New Pentium and knick-knacks to make life easier

New Pentium and knick-knacks to make life easier

By Zatni Arbi

JAKARTA (JP): What a difference a couple of months can make.
It feels just like yesterday that Intel unveiled its latest
generation of Pentium chips, the Pentium 150 MHz and Pentium 166
MHz. Last week, just when I was thinking of buying myself a new
133 MHz Pentium chip, I got a message from Intel that the Pentium
200 MHz chip is now already in limited production.

The newcomer should not confuse this chip with the Pentium Pro
chip with the same clock speed, 200 MHz. The new chip is designed
for those who run Windows 95 and older operating systems such as
DOS and Windows 3.x. Of course this chip, with all its raw power,
would be an overkill for running WordStar 4.0 in DOS, wouldn't
it?

With the introduction of the Pentium 200 MHz, Intel is now
positioning the Pentiums 120 MHz and 133 MHz for entry level, the
150 and 166 MHz for general business uses, and the new chip as
the high-end PCs. Pentium Pro chips are intended for those who
work with Windows NT or other true 32-bit operating environments.

The Pentium 200 MHz is built with Intel's 35 micron process
technology, and will be produced in increasing quantities
throughout the next six months. Intel expects that system
manufacturers will be offering PCs with the new processors soon.
So, does it still make sense for me to upgrade to 133 MHz?

AMD 5x86

For two weeks I have been running Windows 95 on a PC that uses
a AMD 5x86 chip. This is basically a 486DX4 chip running at 133
MHz. If your budget doesn't allow you to upgrade all the way to a
Pentium 200 MHz system in order to be able to run Windows 95
applications at blazing speed, this chip may be the right
temporary solution for you. The good news is that it will cost
less than an Intel Pentium Overdrive, and in my test it still ran
Windows 95 at a decent speed.

Its totally pin-compatible with the Intel 486DX chips, so we
can plug it right into the 486 socket, and the AMD 5x86 will
deliver performance equal to an Intel Pentium 75 MHz. In my test,
I found its performance perfectly acceptable. Even running
Photoshop 3.05 will not turn you into a percussionist, which
might happen if you run the program on a 486DX2-66 machine.

But before you replace your existing 486DX2 chip with this
one, make sure that your motherboard will accept it. The best
thing would be to just let the people in Glodok do it for you.

New ThinkPad

Two weeks ago I wrote about the new notebooks from IBM, the
ThinkPad 360 series for the low end and the ThinkPad 760 series
for the high end. Just last week Big Blue introduced the new
generation of midrange ThinkPads. Although I was unable to take
home a demo unit for a thorough review, I had a chance to play
around with one for a little while. I liked it so much that I
thought I should tell you a little bit about it.

The most likable feature of ThinkPad 560s is its weight and
thin frame. Weighing only 1.9 kgs, these slim notebooks are
light. To achieve this minimal weight, IBM had to take out the
floppy disk drive; both the floppy drive and the CD-ROM drive are
now external devices. But that doesn't matter, since most of the
time we don't require these drives anyway. And, at 31 mm, it is
very thin, too. It is only two-thirds the thickness of my Toshiba
Satellite 100CS. Those who travel a lot will particularly
appreciate this.

Its other features are no less impressive: You can choose
between a Pentium 120 MHz and a Pentium 100 MHz. All ThinkPad
560s come standard with a 810 MB hard disk, PCI bus, PC Card bus,
and 8 MB of EDO RAM. The lower end ones use a 11.3" Dual Scan
display, while the upper end ones use a 12.1" TFT. The keyboard
feels as good as you would expect from IBM, and all models in the
560 series come with built-in sound capability that produce
acceptable sound quality. They all come with an infra-red port
standard, too.

The ThinkPad 560 is an inspired product. With this product,
IBM has proven that it is possible to manufacture lightweight,
high performance notebooks that do not take too much space in
your briefcase. In the past, subnotebooks were the only choice
for those who insisted on traveling light. Unfortunately, they
had to sacrifice display quality. After a while, they found out
that they were also sacrificing their eyesight and ultimately
productivity. With the new trend set by IBM ThinkPad 560s, I
believe that lightweight but full-featured notebooks with large
screens from other notebook makers will soon replace popular
subnotebooks such as the Toshiba Portege or the Compaq Contura
Aero.

The only quibble I have is that IBM has not incorporated the
power supply into the case. That's something Big Blue has yet to
learn from Toshiba.

Monitor

At home, I've been working with two PCs for some time now. I
use one for regular work such as writing, scanning, and faxing. I
use it for playing karaoke songs and watching MPEG movies. I use
the other PC for toying around with new software and hardware. I
used to have one monitor for each of them.

Naturally, that set-up was far from efficient. The two
monitors took a lot of space and used up a lot of electricity.
The set-up had to change, when suddenly my older monitor, an NEC
Multisync 4D that I had brought from the United States four years
ago, decided to stop working. Most likely it had decided to quit
because of the erratic electricity supply we endure in this
country.

Not wanting to invest in a new monitor, I went to Computer
City in Glodok Plaza and asked around for a switch box that would
let me use one monitor for two PCs. I found a mechanical one, and
was told that there was also an electronic model. For Rp 75,000
(US$32), you can connect two PCs to one monitor and one keyboard.
If we have four PCs that we want to control with one monitor and
one keyboard, we'll have to pay Rp 90,000. And we'd need
connecting cables as well. However, the total cost would still be
much lower than the cost of a new Sony 15sf. I bought the four-
port version.

Once installed, the switch worked perfectly, jumping from the
graphics port of one PC to another. However, the keyboard
sometimes refuse to connect, and I had to turn the mechanical
switch again and again until the keyboard gets connected. Another
problem that the PCs would not boot if the BIOS didn't see a
keyboard attached to them. So the switch is best for switching
the monitor only. On balance, I'd say we'd still be better off
using two keyboards.

Who else might want to use this switch? Well, those of you who
already use a notebook in addition to a PC would love it. You can
hook your notebook to the switch; that way you can work with the
PC's larger monitor instead of the notebook's LCD screen.

Paper Organizer

Sometimes we use printing paper of different sizes. We may use
a letterhead, and we may also print on different size envelopes
from time to time. Where do we keep all this bumf? We can stack
it on shelves, but the best place is under the printer itself.

In Computer City, Glodok Plaza, I came across a multipurpose
organizer made by Aidata. One of the stores told me the price was
Rp 110,000. Another store offered me one for Rp 70,000. Of course
I bought it from the latter, and I've been very happy with it. In
fact, I have since bought three more for my friends.

The stand fits under most printers, even laser printers. In
fact, it now sits beneath my HP 1600C DeskJet, which is by no
means a small printer. You can use it to support your monitor or
fax machine. One of the best things about the stand is that it is
color-coordinated with the latest generation of HP printers. Even
the blue handles on the paper trays look very close to the color
of the 1600C's control button.

Unfortunately, as you can see in the background of the
accompanying picture, the drawer comes only with three movable
trays. Nonetheless, if you have a cluttered desktop and you work
with different sizes and types of paper, you will find this
drawer very useful. Ask around. Who knows? You could get a better
deal.