The Computer Zone

Here’s the desktop version of the popular Buyers Guide. I’m going to go through most of the main components in a desktop computer and describe what you should be looking for based on the type of things you’ll be doing with your desktop. The main categories of desktop usage that I’ll talk about are:

1. Casual use (programming, light graphics, light gaming, usage time: 0 - 1hr)
2. Moderate use (video / sound editing, lots of gaming, everything in casual use, usage time: 2hr - 5hrs)
3. Heavy use (tonnes of gaming, professional video / sound / graphical editing and everything in moderate use, usage time: 5hrs - 24hrs)

The components I’ll go into detail later on are:

1. Monitor
2. Processor
3. RAM (Random Access Memory)
4. Hard Drive
5. Graphics Card

After going through each of these I’ll then provide a few suggested desktops for each category of usage. So lets get started shall we?

Monitor
Monitors are basically a personal choice. I personally prefer the dual monitor setups but thats just me. At minimum these days you’ll want at least a 19″ LCD. You won’t want a Cathode Ray Tube (CRT) monitor because they’re not environmentally safe and they are just too large.

• Casual Use: Since you’re not going to be using your computer that much, you’ll probably not want to spend a lot of money on an expensive monitor. Higher resolution monitors aren’t a necessity either since you probably won’t be playing many games or editing photos. A 19″ display will be perfect for the internet and email use.
• Moderate Use: So if your in this category you’re going to be spending more time with your computer. You’ll have some gaming and video editing so you’re going to have a better monitor. I would suggest having dual 20″ monitors to give you enough room. This will come in very handy when you’re editing videos and playing games. Make sure that you’re monitors have a low refresh rate 5ms or better so you don’t see ghost images while playing games.
• Heavy Use: You’re going to want the Cadillac of monitors. I have use dual 22″ or 24″ with a low refresh rate and a high resolution. If you’re going to mainly be gaming a low refresh rate is the most important aspect. If you’re going to be editing videos and pictures you’ll want a good contrast ratio 1000:1 / 3000:1 and a large amount of real estate.

Processor
The processor is going to be one of your most important choices while choosing your desktop. It will determine how fast your computer runs.

• Casual Use: Since you’re not going to be using CPU intensive programs (such as video editing and gaming) you’re probably not wanting to spend a large amount on the newest fastest processors. An Intel Core 2 Duo E4500 2.2GHz or an AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5000+ 2.6GHz will be perfect. Both feature a moderate clock rate and are fairly cheap.
• Moderate Use: Now that you’re going to be using a lot more graphical programs and games you’re going to want a processor that can handle it. Basically you’re going a high end Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 3.0Ghz. This processor features two cores, which is essentially two processors in one. The processor can do more computations in a second and therefore will produce faster results.
• Heavy Use: You’re going to want a blazing fast processor to handle everything you need. A dual core is a must if you’re going to want to be able to render quickly. An Intel Core 2 Extreme X6850 at 3.0GHz will provide you with everything you need or could hope for. The only problem with this processor is that it tends to run hot. You could put a Intel Core 2 Quad instead of the Extreme but at this point in time Intel’s Quad Chip isn’t a true quad chip its just two dies that are dual core chips (instead of four dies).

RAM
RAM is used as the “main memory” of the computer. Basically this means the working area used for loading, displaying and manipulating applications and data. There are different types of RAM (DDR, DIMM, etc.). If you’re going to run Windows Vista on your computer you should have at least 1GB of RAM.

• Casual Use: RAM’s not going to be a very big deal for you. Most computers now come with at least 1GB and this will be plenty for you to run all of your necessary programs.
• Moderate Use: You’re going to want a bit more RAM for to run all of the games and programs you’ll be using. 2GB should be plenty to run everything. Since most motherboards come with 4 slots for Ramd you could put in 2×1GB sticks.
• Heavy Use: To make sure your games run smoothly and your graphics render quickly you’re going to want to maximize the amount of RAM you have in your system. 8GB is the maximum you can go (with a 64bit OS). Two 2GB sticks of RAM (or 4×1GB sticks) will make everything run nicely.

Hard Drive
Hard drives aren’t as important as the other components, they are your main storage place. This is where you are going to store all of your information for applications and data. Desktop drives are 3.5″ or you can get adapters for 2.5″.

Now, other than the actual size of the hard drive there is one other thing to consider: the speed of the drive. Having a hard drive that spins faster means you’ll be able to access your data quicker, but it also comes with a setback. Faster drives consume a lot more power run a lot hotter. For most use, a 7200RPM drive will be what you need.

If you can’t get enough storage space there are a few alternatives. The first would be to buy an external hard drive. Basically this is just a hard drive (generally 3.5″) put into an outer case that will connect to your computer or laptop through a USB or FireWire port. The normal size for an external drive is 250GB but they can go all the way up to 2TB drive. The second alternative would be to back up your information onto DVD’s. This would require you to have a DVD Burner in your laptop.

• Casual Use: You’re only going to need the hard drive for storing data. The size is totally dependent on how many things you’re going to store. Anywhere from 250GB to 320GB will probably be enough for you.
• Moderate Use & Heavy Use: You’ll want to get the largest possible hard drive. Two or more 250GB hard drives with a RAID configuration should be good. If you’re gaming a lot, you’re going to want faster drives instead of larger ones. A Raptor drive that spins at 10k RPM will be more useful because the information coming off the CD or DVD will be able to be accessed quicker

Graphics Card

• Casual Use: Since you’re not going to be using your computer for anything that needs a lot of graphical power, you probably don’t want to spend a premium for a really good graphics card. An Intel integrated graphics card with at least 128MB will be sufficient for all of your needs.
• Moderate Use: If your computer usage falls into this category you’re going to want a dedicated graphics card to display your games and graphics. A NVIDIA 7500LE with 256MB will be perfect for you. This will display very crisp graphics that you’ll enjoy looking at.
• Heavy Use: You’re going to want the best graphics card available for desktops. If you have the money to spend you really can’t go wrong with a NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS Extreme with 640MB. A cheaper option would be the Radeon HD 2600 XT with 512MB. Both of these will give you excellent graphics and will be a pleasure to view

*For the casual use system you’re going to be looking at a price between $300 - $800 approx. For the moderate use you’ll be set back between $801 - $1800. And for the heavy use it’ll be $1801 and higher. All of these prices are in Canadian currency at the time of this article.

As you will have seen after reading this guide the difference in systems can vary by a lot and in most cases it’s just a matter of taste. I hope you’ve found this guide helpful and I hope you’ll check back here from time to time to read more articles like this.

*All prices are in Canadian currency and taken at the time of this post.

With the release of the new iMac a few months ago I thought it would be appropriate to vent my frustration with the product. Now before you start flaming me let me clarify a few things. I LOVE Apple products. I’ve used their laptops, Mac Pro’s and other devices a lot and praise almost every Apple device. I just think that when it comes to the iMac Apple dropped the ball. Here are a few reasons why I dislike iMacs

1. Power Supply
   The iMacs have long suffered from faulty power supplies. Some iMac G5 machines encountered overheating problems, resulting in power supply brownouts and fan problems. Apple’s new iMacs have a better power supply but it still has problems with overheating. A few people have told me that they have had to return their iMacs for this reason.
2. Practicality
   Pure and simple, iMacs just aren’t practical. Sure it’s convenient to have your monitor and computer all in one but when you really think about it, the combinations only a hindrance. As my friend Alex from www.sanctifiedstudios.com put it “its like a laptop you can’t take with you”. First of all if anyone wants to run a dual monitor configuration the beauty of the iMacs screen is going to be lost. Most people want two screens that are the same height (for viewing pleasure) and unless you get a monitor thats the same height this won’t be possible. Secondly, the average computer lifespan is 2-5 years whereas the average lifespan of a monitor is 6-10 years (depending on whether you get a LCD or a CRT). You’re going to have to replace the computer before the monitor so you’d be saving money if you bought both seperately.
3. Other Issues
   Because all of the components are crammed in so tight theirs an increased possibility of overheating. While Apple has done a fairly good job correcting overheating issues even the new iMacs still suffer from this when their being used to run cpu-intensive programs. Another problem I have with the iMacs is their lack of upgrading abilities. You can upgrade the RAM and that’s it. If you want a different video card you’re out of luck. The final issue I have with the iMacs is the fact that your computer is inside your monitor. If you drop it your screwed. At least with most computers if you drop you’re probably only going to have to replace the case and maybe a component or too. Theres just no protection. The final problem I have with the new iMac is the glossy screen. Now, glossy screens look lovely when theres no direct light on the screen. Once you have direct sunlight shining on the screen it’s rendered almost useless. My laptop has a glossy finish and I can’t use it outside because of it.

Here’s a small comparison between the new 20″ 2.0GHz Intel iMac and the Dell Dimension 9200.

Dell Dimension 9200
Price: $1299
CPU: 2.4GHz Intel Core Quad-Core
RAM: 2GB 667MHz DDR2
HD: 320GB Serial ATA Drive
Graphics: 256MB NVIDIA GeForce 8600GT-DDR3
Screen: 22″ 1680 x 1050 pixels

iMac 20″
Price: $1299
CPU: 2.0GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
RAM: 1GB 667MHz DDR2
HD: 250GB Serial ATA Drive
Graphics: 128MB ATI Radeon HD 2400 XT
Screen: Glossy 20″ 1680 x 1050 pixels

As you can see from the comparison, you can get a much better system for the same price. Now if you don’t like Windows Operating System’s just put a Linux distro on it and your set.

Maybe I have been to harsh on the iMacs and I totally suggest buying a mac (just not the iMac). I think design wise they look amazing but are just impractical.

Continuing the series “The 10 List” I thought I would post about two of the things I enjoy in life: Gadgets and Camping. Now a lot of people say that the two don’t go together, they say things like “You go camping to enjoy nature and you can’t do that with technology” but I would have to disagree. Camping is way more fun when you have awesome gadgets. Here is a list of 10 gadgets that I feel are essential for any camping trip

1. Reactor Solar Computer Backpack
The first gadget in the list is the Reactor Solar Computer Backpack. This backpack features a set of solar panels that, sun permitting, charge an internal battery so that you can keep all of your devices charged. Inside you’ll be able to fit your Mp3 player, Laptop, and other gadgets in padded sleeves. There are a number of useful adapters including: USB adapter, AC adapter, 4 rechargeable batteries, solar panel, power box and 4 cell phone adapters.

Pros:
• Lots of different adapters to charge all of your equipment.
• Lightweight product with a lot of room to fit everythig you need.
• Inexpensive when it comes to Solar Paneled backpacks

Cons:
• Laptop sleeve only fits laptops with a 15.4″ screen or smaller.
• Not the most stylish product you’ll see, but hey! you’re camping.

2. Eureka! N!ergy 1310
The Eureka N!ergy 1310 tent is a large 10 person tent that can provide a great living place for you and your family (and maybe another family as well!). This tent includes the E! Power system which basically lets you enjoy your favorite small appliances and accessories while you camp. N!ergy tents are prewired, so there are no extra steps during set-up. The wiring system is safe and unobtrusive, and each outlet is illuminated, allowing it to double as a nightlight. At $289.90 and 34lbs. this tent is a great deal.

Pros:
• You can power up all of your devices by plugging them into the included outlets.
• The tent is fairly cheap (for a 10person tent) and not that heavy. You wouldn’t want to go hiking with this though.

Cons:
• Most of the accessories (the power pack, fan, light, etc…) have to be bought separately.
• It’s a lot of tent to have if you only have a small family.

3. Wenger Swiss Army Knife
When you go into the woods you need a knife that can do a lot of different things. From cutting your nails to cutting through wood to cutting a cigar this Swiss Army knife can do everything. At £499.95 it should also do your taxes. This gadget definitely isn’t for the frugal people, but you get what you pay for. It’s packed with over 85 fully functional implements (but is said to have over 100, they just can’t find the other 15). Here’s list of things that this knife has: seven blades, three types of pliers and seemingly countless screwdrivers, saws and wrenches. There’s even a battery operated torch and a laser pointer with a 300ft range. It repairs golf divots and has a doodah that magnifies mineral crystals. It also has a tyre-tread gauge, signal whistle and cigar-cutter.

Pros:
• Whatever you need this thing has it.

Cons:
• It’s very expensive.
• It’s very large, measuring almost 9 inches in width.

4. First Alert Eternal Flashlight Deluxe
I included this gadget in for all the Science geeks out there. This flashlight uses a strong permanent magnet that can freely slide up and down a tube, passing through a coil of wire as it does. Shaking the flashlight will charge a capacitor or a rechargeable battery that supplies a current to a light source, typically a light-emitting diode or, more rarely, an incandescent light bulb. Now for those that don’t understand that (I don’t really), basically you shake the flashlight for a 30 seconds and then you have light for up to 10 minutes.

Pros:
• No batteries needed.
• Super-Bright LED light
• At $5.95 its cheap.

Cons:
• It does take manual labor to produce a light.

5. The Ring Thing
When people think of camping trip one alcoholic beverage comes to mind, beer. Now a lot of people think beer tastes better in bottles so unless you want to shop around for twist off bottle caps you really need to carry a bottle opener. What’s more fashionable than a bottle opener ring! With the Ring Thing you can have the best of two worlds: fashion and beer.

Pros:
• Fashionable.
• You can finally open your beer w/out a large opener.
• At $7.99 its cheap.

Cons:
• Some people may not like the look of it.

6. LG LPA-735
Whether your on the road or already settled into your campsite a portable DVD player can always come in handy. LG did a great job with the LPA-735 including multi Format Playability: DVD-Video, DivX, XviD, DVD-RW/-R, DVD+RW/+R, CD-Audio, CD-R/RW, SVCD, VCD, MP3, WMA, JPEG. With an advertised 3.5 hour playback you can watch approximately two movies before you need a charge. LG also included two headphone jacks for when the kids want to watch it in the back of the car. At a price of $128.44 it’s fairly inexpensive.

Pros:
• Fairly inexpensive at $128.44.
• Plays DVDs, DivX, XviD, DVD-+RW’s and more.
• Lightweight at only 742g

Cons:
• The white colour may get a little dirty being outside.
• Could impede only family time and roasting marshmallows on a campfire.

7. Mosquito Free
There’s nothing more annoying than mosquitoes. When you’re enjoying a nice fire (or your portable DVD player) you don’t want to worry about those pesky bugs that like to bite you. Mosquito Free uses a combination of CO2, heat, and moisture to lure mosquitoes in. When the mosquitoes are drawn to the unit, a fan pulls them into a catch chamber where they are collected and dehydrated. This machine will let you enjoy the nights without annoying bug bites.

Pros:
• No more mosquitoes!
• You don’t need to buy bug spray (you won’t smell).

Cons:
• It would be annoying to carry around.
• $119.99 seems a little expensive considering you can get bug spray for under $5.

8. USB Camping Lamp with FM Radio
When you’re sitting around in the dark you’re going to need some light. What’s better than having a light that plugs into a USB port? Well a light and a FM radio that plugs into a USB port. This light can be powered by either a USB port of 3x AA batteries. The FM frequency range is 88 ~ 108MHz and it includes 1 headphone jack. You don’t have a USB port you say? Well scroll down to number 9 and use to one included there.

Pros:
• You get a light and a radio in one.
• USB or battery powered.
• It’s only $12!!!.

Cons:
• If you’re camping you probably won’t be able to find a FM station.
• The device looks a little cheap (and it is for only $12).

9. MEDION UMPC The Medion UMPC gives you a small lightweight ultra mobile personal computer. It includes Windows Vista™ Home Premium, VIA C7-M™ 770 ULV processor (1.0 GHz, 400 MHz FSB), 30 GB hard disc, and 768 MB DDRII RAM memory. This pc will be able to power your Lamp / Radio featured in #8 as well as let you play a game of chess. At $999.00 it’s not that expensive either.

Pros:
• It’s one small computer.
• Only $999.

Cons:
• You’re not going to be able to play the latest games.
• It’s definitely not the fastest computer out there.

10. GSP 1600 Satellite Phone
If you’re doing any back-country camping your cellphone might not work. Whether you need to keep in touch with the office or just want a phone in case something happens you’ll need a satellite phone and the GSP 1600 is just that. With a long battery life ( 3.75 hours talk time, 19 hours standby time) and great features like: Battery Meter, Signal Strength Indicator,and Voice Mail Notification this phone has it all. Unfortunately at $549.00 (not including a plan) its very expensive. You’ll only need this if you’re out in the woods constantly for the rest of your life

Pros:
• You can talk almost anywhere in the world.
• The phone is rugged and has a lot of features.

Cons:
• It’s expensive, $549 for the phone and at least $100/month for coverage.

So you have an extra case fan lying around your house from an old computer, but you don’t know what to do with it. In 3 easy steps I’ll tell you how to make an external fan that plugs into a USB port out of that old case fan. Now before we get started your going to need 4 things.

1. An old case fan.
2. A USB cable (one end needs to be a male end to fit into your USB port)
3. Wire cutters
4. Electrical Tape

If you don’t have these parts on hand you can buy them from your local hardware store and tech store for under $30. Lets now dive into how you go about creating this fan.

1. The first step in this process is preparing the case fan. From your fan you’ll see a braided group of wires (generally red, white and black) connected at the end with the power supply connector. The first thing you’ll do is cut the braided group near the power supply connector. Once you’ve cut the group untangle the wires about 5 centimeters (2″). After this take your wire cutters and cut off the white wire, this is the ground wire and its not needed for use. Strip back the wire casing on the red and black wires about 2.5 centimeters (1″). Once you’ve stripped back the wire casing you’re done with this step.
2. Now you’re going to cut open your USB cable. Cut off the one end of the USB cable. Now the USB cable has a fairly thick casing and you’re going to have to strip it. Once you’ve done this you’ll find two smaller wires (red and black) surrounded by a think piece of metal, cut it off or push it back to expose the small wires. Strip back the casing on these smaller wires and you’re on to the final step.
3. With the electrical tape, tape together the case fan and the USB cables. Now its fairly easy to do this. Tape the black wire from the case fan to the black wire from the USB cable and the red wire to the red wire. Once you’ve taped these together, go over the entire cable with electrical tape to make sure things don’t move around. You’re done!

All you have to do is plug it into a free USB port and enjoy the air. I’ve found that the fan doesn’t blow nearly as much as a commercial fan but for something that was free it’s not bad. Hopefully you’ve found this guide helpful if you have any questions feel free to email me at adam[at]thecompzone.com

So before I start this isn’t going to be another Mac vs. PC or a guy suggesting you go out and buy yourself a $5000+ gaming beast. I’m going to go through most of the main components in a laptop and describe what you should be looking for based on the type of things you’ll be doing with your laptop. The main categories of laptop usage that I’ll talk about are:

1. Casual use (programming, light graphics, light gaming, usage time: 0 - 1hr)
2. Moderate use (video / sound editing, lots of gaming, everything in casual use, usage time: 2hr - 4hrs)
3. Heavy use (tonnes of gaming, professional video / sound / graphical editing and everything in moderate use, usage time: 4hrs - 24hrs)

The components I’ll go into detail later on are:

1. Screen
2. Processor
3. RAM (Random Access Memory)
4. Hard Drive
5. Graphics Card

After going through each of these I’ll then provide a few suggested laptops for each category of usage. So lets get started shall we?

Screen
Selecting a laptop’s screen is very much a personal decision. Some people, no matter how much they will use their laptop, will want a smaller screen, and others a larger screen. If you want to keep the size of your laptop as low as possible you can opt for a higher quality screen with a higher resolution. For example a 15.4″ screen with a resolution of 1920×1200 will provide you with much more space than a resolution of 1280×768.

• Casual Use: Since you’re not going to be using your laptop that much, you’ll probably not want to spend a lot of money on an expensive screen. Higher resolution screens aren’t a necessity either since you probably won’t be playing many games. A 12.1″ or 15.4″ display will be perfect for the internet and email use.
• Moderate Use: So if your in this category you’re going to be spending more time with your computer. You’ll have some gaming and video editing so you’re going to have a better screen. At this point a 15.4″ screen is the minimum size you’ll want to have. A 17″ screen will give you more space to view your desktop and will provide a large amount of detail.
• Heavy Use: Since you’re spending at least 4 hours on your computer you’re going to want a beautiful screen to look at. A 17″+ screen will make being on your laptop a viewing pleasure. Basically, when you’re using your laptop as much as this you’re going to want the best you can have. Dell recently came out with their 20″ laptop. While this does add a lot of weight, you’ll never get tired of it.

Processor
The processor is going to be your most important choice while choosing your laptop. It will determine how fast your computer runs as well as how long the battery life lasts.

• Casual Use: Since you’re not going to be using CPU intensive programs (such as video editing and gaming) you’re probably not wanting to spend a large amount on the newest fastest processors. An Intel Centrino Core Duo T2050 at 1.6GHz or an AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-50 1.6GHz will be perfect. Both feature a moderate clock rate and are fairly cheap.
  
• Moderate Use: Now that you’re going to be using a lot more graphical programs and games you’re going to want a processor that can handle it. An Inte Centrino Core 2 Duo T5600 1.83GHz will work very well. This processor features two cores, essentially two processors in one. The processor can do more computations in a second and therefore will produce faster results.
  
• Heavy Use: You’re going to want a blazing fast processor to handle everything you need. A dual core is a must if you’re going to want to be able to render quickly. An Intel Core 2 Extreme X6800 at 2.93GHz will provide you with everything you need or could hope for. The only problem with this processor is that it tends to run hot and will suck your battery dry.

RAM
RAM is used as the “main memory” of the computer. Basically this means the working area used for loading, displaying and manipulating applications and data. There are different types of RAM (DDR, DIMM, etc.) but laptops use SO-DIMM (which is just a smaller version of the DIMM RAM). If you’re going to run Windows Vista on your laptop you should have at least 1GB of RAM.

• Casual Use: RAM’s not going to be a very big deal for you. 512MB to 1GB will be plenty for you to run all of your necessary programs. If you are going to do any gaming / editing you’ll probably want 1GB of RAM.
• Moderate Use: You’re going to want a bit more RAM for to run all of the games and programs you’ll be using. 1GB to 2GB should be plenty to run everything. Since most laptops only have two (2) SO-DIMM slots getting one stick of 1GB and one stick of 512MB would be a good way to keep the costs down while maximizing your systems performance
• Heavy Use: To make sure your games run smoothly and your graphics render quickly you’re going to want to maximize the amount of RAM you have in your system. 4GB is the maximum you can go (for now). Two 2GB sticks of SO-DIMM RAM will make everything run nicely.

Hard Drive
Hard drives aren’t as important as the other components, they are your main storage place. This is where you are going to store all of your information for applications and data. Laptop drives are generally 2.5″ hard drives.

Now, other than the actual size of the hard drive there is one other thing to consider: the speed of the drive. Most laptops come with a hard drive that spins at 5400RPMs. This means that every second the spindle (in the drive) spins 90 times. Hitachi released the first ever 2.5″ drive with an RPM count of 7200 called the Travelstar 7k60. Having a hard drive that spins faster means you’ll be able to access your data quicker, but it also comes with a setback. Faster drives consume a lot more power and can drain your batter quicker. For most use, a 5400RPM drive will be what you need.

If you can’t get enough storage space there are a few alternatives. The first would be to buy an external hard drive. Basically this is just a hard drive (generally 3.5″) put into an outer case that will connect to your laptop through a USB or FireWire port. The normal size for an external drive is 250GB but they can go all the way up to 2TB drive. The second alternative would be to back up your information onto DVD’s. This would require you to have a DVD Burner in your laptop.

• Casual Use: You’re only going to need the hard drive for storing data. The size is totally dependent on how many things you’re going to store. Anywhere from 60GB to 100GB will probably be enough for you.
• Moderate Use & Heavy Use: You’ll want to get the largest possible hard drive. So far I’ve seen 160GB drives for laptops. A few extremely high-end systems have two 100GB hard drives that are RAID 0 for extra performance. A couple HP laptops now have two 160GB drives.

Graphics Card
One of the problems with laptops is that you cannot change / upgrade them very easily. As far as I know it’s almost impossible to upgrade a graphics card so make sure you buy your laptop with the graphics card you want.

• Casual Use: Since you’re not going to be using your laptop for anything that needs a lot of graphical power, you probably don’t want to spend a premium for a really good graphics card. An Intel or ATI Radeon Xpress integrated graphics card with at least 128MB will be sufficient for all of your needs.
• Moderate Use: If your laptop usage falls into this category you’re going to want a dedicated graphics card to display your games and graphics. A NVIDIA GeForce Go 6100 with 128MB will be perfect for you. This will display very crisp graphics that you’ll enjoy looking at.
• Heavy Use: You’re going to want the best graphics card available for laptops. I f you have the money to spend you really can’t go wrong with a NVIDIA 7950GTX with 512MB. A cheaper option would be the ATI MOBILITY FireGL V5200 with 256MB. Both of these will give you excellent graphics and will be a pleasure to view

*For the casual use system you’re going to be looking at a price between $500 - $1000 approx. For the moderate use you’ll be set back between $1001 - $1600. And for the heavy use it’ll be $1601 and higher. All of these prices are in Canadian currency at the time of this article.

As you will have seen after reading this guide the difference in systems can vary by a lot and in most cases it’s just a matter of taste. I hope you’ve found this guide helpful and I hope you’ll check back here from time to time to read more articles like this.

*All prices are in Canadian currency and taken at the time of this post.