USB 2.0 and other questions (1 Viewer)

[Keith_R]

Currently I'm looking at getting a new computer to upgrade my 4 year old HP Pavillion that is running Win98SE and going at 466 MHZ. Right now the computer I've seen that interests me the most is the Dell 4500S, however I've been out of the new computer game for awhile and do not know a lot about some of the advancments that have occured in the industry since I bought my current computer 4 years ago. Three main questions I have though, the 4500S has 6 USB ports all of them are USB 2.0 ports. Is USB 2.0 backwards compatible with original USB? Could I still be able to hook my scanner, wireless mouse, and portable MP3 player up to this new computer even though it supports USB 2.0? my other concern is the speed of the 4500S. I plan on using this new computer to get on the internet, download and play MP3s, as well as maybe burn a few CDs here and there; will 1.8 GHZ P4 be enough for this or should I move up to the 2.0 GHZ P4 chip? also on the subject of speed, what about RAM Dell recommends 256MB but I'm thinking to bring the cost down that 128MB should be good enough for my needs am I right in assuming this or should I go with the 256 MB to be safe? last but not least is Win XP Home Edition hard to learn coming from Win98? is XP better than Win98 in terms of stability? thanks.

 

[KyleS]

First USB 2.0 is fully backwards compatible with earlier USB version devices so you need not worry here.

2) right now if I was choosing between the 1.8 to 2ghz or more ram I would get the additional ram in a heartbeat. Windows XP is a memory hog and I would recommend no less then 256 and 512 would be the best. 128mb will work but I wouldnt recommend it. I have turned off a lot of the backup features of XP and tweaked and the system is still using up around 50mb before I even start using a program. Now after saying that I would recommend the 2ghz chip with the additional ram if you can afford it. The 2ghz chip right now is at the best price/performance ration.

Windows Xp is not hard to learn if you are coming from 98 and you can even revert the start menu/options back to Windows 98/2000 format so it really wouldnt look any different if you want to. Stability wise XP is better then 98 so get XP.

KyleS

 

[Danny R]

I second Kyle's opinion. If the choice is between a slightly faster processor or more memory, go with the memory. It will make a much more noticable improvement in speed.

will 1.8 GHZ P4 be enough for this

More than enough. Downloading files, burning CD's and playing MP3's can be done quite well with a much slower computer.