Techno-project

Upgrading to happiness

Upgrading a computer can be either easy or tedious, but it really depends on what you’re upgrading. For instance, if you’re buying a new CD drive for your computer, that is both cheap and easy. But if you’re buying a new processor, like a Pentium 4, that could get a little tougher. Here are some ways to upgrade your computer while saving money as well:

RAM (random access memory) - Also known as just plain memory, RAM is probably one of the simplest and cheapest ways to upgrade your computer. Most mainstream computers nowadays have either 256 or 512 megabytes (MB) of memory, depending on what you do with your computer. Older computers usually have 64MB or 128MB of memory, so upgrading to 256MB or 512MB would definitely speed up the applications that you would run on your computer, such as Microsoft Word or Adobe Photoshop. Applications use RAM as their storage space while they are running. The more storage space you give your applications, the more applications you can run, and the faster the applications will process information. 256MB of memory generally costs about $40-$50.

Hard Drive - A hard drive is where a computer saves every file and application that is ever used on your computer. For music lovers, you can generally hold about 2,500 songs on 10 gigabytes (GB) of hard drive space. Most intense games such as “Halo” and “World Tournament” take up about 1GB of space. If you bought your computer between 1999 and 2001, an expensive hard drive back then would have held about 20GB of information. Today, hard drives go for about $1 per GB, and run as high as 300GB, though you can have more than one hard drive in your computer. Upgrading to a new hard drive is generally easy, because you can usually just add it as a second hard drive in your computer.  Newer hard drives today also are quicker than the older ones, so saving large files such as a presentation will not take as long.

CD Drive - Your computer’s CD drive is a major factor in how quick you can install programs, and how quick you can burn files onto a CD. Older CD drives read a CD at about 12X, but the top-of-the-line CD drives today can read at as high as 52X. Newer hard drives can also burn CDs at 52X, so filling up an entire CD will take about 5 minutes. A CD-RW drive, which will read and write to a CD, from a notable company such as Sony, are available at stores for $60, and regular CD drives run for about $30.

If you want to be able to put your movies onto your computer, a DVD burner would better suit your needs, as you will be able to hold 4.7GB of your most cherished home videos on one DVD. DVD+/-RW drives, which will read and write to DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, and DVD-RW, are the best kind, because they support all four of these mainstream formats. A reputable 8X DVD+/-RW drive costs about $200, and will take about 15 minutes to burn DVD+an entire DVD.

Monitor - If you are still using a CRT monitor, it’s time to get an LCD. First of all, LCD’s not only take up less room than a bulky CRT, but also are safer, as they are much easier on the eyes. The mainstream 15- and 17-inch LCD’s are more expensive than CRT monitors, but prices are quickly dropping. LCD monitors also take less power to run than CRT’s, and have a much better digital quality than the CRT’s analog. A 17-inch LCD costs about $600 new.

Video and Sound cards - In recent years, major advances have been made in video and sound card technology, such as the ATI Radeon 9800 XT, and the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro. Video cards first. Video cards are the means by which the computer shows its image on the monitor. The better the video card, the quicker the picture is shown, and the more you’ll be able to see. ATI’s latest advance in video technology is it’s Radeon 9800 XT, which carries its own onboard memory, 256MB to be exact. It is considered pretty much to be its own computer. Upgrading to the 9800 XT will cost about $500 to $600, but it is worth it, as there will not be anything that you won’t be able to view on your computer, such as DVDs and other video. With the 9800 XT, there will also no slowdown or skipping in your video playing.

The Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS Platinum Pro carries with it 7 speaker jacks, allowing as many as 10 speakers. The sound card also carries Dolby Digital 7.1 surround sound, so each instrument you hear will come out of a different speaker, and you will get the full effect if you are watching a movie on your computer. The Audigy 2 ZS costs around $200, but is also worth the money.