What do the following computer terms mean ?

Question

30 GB HD?
128 MB?
Pentium 4?
56K modem ?

Sorry but I have no idea and I am going to buy a new computer and need to know what these terms mean, so I won't be buying something I may or maynot need !!!!!

Thanks

Answer 1

30 GB HD refers to the size of the hard drive, which is where data is stored. 30 once used to be large, but has proven to be tiny as people store more music, movies, etc on their computers.

128 MB is the amount of ram, again once thought to be plenty. But most machines come with 512-1GB of ram; ram is the ability of the machine to run things at the same time. The more you have, the better able it is to run.

Pentium 4 is the chip. Not sure the speeds; but its not that fast anymore.

56k modem means that there is a dial-up modem that runs at 56kilobytes per second. That is as fast a dial-up can go; but most people have high-speed internet (DSL/cable) via a ethernet cable & card or use a wireless connection (wifi) to connect to the internet.

IN short, that machine needs more ram, more HD, and ethernet card, and if possible a wireless card. So alot of work.

Answer 2

HD = Hard Drive
MB = Megabyte (128 probably reffering to the amount of MB on the RAM - Random Access Memory)
- Anything less than 512 MB of RAM is not worth getting.

Pentium 4/Pentium 3 are processors, but these particular processors are usually installed on much more expensive computers. The cheaper ones have processors of other Intel titles.

K = kilobyte.

Check the speed of the ISP (Internet Service Provider) network before you buy a router for wireless access online, as providers networks/services don't all use ADSL 2 connection. See if there are any faster modems than 56K
(A Hundred something K)

Answer 3

30 GB HD - 30 Gigabite Hard drive. Today's operating systems (WIndows XP and Vista) require a lot of hard drive space, as do many of todays applications. 30 GB is on the small side of normal for today's needs, consider this barely adequate.

128 MB - 128 Megabite Internal Memory. Very small - this computer will run slow on many applications, and will be all but useless for games and other video-intensive applications. You probably want more internal memory (RAM [Ramdon Access Memory]} than 128 MB. Consider this less than adequate.

Pentium 4 - is the processor (the "brains" of the computer). Pentium 4 is state of the art.

56K modem - is still the best that's available today for dial up internet connections. (It's been the standard for many years). If you plan to use DSL or Cable modem you won't need this 56K modem at all.

Answer 4

30 gb HD means the space on your hard drive. SO basically you can save 30 gigabyte of stuff. A song is like 4 MEGAbyte. And there are 1000 megabytes in a gygabyte. So you have 30000 megabytes of space.

128mb is the RAM. That means how many programs and stuff yo ucan un at the same time. 128 is catually pretty low, so your pc will be a little slow.

Pentium 4 is the processor, the thing that runs your pc. Penium 4 is average, so it's OK speed.

56K modem means that you can connect to a dial up internet without needing any extra things apart from a wire. Most people now have broadband, because it's a lot faster than dial up, so you'll need other stuff anyway.

Answer 5

30 gigabyte hard drive, the hard drive can hold 30 gigabyte of data, that's 30,000 megabytes. 30 GB is fairly small by today's standards.

128 MB is 128 megabytes, this refers to the amount of memory the computer has. You will want more than 128 MB of memory.

Pentium 4 is a type of processor (the 'brain' of the computer). It is fairly new (a few years old). Pentium 4 processors are made by Intel and are still a good processor.

A 56K modem is basically a box that connects to the internet at 56 kilobits per second (very slow by today's standards). Unless you plan on getting dialup internet, you will not need a dialup modem (56k modem). If you want broadband, you want a broadband modem.

Answer 6

Well those are the 'basic' items your computer will include.

A 30 Gigabyte hard drive. A bit small. I would at least go for a 70 megabyte drive.

128 Megabytes of Ram memory. I would recommend you have at least 512 megabytes if you're going to run Windows XP otherwise your computer will be quite slow.

Pentium 4 is the generation of computer you're buying. It's the latest generation. You would like to know the speed of your computer, or it's MHz.

56K modem is just a regular plain dial up modem. Hopefully you will have a high-speed internet connection and then that will use your Ethernet port on the back of your computer. So do ask if you have the Ethernet port.

Answer 7

30 GB HD? - this is how much 'information' can be stored on the machines 'hard drive'. 80 GB is generally the minimum on new machines today.

128 MB? This is the amount of 'working memory' the machine has. Also referred to as RAM, its what the machine uses to 'compute' with in real time. It is erased when the machine is powered off, so its not used for storage. 512 MB is generally considered minimum on todays machines.

Pentium 4? This is the type of processor it has. P4 processors are a bit outdated.

56K modem ? This is what you would connect to the internet with if you use a 'dial-up' connection. If you have DSL or Cable, you don't need this at all.

If this is a machine you are considering purchasing - don't. Its rather old and since its an older P4 its very likely to be using a type of memory called RDRAM, which is obsolete and VERY expensive.

Are you looking to purchase a complete machine or do you have something already? If you have a machine already, consider upgrading the tower instead of purchasing a complete machine.

Answer 8

30 GB HD => 30 Giga Bytes of Hard Disk Drive; an indicator of how much data you can store in your computer. Most of the computers manufactured today, comes with a 80GB HD.

128 MB => 128 Mega Bytes of RAM (Randon Access Memory). RAM is the area which is used for the job of computing. More the size of the RAM, more robust the processing speed would be. Most of the computers manufactured today comes with 512MB or 1024MB of RAM.

Pentium 4 => The name of the processor. Pentium is the brand name of the processor manufactured by Intel. Pentinum 4 was released to market on 2003. Pentium Centrino Duo (dual core) is provided with the most recently manufactured personal computers.

56K modem => 56 kbps (kilo-bits per second) is an indicator of the maximum amount of data that the modem would be able to transfer while your computer is connected to the internet or to any other computer. Modems are also available with the capacity of 128K and 256K.

Answer 9

30 GB HD is the size of the disk drive. 30 GB is small by modern standards, but will be fine until you decide to save millions of songs, pictures or videos on it.

128MB refers to how much memory it has, and 128 MB is criminally small. Plan on upgrading to at least 256 or better, 512.

A Pentium 4 is a model of a CPU, but they come in several speeds.

All modems are 56K these days. Not important unless you plan to dial up.

If this is a used computer, don't spend a lot on it. Much more capable new systems are quite inexpensive these days.

Answer 10

They mean

30 GB HD = 30 Gigabyte Hard drive
128 MB? = 128 MegaBytes (Probably RAM=Random Access Memory)
Pentium 4? = Reference to a processor model (Fairly new)
56K modem ? = 56 Kilobyte modem

If thats the spec of a computer then I can say its quite a slow one and may suit internet surfing only. I assume 128MB is the RAM which is fairly low. Dont worry about the modem as you can use a USB port to get broadband access.
Happy buying