Although TV-Tuner cards support video capturing, they can’t deliver good quality output due to hardware limitations. Pinnacle enjoys a good reputation in the market when it comes to capture devices, so despite not having tested the solutions, we can say that you won’t be disappointed with their products. The DVC-90 is an entry-level video-capture solution, and should prove sufficient for your home videos. Since we haven’t tested it yet, see a demo before buying it.
If you want to keep open an upgrade path for your AMD machine, bank on a chipset that supports PCIe
Should I Go Dual-Core?
Q. I own an Intel processor-based assembled PC, and want to upgrade it. I have the AMD Athlon 64 in mind, but have heard about some heating problems associated with it. Also, there are two types of Athlon 64-754 pin and 939 pin; which would you recommend? Regarding compatible motherboards, ATi and nVidia offer various chipsets. Which one should I go for?
Do you know about any motherboard for the AMD Athlon 64 with inbuilt Bluetooth support? Can you tell me something about dual-core processors from Intel and AND? Are they any good for desktop computing, and will I be able to assemble a PC incorporating one at around Rs 35K to 45K?
Malkeet
The current generation of Athlon 64 processors run cooler than their predecessors. There are no heating issues; overheating was a problem with older Athlon XP processors. Based on the pin configuration, there are two types of Athlon 64 processors i.e., 754-pin and 939-pin. The former makes do with a single-channel controller, while the latter has an inbuilt dual-memory controller. Memory-intensive applications such as Photoshop, Maya and 3D Max will benefit from the extra memory bandwidth provided by 939-pin processors.
ATi and nVidia have chipsets for AMD processors. If you want to keep open an upgrade path for your AMD machine, bank on a chipset that supports PCIe. Consider motherboards based on nForce4 from nVidia and the Xpress 200 chipset from ATi as they support PCIe. For a good solution, look at boards based on ATi’s RS480 chipset.
Both Intel and AMD have announced desktop dual-core processors. If you want to buy an Intel-based dual core solution, contact HCL, Zenith and LG, they have some ready-to-take-home models.
AMD is yet to launch dual-core processors in India; these will start shipping somewhere in October or November. Are they good? Well, they are, but to exploit their full potential, you need multi-threaded applications, which you don’t have as of now.
Good Gaming For 20K
Q. I want to assemble a good gaming rig. I want to buy MSI’s K8N Neo Platinum motherboard, AMD Athlon 64 3400 , and 512 MB of DDR RAM. Please suggest a PCIe graphics card that can play most of today’s games, such as Prince of Persia, Half-Life 2, and more? My budget for the graphics card is Rs 15K to 20K.
Arun Kishore
Your choice of components for the motherboard and processor is spot on, and I don’t need to advise you on those. However, try to get 1 GB of memory. For the graphics card, you can opt for an nVidia 6600GT chipset-based card from MSI, Asus or XFX. These cards cost Rs 13K. If you can stretch your budget to Rs 20K, an X800 chipset based-card could power your system to deliver the ultimate gaming experience.
More Bass, Please
Q. I want to buy an MP3 player. The iPod Shuffle sounded good, but it doesn’t have a display screen. Can you recommend a good MP3 player for about Rs 10K? I am looking for one with a display screen and good sound output with deep bass.
Shalabh Agarwal
The iPod Shuffle doesn’t offer a display screen-that’s about the only chink in its armour. Apple didn’t tack on a display, so as to increase playback time and preserve battery life.
For around Rs 10K, I’d suggest you go for the iPod Mini 4 GB player, which retails for just a little over Rs 10K. If 10K sounds a little stretched, look at Creative’s MuVo series. The MuVo series has many feature-rich models and are available in varying memory capacities-from 128 MB to 1 GB.
As far as deep bass is concerned, it’ll mostly depend on the phones and not on the player. Buy good-quality earphones or headphones; ones provided with the players are seldom good.
6600 Or K750i?
Q. I want to upgrade my mobile handset. Can you suggest one that has video capture, Bluetooth, display, and MP3 support? My budget is around Rs 13K. The Nokia 6600 is available for around that price. Is it true that the 6600 can only record 10 seconds of video? Can that limit be increased by adding a memory card? What do you think of Sony-Ericsson’s K750i? Is it better than the 6600? If so, how much does it cost?
D Srinivas
Considering your budget, I’d advise you go for Nokia’s 6600 or SE-T630. Both these phones have features you asked for. I am not sure about the video recording on the SE T630; check it with a dealer. But yes, the Nokia 6600 supports only 10 seconds of video capture. Adding a memory card will not increase the recording time, since it is an OS limitation and not a memory-related issue.
The Sony Ericsson K750i is superior to Nokia’s 6600 in both features as well as performance; hence you shouldn’t compare them. The K750i retails for around Rs 19,000.