djoxygen said:
I'll try to tackle all this recent round of questions in one shot.
Bluetooth - short range wireless. think of it as a replacement for USB. For keyboard, mouse, sync data w/ cel phone or Palm. I use it to avoid typing names in my t68i with the 10-key pad. Names and numbers in my OS X Address Book are transferred via Bluetooth to the phone.
Wi-Fi/Airport/802.11b/* - mostly the same or compatible with each other. Airport and Airport Express are Apple's term for 802.11b and 802.11* respectively. Wi-Fi is the generic term for all flavors of 802.11. In rare cases 802.11 hardware from one vendor won't work with another, but all my users here have Airport or APExpress and don't have any trouble when they're out and about. It works like an Ethernet port, but without the wires.
RAM - 512MB is probably OK for most things. If it starts taking a long time to switch between open apps then it might be time for more. Not many of my users have more than that, and they are all OK.
EDGE - like using a cel phone network for your internet connection. Not very widely used, I just threw it out as an example where you might need the PC card slot that the iBook doesn't have.
*3, *4 - main difference is the AltiVec part of the *4 chip. It's like what Intel used to call MMX with the old Pentiums, but a LOT faster. Big speed boost for processing images, audio, video, but helps a little overall. There's too many other variables to compare CPU clock speeds between different CPUs. If you're comparing the same CPU, it's best to look at the ratio instead of the difference. Example: 1.5 vs. 1.33 - the 1.5 is about 10% faster. But that's only one part of the whole system. You've also got hard drive, video, network speeds and more that influence the overall performance of a system. Because Intel figured out some tricks to crank up their clock speeds very quickly in the late '90s, they wanted everyone to focus on that as the most important factor, but it's only one of many.
hey dj.
thanx.
plz explain this also, which u missed out. the difference between 802.11b and 802.11*? Airport and Airport express? the difference between the two?
i saw this somewhere, and i had copied it. i dont exactly now remember where, probably at my univs site or something. i dont really remember. and i dont have the time to go back there. but i will paste it here. so explain it plz. i asked u the earlier question abt *3 and *4 after only i read this portion:
"Different users have different needs, and the features of your computer will depend on what you want. In our experience screen size and memory are more important than processor speed and hard drive size. These days the smallest drives are huge, and even slower processors are more than fast enough for most purposes. When considering the speed of a computer, pay more attention to the type of CPU (e.*. *4, Pentium 4) than to the number of MHz. Efficiency differences between families are huge, so the “clock speed” is only really useful for comparing processors within the same family.
The IT Committe strongly discourages use of floppy disks, which lose data files with alarming frequency, and are too small for backups. If you want removable storage, we recommend either Zip drives, rewritable CDs (CD-RW), or USB flash drives. All three hold a lot of data, and are convenient when your computer is not networked. However, the best and safest way to move files around is to copy them over the network.
For networking, get built-in Ethernet on your computer, and built-in wireless as well if you get a laptop. The ease of setup, simplicity, and reliability makes built-in interfaces preferable to external third-party cards. Also, for sound on a PC a sound card and speakers may be necessary, and speakers on a Mac may be nice. Lastly, if you’re buying Windows XP, get XP Pro instead of XP Home."
and did u see the link that i had pasted in the previous posts. did u visit that place? or did u not? do tell me that.
