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-Home Personal Computer Page- |
Fox
Engineering Inc.
PO Box 215 Spencerville, MD 20868 (301) 421-4130 |
| CPU (average cost): |
Intel
Core 2 Duo (2.66GHz or greater with Intel chipset
family). |
| Alternate CPU (lower cost): | Intel Atom (1.6Ghz) w/Intel chipset family (built-in video) - single or dual CPU |
| Alternate CPU (higher cost): |
Intel Core 2 Quad (2.66Hz or greater with Intel chipset family). |
| ** BIOS: | Phoenix/Award
BIOS (Note: some motherboards have Video and Sound built-in) |
| Memory: | 1024 MBytes DDR2, PC2-5300 rating (667 Mhz), 4
memory slots (4096 MBytes max capacity) Note: Many motherboards use dual channel memory capability, use 2 memory sticks of the same value and speed rating. |
| Alternate Memory (Atom): | 2048 MBytes, single slot SODIMM memory. (Most ATOM come with 1024 MBytes memory, upgrade to a single 2048 MByte memory. |
| Alternate Memory: | 2048 MBytes DDR2 memory, or even 4096 MBytes memory (32-bit computers can only see 3.5 GB memory). |
| Case: | MiniTower or even small desktop (two 3 1/2" plus two 5 1/4" bays) |
| Keyboard: | Standard Windows104 Keys, USB connection |
| Pointing Device: | Optical
mouse with scroll wheel (USB) Note: Pay attention to ergonomics and ease of use |
| Floppy Disk: | 3 1/2" 1.44Mbyte (Very OPTIONAL - Usage extremely limited today) |
| Hard Drive: | SATA 320
Gigabyte, 7200 rpm; for very high reliability, dual drives, configure
for RAID 1 |
| Alt Hard Drive: | SATA 500
Gigabyte, 750 GB, or 1024 GB, 7200 rpm (Note: if using 2 drives, use same manufacturer's drives, with newest drive as master) |
| Partition Info: | Single user: Recommend 25% for primary partition for OS and applications. Store all DATA on extended partition (always backup your data) |
| Partition Info: | Multi user: At least 50% of drive for primary OS partition and applications; Store photos, images & common files on extended partition (always backup your data) |
| Optical Disk Drive: | DVD Reader/Writer (which also reads and writes CD) +R, -R, |
| Optional Additional Optical DD: | DVD Reader |
| ** Video Board: | PCI-Express w/128 Megbytes(minimum) and 3D (128+
Megabytes even better); Serious Gamers
256MB minimum |
| Alternate Video Board: | Integrated into the motherboard |
| Video Display LCD: | 20" (resolution is fixed on LCDs) contrast >400, brightness >250 nits |
| Sound Board: | PCI based Sound Card if not on motherboard |
| Speakers: | Small, Price $25 or under is sufficient |
| Modem: | Conventional modems no longer needed.
Most home users have access to DSL, Cable, or FIOS ADSL or Cable service may be available in your area -- these require different modems FIOS (Fiber) services uses a WAN/LAN Router (Note: Firewall required with any Internet use) |
| LAN: | 10/100/1000
mb Ethernet (sometimes on motherboard) - fixed wire 802.11g - wireless networking; use WPA or greater encryption, consider not advertising SSID, maybe even access by MAC address only. |
| LAN Cable: | Cat 6 or 6E
unshielded twisted pair wire |
| Operating System: | Windows XP-Home -or- Windows XP-Professional, Service Pack 3 (32-bit edition only) |
| Alternate Operating System: | Ubuntu (32-bit edition) |
| Advanced OS: | Linux
(Fedora Core, SuSE, Puppy Linux) |
| Green IT: | RoHS specification (no lead); 80 Plus (power supply efficiency better than 80%; EPEAT (Bronze minimum); Energy Star 4 or better; Recycle you old computer. |
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VIRUS
Protection, Anti Spyware, and
Firewalls
If you connect to
the Internet, you need a minimum of three
forms of protection against
intruders: A virus detection software package, a Spyware
protection software, and a software or
hardware firewall. Here are but some of the better
products you can choose from: |
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| Virus Protection | |
| McAfee: | VirusScan ($) |
| Symantec: |
Norton
AntiVirus ($) |
| TrendMicro: | AntiVirus ? |
| GRISOFT: |
AVG Free
Edition (free and a $ version with additional features) |
| Spyware Protection | |
| Microsoft: | Microsoft
AntiSypware |
| Webroot: |
Webroot Spy Sweeper ($) |
| Firewall Protection | |
| Zone Labs: | Zone Alarm
(free and a $ version with additional features) |
| McAfee: | Firewall ($) |
| Symantec: | Norton
Firewall ($) |
| Always keep your Firewall and Virus Protection software up to date! | |
| ** Recommend You Use a NAME BRAND only for this item - see below | |
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NAME
BRANDS
In some cases, use of Name
Brands
(instead of generic brands) is
critical to system
success. This is especially true for the more modern Operating Systems
like Windows and Linux. The drivers
required to operate the
peripheral devices need to be obtained from
a ready source. Some
generic products do not have WEB or
technical support and it may be impossible
to locate the manufacturer. Use of name brands in these cases also
assures drivers are included infuture
editions of these modern
OSs. Use of a
"product compatible"
rating will not
suffice with today's modern Operating Systems! |
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| Name Brand Motherboards | |
| Name
Brand LAN Products |
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| D-Link | http://www.dlink.com/ |
| NetGear | http://www.NetGear.com/ |
| Linksys | http://www.linksys.com |
| Operating Systems | |
| Windows | http://www.microsoft.com/ |
| Ubuntu |
http://www.ubuntu.com/ |
| RedHat Linux | http://www.redhat.com/ |
| SUSE Linux | http://www.novell.com/ |
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NOTE
Any names/trademarks used are NOT an endorsement of those items...but are provided for reference only and are owned by their owner. Name Brand suggestions are not all inclusive. |
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