Whatchya got at the moment is integrated, or "onboard" video, deb, not a video card. As long as the motherboard has an AGP slot (should be brownish, usually found above the stack of PCI slots, which are green and longer than an AGP slot, you can upgrade to a real video card, which will boost your video performance while reducing your processor load and increasing your available RAM, good things all.
I wouldn't think it practical to get too exotic ... a 64MB card will be a vast improvement over what you've got, a 128MB card even better, but all in all for your system and likely your exchequer, a 256MB card prolly would be overkill. Go ahead and shop for a few, but before you buy anything, run it by the panel here ... get some geek input. Oh, and before doin' anything, be sure your motherboard will accomodate an AGP card. If not, you're not toast; decent PCI cards are out there too, but AGP is the better choice if your machine supports it.
Er... you said stuff, and I am sure it was intelligent - but I am not sure what it actually was.....
I shall use my dictionary...
Your 'puter doesn't have a video card ... it has a chip which shares your 'puter's memory and processor. In general, integrated video is pretty low performance ... fine for office work and net browsing, but not particularly suited for gaming or other graphics. Its likely your machine will accept a video card. There are a coupler different types of video cards ... AGP, which uses a specific AGP slot on your 'puter's motherboard (which is what everything else inside your 'puter mounts to). An AGP slot is generally reddish-brown in color, there should be only one of them, and the one in your machine if it has one will be empty. A different sort of slot is called PCI, there will usually be a couple of 'em at least, usually more, and those are longer than AGP slots, and tend to be colored sorta greenish. .
Anyhow, is your 'puter a name brand, or was it "private label"? If its a name brand, I can prolly look up its service info and figure it out from here. If it was privately built, that won't be an option. From what I've read so far, I get the feeling its not a major brand machine ... not a real big problem ... just gonna take a bit more diggin' to figure out what's there and what can be done with it.
Thankee - I lost you after the integrasted chip - which I got.
Yep - it's a generic - built at the shop - but I can easily get them to tell me what I need - when I can afford the chip.
I guess they felt "Patrick's mother's best friend wouldn't need a good chip!"
Timber, recommend an inexpensive external drive...I need one bad.
Dunno whatchya consider inexspensive ... I have found
This to be the critter that gives me the most bang-for-the-buck; they're in the $250-$300 bracket. They do come in smaller capacities tha 200MB, which are a bit cheaper. I've got a few of 'em now. They really are Plug-and-Play on Windows 98 and later; plug 'em in and use 'em. I really like the Firewire/USB/USB2.0 connectability - makes it simple to swap drives among 'puters. USB2.0 and Firewire both are lots faster than USB, with much less speed difference between USB2.0 and Firewire - essentially no significant difference that I've noticed, even shufflin' multi-megabyte A/V files, but others say there is a noticeable difference. I dunno, haven't actually stop-watched a comparison myself.
A buncha externals in the 20-to-80GB sizes are out there in the $100-$250 price range. For more versatility, albeit at higher price, there are a few that combine jukebox and hard drive capability; sorta MP3 players that double as external general storage. I don't really have any experience with 'em; I'm not an MP3 fan.
The last 40 gb hard drive I installed cost $70. I don't think there's room in my tower for another one.
Well, with externals, you're gonna hafta spend a little more than you would for an internal, as is true of any drive. Cases and power supplies and interfaces and so on cost . Portable generally runs more than fixed. For around $50-$100, there are several "enclosure kits" from various vendors that let you employ what otherwise would be a fixed internal drive as an external, but by the time you pay for the drive and the enclosure, plus the necessary interface cable, you're prolly better off with the real deal. There are externals, smaller ones, 20-40-60GB, usually USB2.0 only (though they'll work -jusy slower -on USB),out there in the $100 bracket.
