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| Author |
Message |
| 25 new of 193 responses total. |
keesan
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response 140 of 193:
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Jul 26 12:54 UTC 1999 |
Bill has found drivers for our three sound cards, one of which he says is plug
n play (will not fit the Gateway computer). He decided to go for the 16-bit
instead of 8-bit model. We just found another 8-bit model. Do the 8 and 16
bit models just differ in speed? Jim says 16-bit in theory gives more
fidelity. Of what use is a sound card without a CD-ROM drive or internet?
We got one out of a 386SX-16MHz. Would people appreciate them for Netscape?
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gull
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response 141 of 193:
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Jul 26 15:46 UTC 1999 |
Sound cards are mostly good for games and for playing little noises in
Windows. I use mine a lot for listening to MP3s and RealAudio, too, but
neither of those are viable on a 386-class machine.
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n8nxf
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response 142 of 193:
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Jul 27 11:16 UTC 1999 |
I have a sound an 8 bit sound card that I use, under DOS, with a little
program called sbfreq that does audio spectral analysis. My father-in-law
uses a 16 bit sound card to do RTTY communications on the amateur bands.
I have a little program on my Mac that uses a sound card to decode WEFAX
(weather fax) and display the image on the screen. I have a friend that
wrote a Mac program that decodes CW using the sound capabilities built
into the Mac. I'm trying to twist some arms and get someone to write a
program so that a basic Mac can be used to for TDD or TTY communications.
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keesan
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response 143 of 193:
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Jul 27 18:21 UTC 1999 |
I found a Slovak dictionary website that requires a sound card to hear the
pronunciations, that works fine in a 386.
One of our customers may be giving her CD-ROM computer to her little brother,
as they just determined that the bowling game that his grandmother found him
will work on a 1X drive (she hunted hard for Win3.1 compatibility). What
percentage of computer games will work on 1X? The sister is considering
getting a faster computer without CD-ROM drive instead, as I offered her one
plus a CD deck for the same price and she only used it for music CDs. On top
of which her brother is impatient to get a computer that he can access a
weather website on, he is a weather freak apparently.
We ran some tests and found that a 386SX-16 loads Windows nearly as fast and
Works faster than a 386DX-16 PS/2 (which is supposed to be twice as fast).
The SX has 8M RAM and the DX 4M RAM. I am wondering in this case whether a
386DX40 with 8M RAM might run Windows, WOrks and Netscape faster than a
486SX25 with 6M RAM, as the sister is thinking about whether to buy the
386DX40 or even a 386DX33 to replace her 486SX25. I do not want to give her
wrong information, but expect there is little speed difference and the 386s
might actually run Netscape better because of the extra RAM.
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gull
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response 144 of 193:
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Jul 27 19:27 UTC 1999 |
The extra RAM will probably help Netscape more than the extra speed;
however, the only way to be sure is to try it. The 486 is technically a
much more advanced chip than the 386, but a 486SX/25 isn't much faster than
a 386DX/40 in my experience.
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keesan
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response 145 of 193:
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Jul 27 21:06 UTC 1999 |
She is coming in tomorrow and we can run experiments then on all three
computers (486SX25 and the 386DX 33 and 40) and report back. Except it means
moving modems around a bit, too.
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rcurl
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response 146 of 193:
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Jun 27 05:35 UTC 2001 |
So, let's revisit this question. I am going to have to upgrade from
a Power Macintosh 7200/120 because of speed and memory limitations,
as I deal more with the web and graphics (a DSL may also be in the
near future). But it is a very workable PowerMac with 1.2 G HD,
PCI boards for video (ATI XClaim) and USB (x4) and 96 M RAM. The monitor
(17") is new, so I'd keep that for a Mac G3 or G4. Both can go on an
Ethernet LAN. So, what would be the best use for the old computer
sitting on the LAN without a monitor of its own? I haven't ever
set up anything except LANs for file transfer, so haven't thought
of multi-functionality. Ideas?
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prp
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response 147 of 193:
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Jun 28 08:00 UTC 2001 |
My first thought was disk backup, but you could put your old disk in the new
machine for that. How about an Airport base station?
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rcurl
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response 148 of 193:
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Jun 28 15:21 UTC 2001 |
The 1.2 G HD is big enough for all my files and then some. It is
applications that are killing me. So applications would go on the new
computer, and documents would be read to and from the old. Also, that way
backups of just documents could be done, as applications could be reloaded
from CD-ROMs if something happened to them (how does one do routine
backups of a 10 G disk anyway?). But to do backup from the old computer, I
think it would need a monitor: I'm not sure if I could run the backup
program on the old computer from the new one over the LAN (?).
What's an Airport base station?
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n8nxf
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response 149 of 193:
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Jun 28 15:30 UTC 2001 |
Monitors are cheap from Property Disposition. I'd like to put a USB port on
my 7600/132. You used just a standard PC PCI card? How about a driver
for the USB board. (As usual, I'm a few years behind the tide when it
comes to personal computers.)
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gelinas
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response 150 of 193:
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Jun 28 17:05 UTC 2001 |
Airport is Apple's wireless solution. The Airport Base Station acts as
the hub/bridge for the network. (I have mine connected to the ISDN adapter,
to support the iBook; the PowerBook is cabled to the ISDN adapter, as is
the NT box, if/when the latter is turned on.)
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rcurl
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response 151 of 193:
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Jun 28 19:10 UTC 2001 |
I just read about Airport today, while looking at G4s. Seems to me that a
G4 "Cube" would fit my needs (and cheaper than my first Mac SE). And, all
that deskspace freed up. But my SCSI scanner, ZIP drive, serial and
AppleTalk printers and USB CD-RW would have to live with the PowerMac 7200
on the LAN (what was it I said about freeing up space?). The Cube does
have only 2 USB ports, and 1 would be used for the keyboard (or does it
use one of the Firewire ports?). Say, the G4 could sit on TOP of the
7200, and then....but then the Stylewriter 1500 would have to go (after
I use up the ink....decisions, decisions, decisions....).
Klaus, I used just a "standard" PC PCI card. Specifically, it is a
Xircom/Entreda 4 Port. A driver comes with it (of course, for use
on a Mac). This card requires Mac OS 8.6 or later.
I did buy a "cheap" monitor from P.D. when my original Multisync lost
its red gun...and found that this was a fault of the model and the
replacement lost its red gun too after a few days.....
While I'm upgrading...should I be looking at DSL from Ameritech or Cable
from Comcast?
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gull
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response 152 of 193:
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Jun 28 20:49 UTC 2001 |
I've never had a cable modem, so I can't say which is better, but I've
been pretty happy with my Ameritech DSL service. I chose the self-
install method and it was simple and took around half an hour,
including calling to activate my account and installing the software.
Reliability is reasonably good. I've had a few outages, but they've
always been short, on the order of a few minutes. My only caution is
if you get this service, buy it for the connection only. Don't expect
the email to work, because it won't. Don't expect the USENET news
service to work, though it does most of the time. Don't call Ameritech
to complain if either of them fails, because they'll just point out
that the contract doesn't require them to provide either one.
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scott
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response 153 of 193:
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Jun 28 21:11 UTC 2001 |
From what I've heard, don't expect to be able to use an older Mac monitor on
a Cube.
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rcurl
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response 154 of 193:
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Jun 29 00:34 UTC 2001 |
What is required? My monitor is a Mitsubishi "Diamond Plus 73" (VGA).
Well, that is a monitor for a Mac, but I guess not a Mac monitor, so
it should work? Say, can I duplex the monitor somehow so it can
display the desktops of both machines simultaneously?
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jp2
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response 155 of 193:
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Jun 29 19:55 UTC 2001 |
This response has been erased.
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rcurl
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response 156 of 193:
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Jun 29 21:42 UTC 2001 |
No DSL - not into my area yet. Maybe by end of year.
The G4 Cube seems being discontinued, awaiting a new generation of
something. At least, UM Computer Sales can't get any more.
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prp
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response 157 of 193:
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Jun 29 22:49 UTC 2001 |
You can get A/B switches that will switch both keyboard and monitor.
The G4 cube has both VGA and ADC connectors. ADC = Apple Display Connector.
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prp
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response 158 of 193:
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Jun 29 23:05 UTC 2001 |
Re 152, How much is Ameritech DSL? And of course what speed is your
connection?
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gull
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response 159 of 193:
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Jun 30 04:55 UTC 2001 |
Ameritech DSL is $49/month. The speed varies depending on how far from
the CO you are. I believe mine is 760kbps/128kbps. (download/upload).
I haven't tried to verify that, though. Most of the time I'm accessing
stuff on other parts of the Internet, which means the bottleneck is
*not* at my ADSL connection, but somewhere further down the pipe.
The actual connection is PPP-over-ethernet. While they don't officially
support anything but Windows and MacOS, once you have things working in
Windows it's not hard to set up Linux or FreeBSD to connect.
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rcurl
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response 160 of 193:
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Jun 30 07:12 UTC 2001 |
Special switches that switch both keyboard and monitor? The monitor
should be no problem, but the two computers have different keyboard
connections - ABD vs USB.
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prp
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response 161 of 193:
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Jun 30 14:59 UTC 2001 |
In that case you may need an ADB<->USB connector. Or maybe a USB board
for the old machine. The possibilities are starting to grow geometricly.
As for the G4 cube ending, MacWorld is about two weeks away. I wuold
expect new product anouncements. I would bet that the CD-ROM, CD-RW, and
DVD-ROM G4 cubes will all be replaced.
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keesan
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response 162 of 193:
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Jun 30 18:51 UTC 2001 |
Ameritech somehow talked some new Russian friends of ours into a $67/month
telephone service consisting of two phone lines with 'the Works' - call
waiting, 3-way calling, their answering machine equivalent, etc., etc. They
thought they needed this in case they were on the computer when someone called
to offer a job. They have no place to forward calls to, and nobody else but
us has called so far, and they have an answering machine. Ameritech did not
think to offer them a DSL service - I presume this includes internet and phone
service, right? Are there any other better places to get DSL service?
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rcurl
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response 163 of 193:
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Jun 30 19:25 UTC 2001 |
Apple is buying back G4 cubes from vendors! Apparently, vendors have
to be bought off on "obsolescent" technology in order to carry the
new. But what does Apple then do with the old G4s? Crush them?
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gull
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response 164 of 193:
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Jul 1 04:06 UTC 2001 |
Re #162: The $49 is on top of my regular phone charges. Ameritech gives
*everyone* 'The Works' when they get a new phone line. If you want to get
rid of it you have to call them and have it taken off, and when you do they
make you sit through a sales pitch for each feature you ask to have
disabled.
There are other places that sell DSL, but they're all going out of business
because it's not in Ameritech's best interest to make life easy for them,
and they have to use Ameritech's lines.
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