Professor Sam Posten III

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Professor Sam Posten III
samuel.posten_at_ilex.com
IT 102 Section 50
Class Session XX Building and/or buying a home
PC
http//zorak.monmouth.edu/posten/homepc.ppt
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AGENDA

• Why do you want a home PC???
• Laptop/Desktop/Palmtop/Media Center
• Building vs. buying
• Build it yourself
• Off the Shelf
• Internet
• The 50 solution!
• Home Networking
• Is Linux or Apple in my future?

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Why do you want a home PC???

• The Internet of course! Email/texting/filesharing
  /games/VOIP/mp3s
• Digital Photography/video/painting/music
• Work!
• Games
• Financial Management
• Hobby Organization
• Education
• Name your own reasons and discover more

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Laptop/Desktop/Palmtop/Media Center

• See white board for a list of pros and cons of
  each

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Building vs. buying

• What does it take to build your own Home PC?
• A Phillips and flathead screwdriver
• A website to guide you
• Patience
• A little bit of guts
• Willingness to spend more if you screw up
• Willingness to live out of warrantee, or without
  a single warrantee provider

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Build it yourself

• CPU/Motherboard
• Cables
• Monitor
• Printer
• Sound Card
• Video Card
• Network Card / modem / DSL / Cable modem
• Memory
• Hard Disk/Floppy/CD/DVD/burners
• Keyboard and mouse
• Speakers
• Accessories/furniture/other options and
  considerations
• Software

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Build it yourself (Part two)

• Where do you get the parts?
• Local shows (Like Trenton Computer Festival!)
• Computer stores
• The Internet
• What do you do if you screw something up badly or
  get stuck?
• Does it make economical sense?

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Off the Shelf

• Sears
• Costco
• Stereo stores
• Walmart
• Gateway Country/Apple store
• NYC!
• Whats the advantage to buying off the shelf?
• What do I give up?

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Internet!

• Emachines
• Gateway
• Dell
• IBM
• Compaq
• Mom and pop pc makers
• Specialty houses like Alienware!
• Overstock, ebay, piecemeal
• Whats the advantage to buying over the net?
• What do I give up?

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The 50 solution!

• Whats the biggest thing people forget about when
  it comes to buying a new computer????

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The 50 solution! (Part 2)

• Software can be 50 or more of the cost of your
  investment!
• OS
• Applications
• Games
• Recurring Fees

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Home Networking

• Adding a simple 50 hub can allow you to share
  one internet connection between multiple
  machines.
• Plus you can communicate between them, share
  files, and even play games with or against each
  other!

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Is Linux or Apple in my future?

• Linux provides a nice alternative to costly
  software, but it has potential tradeoffs in
  reliability, accountability and support.
• Apple is world renowned for amazing hardware and
  slick software, but these come at a high price
  and vendor lock-in.