to join the new forces headed in new directions, discovering how these trends benefit and improve your current work tasks.

 The Internet is one of these new trends. It is a substantial, innovative, and fundamental shift in the way computing and communications and networking happens. Every home and work place is finding ways to respond to these changes.

This is why you might change your computer hardware and software programs, even though what you currently have, works.

Upgrade vs. replace decisions must be made in light of the needs of the whole office and in consultation with your technical consultant.

The computer that is going to connect your office to the Internet needs to have a certain minimum capacity. This capacity may be obtained by either purchasing a new machine with all the features needed or by upgrading an existing machine to meet the requirements.

Presumably, if a new machine is purchased, it is selected to have all the required features.

If an existing machine is going to be upgraded, more decisions need to be made. There is always an interesting play of power, speed, memory, disk space, communication needs in the operating system you use. Sometimes increasing just one element will arrive at the desired result. Other times, several components within the computer must be upgraded to improve performance sufficiently.

Will the upgrade cost more than the present equipment is worth? When several components will require upgrading, this question about return-on-investment must be asked. A second question might be, Are there particular reasons to proceed with the upgrade anyway?

In general, it is generally not cost effective to upgrade a computer less than a 486. As many machines in the field now are 486 machines, this is good news.

An additional element that can influence the upgrade/buy decision is the intended purpose of the machine. Sometimes an older machine in an office is upgraded just so it can work in concert with other machines in the office. In another instance, a similar machine may be replaced because of the software it will be required to run.

If you already know that your office is going to buy a new computer, the following guidelines will help ensure that your new computer meets basic standards and allow a graceful connection with the Internet to take place. As a new computer will be added to equipment already owned and to the particular programmatic activity of current staff, a variety of options for purchasing are available. The table below provides a comfortable range of options.

Details about Table items mentioned above:

• Processor/Speed: While a 486 machine will handle the task of connecting to the Internet, it allows little room for growth. When buying a new computer, do not consider less than a Pentium 100 based machine as a low minimum and if it will complement other faster machines in the office.

• Memory: The minimum standard for running Windows 95 or a graphical Internet browser like Netscape is 16mb of ram. Although these programs will run with less memory, it is not recommended. The current standard is now 32mb of RAM.

• Hard Drive: Programs just keep getting bigger. And so do the hard drives we store them on. A 240mb hard drive at one time seemed impossible to fill. Now, anything under 1.2gigabytes of space just too small to even consider purchasing,. 2.1gb drives are the current norm.

• Monitor & Video Memory: The type of monitor that comes with your new computer is not as critical to the operation of the software. However, keep in mind how much time is spent staring at that screen every day. A larger screen allows more information to be displayed, or allows the same amount to be displayed in larger size. If considering a 17" monitor, be sure there sufficient space on the desktop to hold it.

• Modem: Some computers come with an internal modem already installed. However, if you are a novice computer user, an external modem may be more practical. It is easier to see and work with if something needs adjusting. In addition, if the modem needs repair, it can easily be separated from the machine; an internal modem would require sending the whole computer. Whichever is selected, be sure the modem is a 33.6kbps speed.

• CD ROM Drive: Just as modems are becoming standard in new computers, so are CD ROM drives. Even though the CD ROM is not required for Internet access, it is still a peripheral that is needed in every small office. Most software now comes for installation on CD ROMs rather than on floppy disks. CD ROMs also give you access to huge databases and powerful multi-media programs.

If it is economical to upgrade your computer, you are likely to be considering upgrading the memory, hard drive, modem, or all three.

Memory:

This is the easiest and most effective upgrade you can make. Short of changing the computer's processor, no other upgrade offers such a significant improvement in performance. Either 16mb or 32mb of RAM make a good upgrade choice. Bear in mind, two other factors: New memory must have a physical slot in the computer to hold it. Confirming the number of slots available may require opening the computer to look. Secondly, computers often require that memory chips be installed in pairs. This may mean taking out what is presently there, and installing two new memory chips to achieve the desired RAM.

The price for memory changes frequently and is highly dependent on vendor, date purchased, type of computer, memory already present, and slots available. As a general rule of thumb, 1mb of memory will cost $20, so a 4mb SIMM would be $80. These prices are only ball park figures. The actual figure could be half this or one and half times as much.

You can determine how much memory your machine currently has by following these steps:

Hard Drive:

This is the second most common upgrade. Every year, programs get smarter, more powerful, and bigger. At the same time, you accumulate more files that must be stored. And, if you upgrade a computer to access the Internet with a browser, you will need still more disk space for caching files. A 240mb hard drive will seem small. A new drive might be just the answer.

A 1.6gb (gigabytes) or 2.1gb (gigabytes) hard drive can easily be installed. This will give ample room for the present, as well as room to grow. (Technically, a smaller hard drive might suffice but if upgrading in already in progress, it really makes sense to get the recommended size. The cost differential is not great.)

One note. The BIOS on older machines may not allow installation of a larger hard drive without the installation of additional software to manage the larger disk drive. The manufacturer of the large hard drive usually provides this software.

The cost of a 1.6gb hard drive is about $270.

Information about the hard drive in your current system will be helpful. You can determine the capacity of your drive with the following steps:

Modem:

A modem performs two important jobs. It accepts information coming from your computer in digital form and transforms it to an analog form that can be carried on a standard telphone line. Using the communications software on your computer, a modem also dials the number of another modem and establishes a communications link so information can be passed from computer to computer over a standard telephone line.

The Cost of a Modem: Under $200.00

Other Modem Factors to consider:
1. Modem speed: Modems come with the capacity to transfer information at various speeds. Familiar modem speeds are 2400bps (bytes per second or baud), 9600bps and 33.6kbps (kilobytes per second). At one time, 2400 baud modems were considered adequate for transfering text or small data files. But, they are no longer adequate for the growing amounts information that is passed from computer to computer. The 9600 baud and 14.4kbps modems are adequate for passing simple text, like e-mail, but are too slow for the large amount of information accessed by an Internet browser. The 33.6 baud modems are really the only modem of choice for your access to Internet.

2. Internal vs External: A modem may be purchased as either an internal or an external modem. Internal modems save space on the desktop but are more difficult to support via telephone. It is usually easier to figure out what is happening on an external modem. External modems offer some other advantages as well. You can shut off an external modem independently of the computer, move the modem from one computer to another more easily, and carry the modem for use on the road.

3. Modem Manufacturer: University of Illinois, Cooperative Extension Service has had consistently good experience with US Robotics modems. The US Robotics Sportster 33.6 has been a modem of choice for Internet access ($189). If you wish to go with a brand other than US Robotics, you may wish to consider buying the same brand that your ISP uses. This is because many modems connect more quickly and are more fully compatible with modems from the same manufacturer.

4. Modems on Older Computers: If an external modem is used on an older computer (ie Dell 486), the communications speed of the connector on the back of the computer must also be checked. The modem connector may be running off an older, slower UART chip (8550) that will not run properly with newer, faster modems.

   The UART of your current machine is easy to check.

Processor:

Overdrive chips are chips that are installed in your current machine. They can turn a 486 machine into a faster machine, more like a Pentium machine. These overdrive chips are not the first choice when upgrading. They can have heat problems and incompatibility issues which are difficult to trace.

A Word about CD ROMs

A standard CD ROM holds 680mb which is equivalent to 485 of the 32@ diskettes usually popped into the A: drive. This capacity to hold large amounts of information makes it obvious why CD ROMs are becoming more useful in the computer world. CD ROMs are especially effective for installing new software, accessing large databases, providing images or animation files, or playing interactive games.

An internal CD ROM drive is a space saver, but if your computer is not handy for popping CDs in and out of; an external CD ROM is an excellent choice. It can be placed in a more convenient spot. It can also be moved from one computer to another. If an external CD ROM drive needs repair, it can be easily sent in for maintenance while continuing to use the computer to which it was connected.

Windows 95
- go ahead with it
- don't wait on Windows 97; it has been postponed until 1998

Web Browser
- ongoing war between Netscape and Microsoft
- keep an updated browser of whichever one you have

Word processor
- get a current Window-based word processor

Purchasing
-There are many brands of computers available that have Pentium 100 machines. The University of Illinois, Cooperative Extension Service has had consistently good experience with computers from Dell Corporation . For those thinking about purchasing, this is a handy place to try out various combinations of computer components and see how the price changes.

Feedback about this web site is always welcome.
Send mail to gilbertr@uiuc.edu with questions or comments.