April 2001

April 6, 2001

• Installing USB Devices
  Installing USB devices is as easy as plugging them in. Right?

  Yes and no.

  USB devices are convenient ways to add scanners, digital cameras, PC cameras, graphics tablets, and other devices that you may plug in and unplug to your system.

  Before you purchase a device, check to make sure there are drivers for your operating system. For instance, most Web Cameras may be used with Windows 98 and Windows ME. Xirlink/ IBM’s Net Camera works with Windows 98, 98SE, ME, or 2000 while the Intel Pocket PC Camera works with Windows 98, 98SE, or ME.

  Follow installation instructions. Yes, we actually mean read the installation guide or user’s manual.

  Many USB devices require a particular order of installtion. For example, 3COM Home Connect camera requires you to install drivers and software, rebooting, then plugging in the device. Other devices, such as Microsoft Intellimouse USB you can plug in and Windows operating system will detect and install the drivers for you.

  If you’re fussing around with your USB device and your computer just doesn’t seem to be recognizing it no matter what you do, go back to the basics. Go into the device manager and see if you have conflicts and that all the devices that are installed (motherboard chipsets included) are recognized.

• Preschoolers Bike For Hospital
  PRESCHOOLERS PEDAL FOR CHARITY

  Tricycles aren’t normally used for long-distance travel, but many of the preschoolers at Juniata College’s Early Childhood Education Center will test the mettle of their pedaling in a trike-a-thon to raise money for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital April 4-6 on the campus of Juniata College.

  The children will be riding their tricycles at the outdoor basketball court between Ellis College Center and the football stadium parking lot from 3 to 3:30 p.m. April 4 and 5, and from 11 to 11:30 a.m. April 6.

  The children will ride through a course set up with traffic cones and all riders will wear safety helmets. In case of rain or other inclement weather, the event will be rescheduled.

  All donations received during the trike-a-thon will go to St. Judes Children’s Research Hospital. The hospital was founded in 1962 in Memphis, Tenn., as a hospital specializing in treatment of catastrophic diseases affecting children.

April 5, 2001

• Duron 900 MHz
  Watch for availability on the AMD Duron 900 MHz tray processor. The PIB version is limited in availability. The tray processor is backordered, at this time.

D900BOX $134.96
D900AUT1B $109.89

• Athlon 266 MHz FSB PIB
  AMD Athlon processors operating at 266 MHz Front Side Bus are now available in the Processor In a Box (PIB) package.

A1000BOX266 $199.02
A1133BOX266 $249.82 – Backordered
A1200BOX266 $253.31
A1333BOX266 $301.21 – Backordered

PIB products ship with a processor fan (3-pin connect) and AMD honors a 3-year limited warranty.

• DIY Small Business Servers
  Is your small business upgrading or replacing your mail, print, or web server? What hardware do Do-It-Yourselfers choose?

  Intel suggests you use Pentium III Xeon multi-processor based system. You know you’d like to use these also, but this year’s budget doesn’t allow for such a large expense. You want high-performance now. You will upgrade when the next speed demon comes along.

  Find out what your software requires for minimum performance and for optimum performance. This will help you set your price range.

  Frequently, high-processor speed, single processor systems are used by small businesses for internal servers. Clients tell us that they choose an AMD Athlon processor 1 GHz or faster because they are able to build a performance system inexpensively. In the last few weeks, we have seen clients migrate over to AMD Athlon processors operating at 266 MHz FSB on a motherboard powered by DDR-SDRAM. These small business DIYers expect to change out core components in 6 months to a year (motherboard, processor, memory, etc); upgrading to that day’s highest speed combination.

  On the Intel side of processors, small businesses are also using dual Intel Pentium III processor based systems. Multiprocessors allow greater headroom for varible demand on a server. Many applications used today (ERP, mail serving, Web hosting, file and print serving) benefit from the use of more processors and larger caches. Of course, the impact of multiprocessing and cache configurations on performance depends on your company’s specific application and use.

  DIYers’ Popular Choices:

  AMD Athlon processor based system
  AMD Athlon 1.2 GHz, operating at 266 MHz FSB
  512MB of DDR-SDRAM memory
  FIC AD11 motherboard

  Intel Pentium III processor based system
  Pentium III 1 GHz processors
  512MB of SDRAM memory
  Epox EP-D3VA motherboard

• North Star Neighborhood
  It’s a great day on North Star Way. Follow that star!

  The Year 2000 National VW drag racing champion has his car ready to campaign this season. The Ford Doctor completed mechanical restoration on a 1964 Thunderbird. The printers shipped several pallets of forms to a national equipment rental company. Private sales of boats and vehicles on McHenry Avenue have increased, including a clean 1989 Suburban 1500 for $4,800 ("must sell"). Tees to Please continues working overtime printing shirts for local baseball and motorsports clubs (yes, this is the home of American Graffiti, for you 60’s movie fans). And Mar-Riche, the hair stylist/cosmetologist, has a steady stream of satisfied clients. Join us.

April 4, 2001

• YY-B0221 Mini-server Cubes Special
  We have extra inventory on YY-B0221 mini-server cubes, so we lowered the sale price to $209.75 (plus delivery). Call to order.
• Attention ASUS A7V133 Users
  Did you buy an ASUS A7V133 motherboard rev 1.05 or more recent, anticipating the release of the AMD Athlon processors operating at 266 MHz FSB? AMD has approved the A7V133 motherboard for use with the following processors operating at 266 MHz FSB: A1000AMT3C, A1133AMS3C, A1200AMS3C.

  If you are going to swap your processor, you will need new thermal tape for your processor fan. We have thermal tape for the Cooler Master fans. Replacement squares are $1 each plus delivery cost ($.34 for a US stamp, if you are buying the tape only).

• AMD Files Suit Against Alcatel Business Systems
  AMD Files Suit Against Alcatel Business Systems

  –AMD says Alcatel in breach of contract on flash memory products–
  SUNNYVALE, CA–April 3, 2001–AMD announced today that it has filed suit against Alcatel Business Systems seeking damages for breach of a contract under which AMD supplies flash memory products to Alcatel. The suit was filed in the Supreme Court of the State of New York.

• DDR-SDRAM Memory
  Looking for DDR-SDRAM memory? We have DDR-SDRAM!
  • Crucial Technology, a division of Micron Buy factory direct now
  • Kingston Buy now
  • Samsung Buying 25 pieces or more? We can special order from Samsung direct. Buy now
  • Wintec We call it generic memory, because it’s a name unfamiliar to many of you. We have worked with Wintec and Wintec memory for years and their generic memory is a reasonable entry product into DDR memory for home users. Buy now
• Deja vu: ESC store access
  ESC online stores are still experiencing difficulties. Service is intermittent. Please call if you would like pricing, information on products, or other information. (800) 427-3726, 9 AM to 5:30 PM Pacific Daylight Time.

  11:42 AM Website back up. If it goes down again, please give us a call to let us know.

April 3, 2001

• Seagate Barracuda 180
  How many Seagate Barracuda 180 drives do you want? Seagate is opening availability late this week. Let us know if you want some of these new drives.

  What is the Barracuda 180?

  In November 2000 Seagate announced theie new Barracuda 180 drive. It will start shipping this week.

  Drive Capacity: 180 GB
  Model:ST1181677LW
  Power Consumption Rating: Less than 10.3W
  Noise Level: 3.7 Bels
  Interface: Ultra160 SCSI
  Future Interface: Fibre Channel model available at a later date at 2GB per sec
  Warranty: Seagate 5-year warranty
  MTBF: 1,200,000 hours

  Additionally, the Barracuda 180 incorporates an exclusive Rotational Vibration Protection System that monitors and reduces or eliminates any possible head positioning errors resulting from rotational vibration within a server cabinet or mounting system.

  The Barracuda 180’s design is leveraged from members of Seagate’s award-winning Cheetah family, including the Cheetah X15, the world�s fastest disc drive. As a result, the Barracuda 180 is well suited for working with A/V applications. The Barracuda 180 spins at 7,200 RPM, has a formatted data transfer rate of up to 47 Mbytes/sec, and will be available in the industry-standard Ultra160 SCSI interface. For A/V-specific work, a 16 Mbyte V-code cache option will be offered. Single evaluation unit Suggested Retail Pricing (SRP) for the Barracuda 180 is $2195. Actual street pricing will vary, and will be determined by Seagate authorized resellers.

  Email presales@esc-tech.com

• Western Digital 80GB drives
  At Cebit, Western Digital announced "availability of the highest capacity performance desktop EIDE hard drive currently available – a 7,200 RPM, three-disk model offering as much as 80 GB of digital storage." When will we see those new drives?

  Western Digital indicates that 60GB and 80GB 7200 RPM drives will start shipping later this month. We’ll keep you posted.

• Intel .13 Micron, 300MM Wafer Fab
  Intel Hits Key Milestone — Yields First Silicon From Industry’s Most Advanced 0.13 Micron, 300 MM Wafer Fab
  HILLSBORO, Ore. – March 28, 2001 – Intel Corporation has completed production of its first silicon chips from its 0.13 micron technology, 300 millimeter (mm) wafer development fab located here. Named D1C, this factory is the first in the industry to produce fully functional computer chips built using advanced 0.13 micron process technology on the new, larger 300 mm wafers. This milestone keeps Intel on track to bring chips built on these advanced technologies into the marketplace at the beginning of next year.

  Continue reading press release

• Datafeeds to advertising sites
  Thank you for your understanding as we work on our servers.

  A few people have inquired about 256MB generic PC133 SDRAM modules. ESC Technologies does not offer generic SDRAM at this time, but does offer memory through Crucial Technology.

Save 10% on high-quality Crucial RAM. Order online at Crucial’s factory-direct Web site.

• Store Website Temporarily Down
  esctechnologies.com, escstore.com, esc-tech.com, esc-technologies.com are temporarily down. Sites are expected to be up later today. We apologize for inconvenience.

  You are more than welcome to call us toll free, 800-427-3726. Operators are standing by.

Albert: Well, I’m sitting.
AJ: I’m not.

April 2, 2001

• AMD Duron 900 MHz
  SUNNYVALE, CA–APRIL 2, 2001–AMD today announced the availability of the 900MHz AMD Duron� processor, its highest performance AMD Duron processor to date. Designed to meet the needs–today and tomorrow–of value-conscious home and office desktop computer users, the 900MHz AMD Duron processor enhances AMD’s processor lineup, which delivers a full spectrum of innovative solutions. Continue Reading Press Release
• Selecting A Desktop Motherboard
  The motherboard plays a key role in the stability, reliability, performance, and compatibility for your system. Service, support, and warranty by the vendor and manufacturer are as much a factor as making sure the motherboard is in good physical condition. How do you choose?

  ESC Technologies assists you with basic steps in choosing a motherboard. We offer select motherboards that are stable; work with manufacturers that honor warranties and offer support to system builders as well as those using their motherboard in home or office computer system; and offer products that have a high-customer satisfaction rate. When products do not meet our standards, or in-house and customer return rates exceed 1% we remove the product from our line.

  Sorting through model numbers

  When you first start looking for a motherboard model numbers might as well be XYZ123 or FDSWER. At best, differences between model numbers and motherboard manufacturers are difficult to sort out.

  Many manufacturers use part of their company name and chipset name in the model number of their product.

  For instance:

  Intel BOXD815EEAAL
  BOX = Product is intended to be sold through, but not exclusively by, Intel Product Dealer Program. When end-user purchases through Intel Product Dealer, Intel honors 3-year limited warranty and product is packaged with CD-ROM with manual and drivers, cables, and any other necessary components.
  815E = Intel 815E chipset
  EA = Eason, which was the code name for the project
  A = With Audio
  L = With LAN (network connection)

  Other examples:

  ASUS A7M266
  ASUS A7V133
  Upon first glance, these model numbers do not lend well toward trying to figure out a product description. However, here are a few hints:

  A7M266 => 7= K7 support; M (not sure? But M was used in product sequence K7M); 266=266 MHz FSB support

  A7V133 => 7=K7 support; V =VIA?; 133=KT133A chipset

  To help you differentiate features, ESC Technologies has motherboard comparison charts located at esctechnologies.com.

  Select a Motherboard that Supports the Right Processor(s)

  Narrow motherboard options by deciding which processor you are going to use in your computer system.

  If you are going to use an AMD Athlon processor operating at 266 MHz FSB, then you use a Socket A motherboard that supports the 266 MHz FSB. If you are going to use an Intel Pentium 4 processor, then select a motherboard that supports Socket 423 processors.

  Value Products

  "Value product" is a code word in the computer industry for a product targeted toward a consumer looking for the best ratio of cost of the product to "what you get". Value products can be lower cost, relative to top-of-the-line products.

  Many times, value products have "onboard" devices, such as audio, video, and network connections. With functionality built on the motherboard the cost of the overall product can be lowered.

  Value does not mean cheap. However, the adage, "you get what you pay for" may apply with some manufacturers’ products. Keep into consideration the manufacturer, return rate history of the product, vendor support, etc.

  Examples of value product are Intel’s D815EEAAL or new BOXD815EFVL motherboards. They’re great for building basic office machines and computers for your home office. Typically, they come with onboard audio and video. More and more frequently, people choose versions with onboard LAN also.

  Here are three features on Intel’s Desktop Motherboards that are typically overlooked:

  IPD BOX products have manufacturer 3 year warranty.

  Instantly Available PC is present on Intel Desktop Motherboards that are considered "value products". Instantly Available PC allows the system to go into a low-power state consuming below 10 W of power.

  Intel also bundles Norton Internet Security from Symantec, Intel Active Monitor; Intel Express Installer; and other software products to help you protect your new data and install software more simply. [Note: Software bundle may vary with products.]

  Performance Products

  If you’re designing your own computer because you want the cr�me de la cr�me of computer components, then you will select a motherboard that has an AGP slot, PCI slots, and room for expansion.

  AMD Athlon processors operating at 266 MHz FSB are top performers of today’s computer components. AMD posts approved motherboards on their website. If you are building an AMD Athlon processor based system then you will want to use a motherboard on the AMD approved list for the processor speed you are using.

  At the moment, there are nine motherboards approved by AMD for use with the Athlon 1.2 GHz processor (266 MHz FSB). Of these, ESC offers ASUS, FIC, Gigabyte, and Microstar.

  ASUS A7M266
  ASUS A7V133
  Biostar M7MIA
  FIC AD11
  Gigabyte GA-7DX
  MSI K7T Turbo-R
  MSI K7 Master
  Soyo K7VTA

  Consider how you are going to use the system to help you decide which board is best for you. Is the computer going to be used for less than 20 hours a week? Will the computer be used 8 hours a day or more? Does it need to be compatible with a particular product? What is your target price range? Availability will be the greatest factor if you want something immediately. These products are new and availability is limited.

  To a certain extent, rely on your vendor to assist you in selecting your product. Perhaps they have already filtered product choices, as ESC does. If they offer a broad range of seemingly comparable products, ask for assistance with help telling the difference between products.

• PC2100 DDR-SDRAM Available Through Crucial
  Yes, you’ve been waiting a long time. Crucial has released PC2100 DDR-SDRAM memory!

Save 10% on high-quality Crucial RAM. Order online at Crucial’s factory-direct Web site.

Once again, Crucial is offering Free UPS 2 Day Air Delivery (limited time).

• AMD Athlon PIB Availability
  The following AMD Athlon Processor In a Box (PIB) products are available:

A900BOX
A1000BOX
A1100BOX
A1200BOX
A1200BOX266

Online will be updated shortly to reflect the current status of these products.

• Intel Desktop Board Availability
  The following Intel Desktop motherboards are now available:

BOXD815EEA2L
BOXD815EPEA2
BOXD815EFVL
BOXD815EPFV

Products are available for order by telephone. Online ordering will be available later today.

April 1, 2001

• "Out of Memory" Error Messages
  Are you receiving the following message when you have 512MB or more memory in your system?

  "There is not enough memory available to run this program. Quit one or more programs, and then try again."
  (When using Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition, Microsoft Windows 98 Second Edition, Microsoft Windows 98, Microsoft Windows 95)

  Follow the steps at microsoft.com.

• Access Magazine
  Does your daily newspaper provide Access Magazine? Access Magazine: America’s Guide To The Internet an insert with the Sunday edition. Page 15 of today’s Access had a nice story about the origin of April Fools, as well as pages featuring the day of pranks.
• Jane Goodall’s Birthday April 3rd
  April 3rd is Jane Goodall’s birthday. Yes, the original Jane Goodall, not Jane Goodall from Animal Husbandry’s.

  Learn more about this amazing woman, who has learned about cousins of Homo Sapiens sapiens and insights into our own cultures. If you did not read about Flo, Leakey, and their families in the 1960s, let National Geographic bring the current generation to life.

  Dr. Goodall’s introduction at nationalgeographic .com/ faces/goodall continues with themes from her most recent book, Reason For Hope (1999). Next, visit the Jane Goodall Institute at janegoodall.org