Buying new computer-need advice

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-11-2003
Buying new computer-need advice
3
Thu, 11-11-2004 - 3:45pm
I have been looking around and now I'm really confused, and behind the times! What exactially is a DVD/CD-RW drive? Also, I have noticed that alot of computers have a ADM Athlon XP processor. Is this supposed to be better than the Intel? And one more dumb question- what is the difference between an Intel Celeron and an Intel Pentium? Thanks so much in advance for any help! I really need to get updated, don't I? (HA!)
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-09-2001
Thu, 11-11-2004 - 5:24pm
Hello! :)) You might check down lower on the board, there's an entire section about buying a computer that you'll find worthwhile, I think. Also, DVD/CD-RW means the drive plays DVDs (as in movies) and CD-RW means you can write to blank CDs, erase, write again, to store data, just like the old floppy disk drives. The advantage is that CDs hold much more data that the old fashioned floppies. :P For the rest of your questions, I'll have to refer you to other knowledgeable people on the board as I'm not a PC user any longer. Just recently converted to Mac and bought a new eMac. :D

Do check out the section on Buying a Computer -- it's all about buying PCs, if I'm not mistaken...

Good luck! :)

Gypsy



Blessings,

Gypsy

)O(



Avatar for cl_emty_nstr
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Fri, 11-12-2004 - 5:51pm

A friend of mine is going to buy a new computer, she asked me about the DVD/CD-RW drives too.


I have a CD/DVD drive and I also have a CD-RW drive. The truth? It really depends on what you are going to do. I have had my computer for 3 years and have never played a DVD, nor have a used a CD to play a game or anything. I have never copied anything from my CD/DVD drive to the CD burner.....but I could if I wanted to make a copy of a cd.......never have. I just use it to install programs and the burner to burn photos and backups...And not that often. So I would say that a combo drive would be fine for most of us. If you are doing something like making copies of things (most of which you can do for your own personal use, otherwise can be illegal) you might want 2 drives. But for the most part you would only be doing one thing at a time.


Processors can be confusing. http://www.devhardware.com/c/a/Computer-Processors/


 


Have a nice day !.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-09-2001
Fri, 11-12-2004 - 11:43pm
I agree about the DVD drive & watching movies.. I watch movies on my TV with stereo & closed captioning because I'm hard of hearing. I can sit in my easy chair and be comfy, LOL! ;))

However, my DVD/CD-RW drive is also DVD-RW. DVD blanks hold ooddles more than a CD. With a digital camera we are getting quite prolific, so saving photos or graphic libraries will be useful. DVD-RWs cost about a $1.00 each, but will be well worthwhile for us. It depends on what you are going to do on your computer and any future needs you can guess at, I guess. We actually only have ONE drive on our new Mac that does it all. Don't know if PCs are like that.

My DD and her boyfriend and other friends, going to college and working, can't afford computers *AND* TVs and DVD players, so they all have computers only. They rent their movies and watch them on their computers! LOL! :D

Another web site that has comparisons of all major PC mfgs and rates them for quality, price, features, customer service is PC World online, www.pcworld.com. Good resource for all kinds of PC concerns & questions & definitions.

Gypsy




Edited 11/13/2004 1:43 pm ET ET by gypsywolfwoman



Blessings,

Gypsy

)O(