DIY: Desktop buying guide

By Staff writers, CNET.com on 26 March 2007
6. Connect your digital devices
Connect your digital devices

Desktop cases serve up a number of ports on the back panel for connecting the system's peripherals, such as a monitor, speakers, a keyboard, and a mouse. There are also ports for using printers young and old and others for hooking up any number of digital devices, including digital cameras, camcorders, MP3 players, and handhelds.

Options: USB and FireWire | Audio and video ports | Getting online



USB and FireWire
Unless you're particularly attached to an ancient printer, you need not concern yourself with legacy ports such as serial and parallel connections, though they are still being supported by the majority of today's motherboards. USB has replaced these slower ports for connecting printers and other devices such as digital cameras, MP3 players, and handhelds. Many mice and keyboards also use a USB connection instead of the old PS/2 port. At 480Mbps, the newer USB 2.0 offers 40 times the speed of USB 1.1. With so many USB devices out there, we suggest you settle for a minimum of four USB 2.0 ports, and you shouldn't have to look too hard to find six or eight, with a couple of them conveniently located on the front panel.

Most PCs today have front-mounted ports that make it more convenient to connect digital devices such as a digital camera or MP3 player. No longer do you have to reach around to the back of a PC to view photos or refresh the playlist on your MP3 player. Pictured here is the front of a Sony VAIO desktop, which boasts three slots for a variety of media cards (Memory Stick, CompactFlash, and SmartMedia). And below these slots are audio and video ports along with a couple of USB and FireWire ports.

FireWire, also referred to as IEEE 1394 and as iLink by Sony, is another popular port for peripherals. The standard was developed by Apple and is used mostly for connecting digital-video camcorders or external hard drives. Not to be outdone by USB 2.0, FireWire recently received an upgrade that doubles the speed to 800Mbps. The two versions are referred to as FireWire 400 and FireWire 800. One FireWire port should do the trick.
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Audio and video ports
Many systems have a blue VGA port that's integrated to the motherboard and accessible on the back panel for connecting the PC to a CRT monitor or an analog LCD. If the system has a graphics card, the card will offer this same port, while some graphics cards will also furnish you with a white DVI connection (possibly two) for digital LCDs. If you want to connect your PC to your TV, you'll need a system with an S-Video port, unless your TV has an HDMI input, in which case you can purchase a DVI-to-HDMI adapter. A few video cards also come with HDMI ports built in. This new standard hasn't really hit the desktop in great quantities yet, but we suspect that it's only a matter of time.

Video ports

As with graphics, a PC can provide sound processing via an integrated chipset or a dedicated card. The latter option generally offers better sound quality and more features, as well as better performance. If you are after a completely immersive gaming or DVD-viewing experience, be sure to spring for a sound card. And if you have a digital speaker set bundled with your PC, make sure it has the appropriate digital-audio outputs, which are called S/PDIF (Sony/Philips Digital Interface).
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Getting online
For connecting to the Internet, it's simple. If you are stuck with dial-up service (or you just love to fax), you'll need a modem port. Sometimes referred to as an RJ-11 port, this is integrated to some motherboards and, at other times, provided by an expansion card. For broadband, you'll need an Ethernet port. More often than not, you'll find this integrated to the motherboard; if it's not, look for it as an option listed as a network interface card or NIC. Recently, we've seen some systems that contain an integrated wireless receiver. Although your desktop will still need at least one wire (the power cord), integrated wireless functionality means that you will be able to easily add your new PC to your wireless home network.
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Topics: pc, desktop, buying, guide, diy, chip, drive, case, amd, pcs

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Comments (9)

  • Daniel commented on 08/07/2008 15:24 Report abuse

    Mac OS X now offers multilingual OS and software straight out of the box, whereas if I use Windows I have to buy two separate packages to satisfy my biligual needs. Microsoft talks global, then remains monolingual? Apple walks it like they talk it. Gotta respect that.

  • Jim Bean commented on 10/04/2008 20:34 Report abuse

    Mac is a as said earlier "a dream to use". Well it is, but the "dream" is limited. Max is good for Multimeadiaviewing and editing, and easy to use features. But I Much prefer PC because i have spent enough time around a computer to not care about "user-friendliness" and multimeadia? I can download & install full Mac Multimeadia centre on m PC, and windows Media is not great but i frankly prefer niether PC or Mac, and rather buy 3rd party programs which are better than both. Also the small minority uses Mac and there fore limited products for me. PC all the way.

  • Matt commented on 20/11/2007 10:12 Report abuse

    So install windows with bootcamp then. Idiots!

  • Anonymous commented on 29/11/2006 15:16 Report abuse

    I have used a variety of Macs before in the passed and I always thought "Nice little device... pity the rest of the world considers it a BetaMax".

    Sorry guys. It isn't always quality of equipment that makes it worthwhile, you have to consider the big picture.

    No point in purchasing something where I constantly have to fight to get the software I want, cross my fingers and hope a company produces a Mac version, or hope that the miniscule market share *might* increase against all trends of the last 10-20 years.

    It might be good... but not enough people want a Mac.

  • anominous commented on 28/11/2006 22:27 Report abuse

    mac's r useless pc's r da bomb

  • Peter Gaskin commented on 12/09/2006 13:52 Report abuse

    You still need a decent dual layer dvd burner with multi format capabilities
    regardless of user type!
    Also, ensure that the machine is set up with an ethernet card for sharing your broadband connection.

  • sum1 commented on 19/12/2005 11:03 Report abuse

    and if i want to play game what do i do with my mac then?

  • 10.4 commented on 02/06/2005 20:39 Report abuse

    i agree, apple mac osx is the way to go. who needs a uglg/boring pc.

  • Senior Ding Dong commented on 31/05/2005 09:57 Report abuse

    Why bother with a PC when a Mac is far superior!

    OS X is a dream to use, stable and more secure than Windoze.

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