Buying RAM and Hard Drive question

[Nick]

We are planning on buying lots of computers for our school. The computers
will mainly be used for low end computing such as MS Office and Internet.

1. Is 256 MB ram sufficient for this, or will going to 512 MB make a
noticeable difference?

2. What about upgrading from a 5400 rpm harddrive to a 7200?

Thanks!

[Chris Lanier]

For just internet and office use 256 is fine. same with hard drives, you
will not notice a difference in these applications.

"Nick" > wrote in message
...
> We are planning on buying lots of computers for our school. The computers
> will mainly be used for low end computing such as MS Office and Internet.
>
> 1. Is 256 MB ram sufficient for this, or will going to 512 MB make a
> noticeable difference?
>
> 2. What about upgrading from a 5400 rpm harddrive to a 7200?
>
> Thanks!
>
>

[yeloduke]

All depends on how valuable is a few seconds more access time.
For what they will be used for the low spec. is OK. just don't skimp on the
monitors for the kids eyes sake.
"Nick" > wrote in message
...
> We are planning on buying lots of computers for our school. The computers
> will mainly be used for low end computing such as MS Office and Internet.
>
> 1. Is 256 MB ram sufficient for this, or will going to 512 MB make a
> noticeable difference?
>
> 2. What about upgrading from a 5400 rpm harddrive to a 7200?
>
> Thanks!
>
>

[Ed_]

In article >, Nick says...
>
>We are planning on buying lots of computers for our school. The computers
>will mainly be used for low end computing such as MS Office and Internet.
>
>1. Is 256 MB ram sufficient for this, or will going to 512 MB make a
>noticeable difference?
>
>2. What about upgrading from a 5400 rpm harddrive to a 7200?
>
>Thanks!
>
>

I have run XP with 128, 256,384 and 512 and I can tell you that 512 seems to be
the sweet spot. Every time I try to get by with less, I end up adding another
stick later. You may not want to hear this, especially since ram is running a
little higher in cost than, say, 2 months ago, but it is my opinion.

Om the hard drive question, I wouldn't think that the dollar savings would be
worth the difference but I still use a Maxtor 5400 60g in one of my systems and
it is a great hard drive.

Ed

[Nick]

does it make a difference if you have just one application open at a time,
or just in general? does it help speed up booting up?
"Ed_" > wrote in message
...
> In article >, Nick says...
> >
> >We are planning on buying lots of computers for our school. The computers
> >will mainly be used for low end computing such as MS Office and Internet.
> >
> >1. Is 256 MB ram sufficient for this, or will going to 512 MB make a
> >noticeable difference?
> >
> >2. What about upgrading from a 5400 rpm harddrive to a 7200?
> >
> >Thanks!
> >
> >
>
> I have run XP with 128, 256,384 and 512 and I can tell you that 512 seems
to be
> the sweet spot. Every time I try to get by with less, I end up adding
another
> stick later. You may not want to hear this, especially since ram is
running a
> little higher in cost than, say, 2 months ago, but it is my opinion.
>
> Om the hard drive question, I wouldn't think that the dollar savings would
be
> worth the difference but I still use a Maxtor 5400 60g in one of my
systems and
> it is a great hard drive.
>
> Ed
>

[Bob Willard]

Nick wrote:

> We are planning on buying lots of computers for our school. The computers
> will mainly be used for low end computing such as MS Office and Internet.
>
> 1. Is 256 MB ram sufficient for this, or will going to 512 MB make a
> noticeable difference?
>
> 2. What about upgrading from a 5400 rpm harddrive to a 7200?
>
> Thanks!
>
>

256MB and 5400 RPM are plenty for 'net browsing and lightweight
Office stuff.

Also, to save $s, buy CPUs that are behind the curve; the slower
the better. AMD CPUs may be cheaper than Intel, and they work fine.
Also, for what you describe, the low-end CPUs (Intel's Celeron and
AMD's Duron) are adequate.

Many PC vendors offer educational discounts on PCs. And, don't
forget to get one of the educational software packages -- may be
a tremendous bargain for your school.
--
Cheers, Bob