Ideal PC :: Meño 360°

What's New

	Pentium 4 3.0 GHz Windows XP Professional Edition	2 Firewires (IEEE 1394 ports) 6 USB 2.0 ports
	1GB DDR SDRAM expandable to 4GB	512 KB L2 Cache, 21" HD LCD
	250 GB Hard Drive 7200 rpm	533 MHz System Bus
	9 in 1 media reader Wi-Fi and Bluetooth	256 MB nVidia GForce 4 Graphics card w/ TV out
	10/100 Ethernet card, 56 Kbps Modem V.92	MultiMedia Stereo Speakers
	Dual Drive DVD-RW Drive + DVD ROM	Creative Labs Sound Blaster Live!

PC BUYER'S GUIDE

If you are a first time PC buyer, these are the minimum requirements for an affordable PC without monitor:

• OPERATING SYSTEM: Windows XP Home Edition

• MEMORY: 256 megabytes, definitely not shared with video system

• DIGITAL CONNECTORS: USB 2.0 ports and IEEE 1394 port for faster devices

• HARD DISK: 40 Gigabytes

• PROCESSOR SPEED: at least 1.7 GHz Celeron or an AMD Athlon XP processor;
You don't necessarily need an Intel Pentium 4; Ignore PC's Bus

• HIGH-SPEED INTERNET: PC with a built-in 10/100 Ethernet networking connection

• VIDEO SYSTEM: at least 32 megabytes of video memory

• AUDIO SYSTEM: This doesn't matter

• MONITOR: 15-inch flat panels now cost well below $500

• MASS STORAGE: Built-in CD-RW drive

• CHEAP BRANDS AND MODELS: Compaq, eMachines and Gateway.

• RETAILERS: PCs $400-$600 range at Walmart, Costco, Circuit City and Best Buy.

Source: WALTER S. MOSSBERG
Wall Street Journal
October 2002.