The battle between Intel and AMD for bragging rights for the fastest and most powerful desktop processor continues, despite the slowdown in sales. Intel has a slight lead with its Pentium 3.06 GHz chip, but AMD is due to announce its new contender for the title. A valid question for the purchaser of a new computer today, is, “Do I really need this speed and power, along with the expense?” This power and expense may not be necessary. If normal household and office functions, such as word processing and surfing the net are the primary tasks, then almost any new computer, including the current bargains on the market can satisfactorily perform those functions, at a moderately low comparative price. If editing videos or performing complex functions with advanced software will be the primary uses, then a higher priced speed demon may be necessary. Just remember that the “gee whiz” high-end computer of today, will become the bargain basement computer of tomorrow. The oldest computer still in use in my house is built on an AMD K6-350 chip, which was an expensive, cutting edge technology five years ago, and is still as capable of handling common computing tasks, primarily word processing and net surfing, as it was when new. Today’s “bargain priced” computers available locally in our discount, office supply, electronics, and “club” stores are typically six to eight times faster then the one I am typing this column on, yet offer superior video, more memory, bigger hard drives, CD and DVD, and other enhanced features, for a price far lower then this computer cost me to build. More speed and capacity is available, but for much higher prices. The difference in price is not linear; recent Sunday ads show that similar computers only fifty-percent faster may cost over twice as much. One local discount retailer is now offering a basic but functional new computer for under $300. As a personal choice, one must decide if that increase in performance is worth the substantial increase in price.

Recent visits to several local stores showed a current availability of several excellent systems, and very reasonable prices that could be considered bargains, compared to similar computers as recently as last summer. About a year ago, I purchased a name brand computer for a local non-profit agency with an AMD Athlon 1 GHz chip, 256 Megs RAM, CD-RW, and 17 inch monitor for a “deal” price of $1000. A year before, for another agency, I purchased a similar computer, without the monitor, for about $2000. A similar model, now discontinued, can be found on the closeout and bargain lists for under $500. Today, machines with a twice as fast AMD XP2000 chip, twice the memory, double the hard drive, a faster CD-RW, and a DVD player can be found locally, sometimes with a 17 inch monitor, for approximately $800. Looking at year-old computer magazines, a similarly equipped model from the same maker was $2400. This trend of rapidly falling prices on “new” computers using not quite the latest technology has been happening since the debut of the PC in the ‘80’s.

Peripherals and accessories have fallen in price as well. Fast CD-RW drives are now advertised for well under $50, after rebates; my CD-RW drive, very slow compared to the ones currently on the market, was installed in this computer about three years ago, and cost $240. In a recent advertisement, a DVD-RW drive, capable of writing to both DVD and CD discs, was $179 after rebates; a lesser drive was over $600 a year ago. When I built the computer I am on now, I purchased a new “big-screen” 15-inch monitor for about $200; now, very good 17-inch monitors are available for about $100. The memory in this machine was purchased at a bargain price of about $2 a megabyte, originally costing about $120 for 64 megs; now, a 128meg stick of the same type of memory, but a third faster, is advertised locally for about $7, after rebates. That is twice the memory, for about one-twentieth of the price. Consider the price of blank CD discs over the past few years, going from several dollars a disc to about 15 cents a disc, without rebates, or “free after rebate”. The common 3.5 inch floppy disc is almost obsolete, just as it replaced the 5.25 inch disc, with writeable CDs taking their place. Soon, writeable DVDs will render the CD obsolete.

Just remember that obsolete does not mean useless. This computer may be technically obsolete, but still works fine, and performs all of the tasks called upon it, and with reasonable maintenance and backups, will likely do the same for some time to come. Admittedly, I did recently purchase a new “gee-whiz” computer, complete with a very fast processor, lots of memory, and a DVD writer. As is typical, one of my daughters needs a new computer, so she will get that new one, and I will continue to use this classic I am typing on now. Soon, I will likely have a new super machine, with the new Intel Pentium 3.06, and a 19-inch LCD monitor. Still, this old computer will plod along, working as fine and as fast or as slow as ever.

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