Quote:
|
Originally Posted by lookout123
I am going to replace my home computer in the next month or so and thought i would delve into the depths of knowledge known as the cellar.
|
Keep the desktop. Supplement it with a laptop. Use the desktop as a fixed workstation, a data backup archive, and for other hardware features.
Laptop should have no floppy. It should have a CD-ROM minimum - preferrably a DVD-RW. A wireless card providing 802.11B and G. A network port. Conventional modem. USB. 80 Gb disk minimum. 512 memory installed all on only one SIMM - so that the second SIMM slot is available for a future upgrade (some laptops provided 512 by using the spare SIMM slot for two 256Mb).
To print, backup files, etc, the connection to desktop can be wireless or hardwire. IOW the laptop can be used adjacent to the desktop or in another room. Floppy diskette is also accessed via desktop machine.
Internet access also can either be via the wireless router or via ICS and the desktop. Numerous advantages to this.
Laptop should include that 'rubber eraser' to act as a mouse. It tends to be faster than the touch plate. But where the laptop is mostly used, a USB type mouse can be used. IOW when the laptop goes mobile, the mouse stays at the usual laptop workspot. Laptop can use any of the many nice mice sold by Logitech. One that looks like a stick to others with trackballs, and the conventional mouse that instead uses optics. All are better than the old style rolling ball mouse. IOW when the laptop is used in its usual work area, then a better mouse makes laptop easier to use.