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Topic: Compatibility question |
erik
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Posted 4 May 2005 4:47 pm |
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I've been thinking about getting a new desktop or notebook, but tonight I was in Wal-Mart and saw a way to possibly upgrade my cd rom drive to a cd-rw, or dvd/cd-rw drive. Both drives are internal mount and require a minimum PII 400mhz processor. I have a PII based Celeron that runs at 533mhz. Neither box mentions Celeron just PII. Could I assume it will work with my set-up?
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-johnson
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Les Pierce
From:
Shreveport, LA
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Posted 4 May 2005 7:18 pm
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No reason why it wouldn't. I added a CD-RW to my old HP, and it only has a thundering PII running at 400 MHZ. Takes a long time to make a CD, however. It takes around 30 minutes to put 10 songs a CD-R, where the newer eMachine, with an AMD Athalon running at 1.8 GHZ, (also from Walmart), Takes around 8.
The drive is a little slower, but I'm sure the processer is the bottleneck in the HP.
It will work, but you'll want to go ahead and upgrade, sooner or later.
Les
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 5 May 2005 2:44 am
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I have a CD burner in an old PIII (350Mhz) and it works fine, no problems.
The DVD/CD burner should also work just as well.
The only issue MAY be the CD (and DVD) burning software that comes with it. The software may be for Windows XP and if it's not compatible with older Operating Systems (e.g. Win 98/Win ME) then you will have to buy a different CD burning program. The box should say what it's compatible with.
Wal-Mart isn't the only playce to buy a new CD/DVD burner, watch the Sunday Ad's as stores put them on sale cheap at times. I've seen DVD/CD burners as low as $35 in an ad for Office Max. As long as it's an "IDE" internal drive you should be OK and can either replace the CD ROM you have now or if your PC has space, add the burner drive as the 2nd drive.
A couple of setup notes. 1. you need to "strap" (jumper) the device type for whatever you have now. Many PC's, even old Win98 PC's came strapped for "Cable Select" and if yours is set that way, also set the new drive that way. If it uses the older Master/Slave setup then set the new drive like the old one if you are replacing it or if you are adding a 2nd drive the original drive will probably be set as Master and in that case set the 2nd drive as Slave.
Finally, if you have some Operating System other than Windows XP, you will need a DOS driver for the drive, to be able to use the drive in DOS. Most new hardware is basically made for Windows XP, which is NOT DOS based and has built in support for most hardware including CD/DVD drives. |
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erik
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Posted 5 May 2005 2:23 pm
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Thank you for the detailed advice. Surprisingly, the drives i saw seem to be for older machines. Yes they all said minimum WIN98. They also have a lan card for sale. Mine became inoperable when i reinstalled my o.s. for the the 1st time 2 yrs ago. It called for a disk with a serial number and I never received the disk. Anyways, I suppose I am being too cheap. My system bus will still only be 66mhz. The cheapest NEW tower I can buy is at Circuit City - an eMachine with a Celeron, a cd/cd-rw and a system bus of 400mhz for $385. Outdated by today's standards but certainly double the performance of my current set-up. Installing a dvd or rom drive and a new lan drive on my old box would only cost me $50. I think I've been listening to Clark Howard too much.  |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 5 May 2005 3:04 pm
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Although I'm not a Dell fan, they were selling new Dimension 2400's for $299 (it was a special sale but watch for Dell sales). It's a P4 Celeron with basic features but the price is right.
My feelings on Dell are primarliy because of all their proprietary hardware (motherboards, custom OEM versions of SoundBlaster cards, proprietary power supplies, cases, etc). About the only ones that are standard ATX (and they are not 100%) is the XPS "gamer" systems. |
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Bobby Lee
From:
Cloverdale, California, USA
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Posted 5 May 2005 4:59 pm
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The hardware may be proprietary but I've never had a problem with it. The old Forum server was a Dell, and it ran 24/7 for over 4 years without a hitch. I can count 8 Dell computers in my office right now (including several Avery development workstations, an Avery web server and the new Forum server), and I've never had a hardware problem with any of them. Ditto my main machine at home, which is 5 years old.
Contrasted with various HP, IBM and Sony computers I've used, the Dell and Apple machines have been infinitely more reliable. I don't care if something's proprietary or not, as long as it doesn't break down.
Back to the initial question... On slower computers, you have to be careful about running other applications when you're burning CDs. Disconnect from the internet and close all programs except for the CD burning program (Roxio or whatever). It's a pain to have to throw away a CD because of buffer underrun.
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 Bobby Lee - email: quasar@b0b.com - gigs - CDs, Open Hearts
Sierra SD-12 (Ext E9), Williams D-12 Crossover, Sierra S-12 (F Diatonic)
Sierra Laptop 8 (E6add9), Fender Stringmaster (E13, C6, A6) |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 6 May 2005 2:30 am
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b0b, look over the multitude of "same" problems n the Dell forum. Two common audio problems on Dell Dimension desktops: "stuttering"/skipping in audio playback, no mic audio on internet chat. The SB sound cards Dell sells are OEM custom and do not have all the functions and applications software that the Retail versions have (and must use custom Dell drivers). Another common issue is USB compatibility with peripheral devices.
I bought a Dell Dimension 8200 and sent it back after numerous attempts to get everything that was supposed to be sent with the PC. I was transferred to every department within Dell, some several times, and still could not get the missing backup software for the modem. At one point, to show how messed up they were, I was sent all the software except the one CD I was missing and what I tried to get. Another time I was sent a new modem, but still no software. I finally gave up and sent it back and bought a Gateway, which is OEM hardware but all ATX and the SB Audigy card, although an OEM card was a stock card that used the retail SB drivers. And the tech support is still in the US.
Do not buy a Dell is you want to upgrade it. If you want to leave it alone, as it is your OK but if you want to do any upgrading you are very limited (Non ATX power supplies, motherboards and cases).
Finally, Dell's tech support is located where English is not the primary language. Try to understand them or make them understand you and try to get something other than a "stock" answer out of them. (Support is another common complaint).
I liken the current Dimension desktop line (home/consumer line) to the old Packard Bell's. |
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Dave Potter
From:
Texas
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Posted 6 May 2005 3:35 pm
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quote:
Do not buy a Dell is you want to upgrade it. If you want to leave it alone, as it is your OK but if you want to do any upgrading you are very limited (Non ATX power supplies, motherboards and cases).
Finally, Dell's tech support is located where English is not the primary language. Try to understand them or make them understand you and try to get something other than a "stock" answer out of them. (Support is another common complaint.)
As usual, Jack, you are correctamundo. That is precisely the experience I had with my one and only Dell. Good equipment, but upgrades and support - very tenuous. I build my own now. [This message was edited by Dave Potter on 06 May 2005 at 04:37 PM.] |
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b0b
From:
Cloverdale, CA, USA
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Posted 6 May 2005 4:11 pm
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I have upgraded my home Dell several times without a hitch. I've added memory, a sound card, a video card, a DVD-R drive and a 4 port USB interface card. None of this additional hardware was Dell-specific, so I don't really view the machine as "proprietary".
All of these 3rd-party hardware upgrades went in with no problems at all. Ditto with software upgrades. I've had similar experiences with the Forum server (adding a 3rd party tape drive) and with the computers that Avery gives me to use. I've yet to encounter a USB device that doesn't work properly on any of my Dell computers.
But to be fair, I've never tried to swap out a Dell computer's power supply. Compatability of power supplies has never been an issue for me. Also, I've never had a need to call Dell's customer support. Seems remarkable, given the number of Dell computers that I've used, doesn't it?  [This message was edited by b0b on 06 May 2005 at 05:12 PM.] |
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Jeff Agnew
From:
Dallas, TX
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Posted 7 May 2005 9:46 am
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In our company we've got a mix of Gateway and Dell boxes. Kinda goes in cycles depending on bulk pricing, trending toward Dell in the last year or two.
I track failure rates closely and haven't seen a significant statistical difference between the brands over the last few years. But it would be fair to say failures for both have gone up steadily in that time, particularly with peripheral components. Optical drives have been lucky to last two years.
FYI, Dell moved their corporate suppport back to the US after being bombarded with complaints. Wish they would do the same with consumer support, although as with b0b I've never had to use it for my home PCs. |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Posted 7 May 2005 10:34 am
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My comments are related to the "consumer" Dimension line, not the commercial Optiplex, etc lines. Between the two it's like two entirely different companies and boxes.
Dell had to move the commerical support back to the US. Companies were cancelling contracts or buying somewhere else.
Unfortunately when you build a product to a price (as the Dimension line is) then you have to cut the overhead and Dell has done that with the "off shore" support.
Where I worked, before retiring, my hardware help desk techs had to be certified by Dell so we could troubleshoot and turn in service calls to them on their products. No one else required us to be certified, including IBM, Unisys, Racal-Datacom, etc. Too bad those standards are not in place for the Dimension line. |
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Jack Stoner
From:
Kansas City, MO
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Bobby Lee
From:
Cloverdale, California, USA
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Posted 7 May 2005 7:17 pm
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| My home Dell is a "Precision 210" by the way. I think that most of the boxes at the office are Optiplex or Precision models. |
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