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Albertha S. from
New Orleans asks:
"Should I be leery about buying a laptop with an AMD processor? Is it better to stick with Intel?"
ANSWERED JULY 22: To me, "AMD versus Intel" is like "Coke versus Pepsi," but some might say it's more like "Toyota versus Kia" or "Honda versus Hyundai." Intel and AMD have similar offerings, but products by
Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) are usually cheaper. Gamers, who are the most demanding when it comes to PC hardware, know that the 'bleeding edge' of performance routinely goes back and forth between the two. Both companies offer solid products, but you can usually save a few bucks buying an AMD-powered PC. I wouldn't hesitate to do so if everything else about the computer fit my needs. If you need help comparing the performance of AMD and Intel processors, visit
CPUBenchmark.com.
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Clark W. from
New Orleans writes: "I want to listen to Internet radio at work, but we can't run Web apps on our PCs. Other than buying a $200 Internet table radio, can you think of a way I can get around this prohibition?"ANSWERED JULY 22: Assuming they let you to plug-in USB devices (many security conscious companies don't), the
Aluratek USB Internet Radio Jukebox could be your answer. The thumbdrive-like device allows you to access more than 13,000 radio stations in over 150 countries around the world with
no monthly fees. No software installation is required. Simply plug the USB Jukebox into any PC running a recent version of Windows. The GUI, which is a skinned version of the
iRadioPOP player, searches for music geographically or by the more than 50 different available genres. Favorites are stored on the device itself, not on the host PC. The Aluratek interface does NOT, however, allow you to
record tunes. The USB Internet Radio Jukebox is
widely-available and has an MSRP of under $40. For more information, visit
Aluratek.com.
