The 20,000 Peso PC Parts Guide
by Mark Rubrico

 
Any V.90 modem today can be adequate for most peoples needs. Some people claim that branded modems are more durable and much faster. However, buying a 4,500 peso modem for its durability is not very wise. Much faster ways to connect to the net ( cable ) are becoming more affordable these days. So why not save the money for those Cable Modems? Besides if your modem breaks before a year you can have it replaced through its warranty ( if it breaks after warranty, then you can go get yourself another one, from the money you saved ).

  As far as speed is concerned, many individuals have repeatedly conducted tests that confirm that the cheaper modems perform very near ( or even exceed ) their relatively high priced counterparts. Is it worth it, to pay a couple of thousand pesos more for that 1-10 per cent speed you can gain? To be fair, some really good modems have features that are not present in the low cost ones ( e.g. call-waiting modems ).

 
Not too long ago, only a couple of cd-rom drives were quite reliable. They usually came from reputable companies such as Asustek, Sony, Philips, etc.. Today, however, their are a handful of cd-rom drive manufactures that produce quality drives. Though not as fast in DAE, digital audio extraction, these "value" drives perform admirably compared to the much more expensive cd-rom drives.

  One good brand if Afreey, their drives perform very well in DAE, exceeding the scores of most of the higher priced drives. However, they have not been around in the market for a while now.

 Another is BTC, this company are the ones that actually manufacture Creative's CD-ROM drives. As for reliability, our in-house test showed that, 16X BTC outlasted a 16X Philips CD-ROM drive. The Philips withered away after more or less 3 years refusing to read anymore CDs, while the BTC drive still has no problems reading slightly scratched CDs. ( this may be an isolated case, though ) That BTC drive cost a little more than half of Philips cost.

 
Some people consider cheap AT cases as worthless and unreliable. However, judging from the computers you see everywhere here in the Philippines, roughly 80 per cent ( a conservative guess-timate ) of computer systems use generic type AT cases. So don't worry too much about getting a cheap AT case.

  Avoid cases that electrocute you when you touch it. Damage to the parts may and will happen. Although not necessary, as an extra-precaution is advisable to have the power connectors checked with a tester. This can be done by anyone knowledgeable in computer assembly.

Next : Miscellaneous : Bits And Pieces part 2