[WriteLog] Ports

[Jim Reisert AD1C]

There are both pros and cons to building your own system.  I've gone both
routes over the years.

My first PC was a complete pre-assembled system, then I played around with
ugprades, home-assembled stuff etc. for the next 7 years.  In Feb. 1997 I
bought my first Dell and never looked back.

However, recently I have been piecing systems together from Tiger Direct and
GoogleGear.  For around $200 you can get a case, motherboard, AMD CPU (1.5GHz+)
and 128MB of memory.  Then for an additional $150 or so, add a hard drive,
floppy drive, CDROM, keyboard and mouse.  Just add operating system!

Some of Tiger's MBs have built-in video and audio, some don't.  Some even have
an ISA slot for those legacy DVPs or ISA sound cards (for RITTY).  Two good
ones to look at are the K7VEM-Pro and the K7VTA-Pro.

Remember, time is money.  The money you save on parts may be lost in trying to
get non-compatible hardware working together, or surfing the web trying to find
the best deals.  If you piece a system together yourself, generally you are on
your own if something breaks (i.e. you can't call Dell or E-mail technical
support).  Only you can decide what is right for you.

73 - Jim AD1C


=====
Jim Reisert AD1C, 7 Charlemont Court, North Chelmsford, MA 01863
USA +978-251-9933, <jjreisert@alum.mit.edu>, http://www.ad1c.com
PGP Fingerprint: D8E2 3D78 339F A7F1 8C13  1193 B5D1 4FB6 79D1 70DC