PC Hardware & Software:

A Quick Guide to Hardware and Software

This page is still under heavy construction. Not all of this information may not be accurate.

The Brains Input Devices Output Devices Storage Devices Networking (Intranet) Internet Service Providers More Accessories Security Software More Free Software for Windows

The Brains:

Operating Systems:

Linux - several versions out there, take your pick, also see The Linux Kernel Archives.
BeOS - a alternative up and comming operating system, and the BeBits Software Site.
Microsoft Windows - it's all Bill's fault if this one doesn't work, which it usually doesn't.

Computer Cases:

Enlite - good modular functionality, and easy to work on.
Pioneer -

Power Supplies:

Add up the maximum power for all of your components, and then some extra for future expansion.

Fourtron -
Symtech -

None listed yet!

I also reccomend a good UPS (uninteruptable power supply) on all critical systems:

Best -
APM -

Mother Boards:

Gigabyte -
Shuttlecard - (old) super socket seven, two s-dram sockets. 2 sims sockets, 1 AGP, 100 MHz Buss, AT & ATX compatable.

Processors:

AMD - Advanced Micro Devices Austin, Texas.
& Intel - not inside, they make good paperweights though.

BIOS (Basic Input Output System ROMS):

Award - some versions are buggy, version 4.51 for instance.
Amibios -
Pheonix - not very user friendly.

RAM (Random Access Memory):

None listed yet!

Input Devices:

Keyboards:

Mirco Innovatons - for ten bucks this will get yu down the road.
PC Concepts Wireless Keyboard - has the built in mouse 'nub' too.

Mice (Mouse):

Logitech - full product line of durable mice.
Intelamouse - wireless mouse, didn't bother to link it.

Trackballs:

Logitech - best in my opinion, one lasted me about a year, then the cord went bad.
Kensington - good for a backup trackball, had to do emergency surgery to make it work after the spring poped out.

Joysticks:

CH Products - Flightstick, your basic joystick with throttle.
Saitek - a full line of customizable joysticks and gaming accessories.

Graphics (Drawing & CAD) Tablets:

Wacom -
Graphire -

Scanners:

Hewlett Packard - take your pick, how many dots per inch do you need?

Video Capture Cards

ATI All in TV - does TV, composit and S-video, can be elusive to install the software sometimes.
ATI All in Wonder - if you want the video card and video capture card built together, and not the best gaming performance.
Haupenauge - another pretty good video capture card.
Win-TV -

Netcams (USB and Serial):

I don't recommend serial ones for sure, too slow. USBs are a little faster.

Connectix - Quickcam
Polycom - ViaVideo (rated as the best, but expensive)

Video Cams (Analog) & VCR (Video Casette Recorders):

Sony -

Digital Cameras (Still and Video):

Kodak -
Sony -
Canon -

Musical Keyboards and Instruments:

Roland - Professional Keyboards and Instruments.
Kerzweil - for the impaired musician.
Yamaha - Amature to Professional.
Casio - for the Beginners.

Output Devices:

Video Cards:

Diamond - good for older systems.
VooDoo 3 2000 -
VooDoo 3000 -
VooDoo 3500 -
Matrox G400 - for the ultimate gaming experiance.
G-Force -
Rive-TNT-2 -

Monitors:

CRT:
Viewsonic - top of the line
Sony -

Flat Screen:
Viewsonic -
Sony -

Projection:
Hewlett Packard -

Printers:

Epson Dot Matrix - a trip to the yesteryear, and some newer ones too.
Hewlett Packard (Color Bubble & Ink Jets) - full range of products.
Laser for the Professional Office - remember we're striving for the paperless office here folks.

Lexar - low end.
Canon -

Sound Cards:

Creative Sound Blaster "Live" - the best non-professional sound card around.
Creative Sound Blaster "Value" - I don't recomend it, no versatitlity, you get what you pay for.
Matrox - low noise, but not as versatal as the Sound Blaster Live.

Speakers, Mics, and Headsets:

I've blown out a few sets of these, let me know when you find some good ones.

Labtec - speakers, headsets, and mics.

Storage Devices:

Floppy Drives:

Don't spend more than five bucks on this gizmo.

Toshiba -
Mitsumi -
Toshiba -

Hard Drives:

How much storage do you need? I suggest all that you can afford!

Yamaha - Nice Brand Name.
Seagate - not the most reliable, I've had two that quit in a row.
Quantom -
Baracuda -
Cheeta -
Western Digital -
Maxtor -

Zip Drives:

Probably the way to go for back-ups and swapping data between machines if you don't want to invest in a CD-R or DVD-RW.

Iomega - Zip, Jazz, and Ditto Drives.
Only one company makes these!

Tape Drives (for back-up):

It's a good idea to have one if you're running a server for scheduled backups.

None listed yet! The smoke came out.

CD-Roms/CD-Record/CD-Rewrite:

Yamaha -
Toshiba -
Sony -
Phillips - Expanium CD-MP3 burner.
Corporate Systems Center - Dedicated Duplicating Station

Help with CD Recording:

Adaptec CD-R Central - answers to lots of your questions.

Nero CD Burning - (English) Nero CD Recording Software

CD Formats | FAQ #3 overburning | CD Media World | Game Copy World.

How do I convert data CD-Rs into audio-only CD-Rs?
Making VCDs (Video CD Helper)
AVI to VCD
Making Video CDs under Linux

Help with DVD:

Rip DVD Video to Computer Hard Drive
Darippak Software

CD-ROM and DVD Servers:

TenXpert - what a great invention!

DVD, DVD-RW, and HDDVD /(Digital Virtual Disks):

Smart and Friendly -

CD-ROM Business Cards:

Card-Shaped CD-Rs Suppliers:
Citiscape Shapes, Ltd.
Cutting Edge Shape CD
CD Media Corp.

Tech TV Article - CD-ROM Business Cards (4 pages)
by Russell Volckmann from VolksMedia Studios.

Networking (Intranet):

Telephany Modems:

Hayes - (see next)
US Robitics - now owned by 3comm

Eithernet:

RJ-45 Cards - one should not cost you more than fifteen bucks, some under ten dollars, don't spend over $20..
Linksys - Router, Hub, and Firewall Unit (253 Users).

Mac the wireless Apple - Airport Base Station ($299) and Airport Cards ($99) (wrong link!) for the iBook, iMac, PowerBook or Power Mac G4 - works with the PC too, use the Farallon Card.
Dell and several other companies also make the 802.11 standard cards for the PC, this was originally a PC standard adopted by Apple/Mac.
The iBook's keyboard pops up to give users access to a special slot designed for the AirPort Card, which exists within IEEE 802.11 DSSS specification.
Expect to see a wireless USB network card that works with the AirPort (soon).

Diamond's HomeFree - wireless network Combo Pac, less-expensive,runs at a maximum of 1 Mbps.

GMRC - home network for existing phone lines, also has a phone manager.
Netgear (bad link? takes me to Nortel...) - the original network for existing telephone line system.
Nortel Networks - the people who make Netgear (from previous link).

3comm - Eithernet cards and hubs.

Home Networking with Linix - info page.
Home Phoneline Networking Alliance -

Dummy Terminals:

Buddy - turns a keyboard, monitor, and mouse into another terminal running off of another PC.

ISPs (Internet Service Providers):

Dial-up

Southwestern Bell - can't trust the telephone company, recently dial-up service was sold to Prodigy.
Illuminati Online - Premium Internet Services, local access in the Austin and Houston, Texas areas.
Earthlink - recently merged with Mindspring, the best nation-wide dial-up service.

DSL/ADSL:

(All about the same - you must be within three miles of the central office or major trunk line.)

2wire - DSL lookup service.

Wireless:

Nobell - Austin's best wireless provider, 3 Megabit per second burst rate both on the uplink and downlink, also see Adaptive Broadband formerly California Wireless. An 11 Megabit per second burst rate version is rumored to be released soon. * Latest news is that Nobell Communications has gone bankrupt and is being aquired by Dallas based T-Speed.

Satellite:

Direct PC - this still requires a regular ISP or telephony modem for your uplink, downlink speed is tapered throughout the month.
WildBlue- satellite link both on the up and downlink. Availablity in late 2001, offering 1.5 Megabit per second. This company was formerly known as isky.net

International ISPs:

UUNET Worldwide Service Provider

Overseas Plug Adapters:

Teleadapt - Phone Plug Adapters
Targus - The Leading Global Supplier of Portable Solutions

Misc. Connection Information:

PC Pitstop - can test your connection speed.
Speedguide.net - tweaks and tips to get the best bandwidth out of your Internet connection.

More Accessories:

MP3 Players:

The Rio -
AIWA - Car Stereo MP3 Player
Diskman - Walkman type MP3 Player
Kenwood -
Creative Labs - NOMAD MP3 Player

Personal Devices (PDAs):

Palm Pilot -
Handspring Visor -
Casio - Cassiopeia (nice color display)

Palm Security:

PalmOS Security Issues
Download the Symantec Palm Antivirus

Approved Palm Download Sites:

PalmGear.com
Hotfiles

TiVos:

Sony -
Phillips -
Replay TV -

Misc. Devices:

Softbook - digital book reading appliance.
Cieva Electronic Picture Frame - might make Grandma happy, works with built-in modem.
Digi Frame - a slightly more versatal electronic picture frame.
QX3 Computer Microscope - another USB gizmo, made by Mattel, great for kid scientists.

Security Software:

Windows:

Zone Alarm - Free Firewall!
Finjan Safe - stops all incomming executables, script, and trojans.

Mac:

Just threw this in for you Macheads:

Black Ice - find it youself

More Free Software for Windows:

Audio and Video Software:

Tech TV's Article - ABC Free Video Editing Software.
ABC Videoroll - (Freeware).
Anvil Studio - (Freeware) MIDI Studio.
Recordlab - 8 Track Tape Recorder, absolutly free, can use any Direct-X effect plugin, makes wave (.wav) files.
AVIEdit - v2.3, on ZDNet a simple AVI creation and editing tool, does time-lapse, orginally in Russian.

Misc:

Pic Viewer Lite - v1.81c, on ZDNet easy to use slide show program, put it on your photo CDs for grandma.

WebCam Sotware:

NetMeeting - free download from Microsoft, peer to peer cam and file sharing and more.
TeVeo - WebCam with server space (Free), also has a clip storing program, effects soon to come.
HomeWatcher - ($25) classic security cam, emails you if anything chages in the picture.
WebCam32 - ($39.95) lot's of people use this one on their cam page, most popular.
SpyCam - (Free, Registered Version has a few extra features), the best in my opinion, java also included in free version, registered version just has a automatic on/off timer feature.
AnfiCam - ($?) - the no right click cam, this is the main page which also has lots of other wep page effects software.