Poor Computer Advice

[Useruser666]

I think this article is poorly written. The author gives some advice, then contradicts it in the next sentence. Sorry CyberBob! :lol

http://www.woai.com/news/cyberstuff/story.aspx?content_id=3F31973A-B23E-4546-82DD-2074484FBF15

Cost of Memory for Windows 98
LAST UPDATE: 5/10/2005 6:42:24 AM
Posted By: CyberBob

by Kim Komando
4-7pm Sundays
News Radio 1200 WOAI

Q. I wish to buy memory that would boost my computer capabilities. I would like to buy upward of 256 megabytes of RAM and would like a rough estimate as to the price of such a purchase. Please help. Would it be cheaper to buy a new computer instead of more RAM? I use Windows 98.

A. Sometimes, adding new hardware to an old machine is like putting a marble bar on the Titanic. Fortunately, the cost of adding new RAM is pretty cheap, as far as upgrades go.

Without knowing which computer you have, I can't tell you the exact cost. However, I looked up my current machine on a memory site and found a 256 MB module for $28.83. For those of us who remember when memory cost about $50 per megabyte, that seems like a remarkable price!

I also looked up a Dell machine I once owned, which had Windows 98. The price of 128 MB of memory was $65.91. Double that for 256 MB and you have $131.82. Older machines are generally more expensive.

Check a few sites on the Internet. Try Crucial Technology, Kingston Technology and PNY Technologies. All have configurators, in which you look up your machine. That should give you the information you need.

I have to tell you that Windows 98 does not handle great gobs of memory well. So, you would not want to exceed 512 MB of RAM.

It would not be cheaper to buy a new computer. You would spend at least $400 for a new machine. And that may not include a monitor. However, you may be able to use your old monitor.

A $400 machine is absolutely low-end, but still much more powerful than your current computer. It would also be more reliable. And new Windows machines come with Windows XP, which is far more stable than 98.

I don't recommend putting more money into an old machine. They tend to be bottomless pits. So I would vote for a new computer, despite the greater cost. That said, memory is often a worthwhile addition to an old machine. So, it's a matter of personal economics. Only you can decide if the extra cost of a new computer is worthwhile.

[CosmicCowboy]

Kim Komando is a serious hottie...she can boot up my hard drive anytime!

[CosmicCowboy]

I just always assumed it was her "radio" name...

[Shelly]

I like Dr. Bombay myself. He's a smart ass.

[tlongII]

I assume Kim Komando does not wear underwear.

[samikeyp]

we can only hope.

yum.

http://www.komando.com/images/kim_main_head.gif

[pooh]

Kim knows her stuff.

[N.Y. Johnny]

we can only hope.

yum.

http://www.komando.com/images/kim_main_head.gif


Dammnnnnnn!!! she can help me fix my computer virus...errrrr VD :lmao

[exstatic]

I like Dr. Bombay myself. He's a smart ass.

:lmao Isn't that one of Samantha's relatives on Bewitched?

[Useruser666]

Kim knows her stuff.

Maybe you need to read her article I posted and rethink that.

[Shelly]

:lmao Isn't that one of Samantha's relatives on Bewitched?

http://www.bombayinstitute.com/

[pooh]

Link (http://komando.com/about_kim_bio.asp)

Kim Komando is the host of The Kim Komando Show, a top-10-rated radio talk show with over 8 million listeners every week. She is also a syndicated columnist, and the author of seven books.
Kim began her businesses in 1992 after several years of selling computer and telephone systems for IBM, AT&T and Unisys. She started with a radio show at KFYI and a column in the Arizona Republic. Both are in Phoenix.

Today more than 400 radio stations carry her weekly show around the world. Kim also is a syndicated columnist, appearing in over 100 newspapers, including USA Today. She also writes a technology column for small business on Microsoft's Small Business Web site. In addition, she publishes three e-mail newsletters that have more than 1 million subscribers, and she is frequently asked to appear on network television, including CNN.

Kim's success has been phenomenal, but she's remained true to her beginnings. Her radio show is still carried by KFYI.

Kim's roots in computers go back more than 25 years. Her mother worked on the UNIX development team at Bell Labs in New Jersey.

"When I was sick, I went to work with her," Kim said. "I used to play a game called Hunt the Wumpus. Years later, I was writing an article about UNIX. Unknown to me, I had been beta testing the game."

Kim was raised under what she calls the "life acceleration program." Her father picked her up at school everyday. They would go home and have a bowl of soup or crackers and cheese.

"He would ask me what I had learned in school," she said. "If I said nothing, he would have me read a story in the Wall Street Journal. I'd have to tell him what I learned."

Her parents taught their four children self-reliance. Kim often went grocery shopping with her dad. She learned at a tender age how to select beef and why some ketchups were better than others. When the family traveled, she was expected to check in the entire family and handle the ticket purchase.


The acceleration paid off. She graduated high school at 15, and, a month later, turned 16 and moved out. That fall, she entered Arizona State University.
She started as an architecture major. But her father asked for some research on what various jobs paid. The research, and the report she produced, changed her life. She discovered that the computer industry paid very well. Being interested in money and in computers, she changed her major to computer information systems.

Kim graduated in 1985. She went into sales, but after seven years, she grew tired of the corporate grind. So on Jan. 1, 1992, she went out on her own.

Like most entrepreneurs, Kim struggled to get her business off the ground. The first project was an infomercial, with which she planned to sell an instructional video on using computers.

But only two months after starting, she suffered a devastating loss - her fiancé was killed in a plane crash.

"I was called by the Civil Air Patrol," Kim said. "I was in my office, writing a column. They said his plane was missing. I didn't really worry about it. I thought he had stopped for lunch."

Thirty minutes later, the CAP called again. The wreckage had been found near Prescott, AZ, and was burning. The Sheriff's Office told Kim, who was in Scottsdale, AZ, that there was no point in coming to Prescott. There were no survivors.

It took her two years to recover from the loss.

"I didn't know what to do," Kim said. "I was really depressed."

She saw two psychiatrists. The first wanted to medicate her; the other assured her that time would take care of her problems. Meanwhile, the second doctor said, get busy.

Kim threw herself into writing the infomercial.

"I would get up at 6 in the morning and go ride my bike," she said. "I would be at my desk at 7 and work till 4. Then I'd go to aerobics and come back and work some more."

It took a year to finish the infomercial. Kim was living on her savings, which were nearly depleted. Finally, the infomercial ran on late-night television. After the airing of the first show, she called to see if the tapes were selling. They were moving out the door, she was told.

"I was busted. My first check was for $26,000. I thought, 'Oh my, I've never seen so much money at once in my life.'"

After finishing the infomercial, Kim pitched America Online about taking over its computer section. AOL agreed, and Kim launched the effort on Thanksgiving 1994. She picked a holiday in hopes that her first day would be slow. It wasn't; the response was overwhelming.

"I called my parents and said, 'I don't know what I've done.'"

The pact with AOL lasted several years, as did a stint with Fox News. During this period, in the middle '90s, she got her radio show off the ground. She first approached the networks, but they were uninterested. A CBS vice president told her computers were a fad, much like pet rocks.

Rejected by the big guys, she formed a partnership with Barry Young, a leading talk show host at KFYI in Phoenix. They formed WestStar TalkRadio Network and built a studio. Kim did the marketing; Barry kept the equipment running and formatted the show. Gradually, the show blossomed, as hundreds of radio stations signed on.

Kim has since acquired the status of a cultural icon. The 20th anniversary edition of Trivial Pursuit includes the question: "Who earned the moniker Digital Goddess while hosting a radio show on the Internet?" The answer, of course: Kim Komando.

Today, Kim runs a radio and publishing company with 30 employees. Her business, which is still growing rapidly, brings in millions of dollars per year. But she hasn't forgotten those tough early days.

"I pay cash for everything," she said.

Kim and Barry married after dating for five years. Their son Ian was born December 28, 2000.

(Sounds like she knows a little about what she's talking about, that or "bob" edits badly.)

[Nbadan]

I also looked up a Dell machine I once owned, which had Windows 98. The price of 128 MB of memory was $65.91. Double that for 256 MB and you have $131.82. Older machines are generally more expensive.

Some 128/256MB of either PC100 or 133 memory can cost as much or more than 400Mhz DDR Memory of the same size, especially the finer brands like Kingstone. Seems remarkable, but I have made huge money on the growing scarcity of older memory, but $65, common....128 MB of low density older memory is about $12 online.

[CrazyOne]

Dang.. you mean to tell me the memory in all the old units Mouse and I have been squirrelling away are actually worth something?

[Useruser666]

Pooh, read her article again. She contradicts herself like three times. Contradictions are not very helpful when you are giving advice.

[Gatita]

The article was shoddy at best.