Around the end of '96, I purchased a high powered CAD software package called MicroStation (details about it elsewhere). The computer I had been using was a P-90 laptop. A real piece of junk. I thought I was going to add another 8MB of memory to the thing and keep using it, but I found that it would cost $250.00!!! (That when 8MB simms where around $60.00.) Well, screw that! It dawned on my that I could purchase a new motherboard for my old 486 for that price, so that's what I did.

I was fairly careful in selecting a motherboard and learned a lot in the process. I also had to get a bigger HD, a CD and a new modem. Here are some of the best links I developed in the process...

Best, Top, Number 1, etc. Tom's Hardware & Performance Guide. I'm not the only one who thinks so...When the AMD K-6 microprocessor hit the street, his site was getting around 80 hits/SECOND!

Welcome to TC Computers ! They specialize in motherboards and have a decent selection as well as pretty good specs on their inventory.

Price Watch - Street Price Search Engine I'm not sure what the deal is here, but it's a good place to have a peek at before buying just about any piece of equipment.

Memory from the Ram Warehouse and hardware to boot I got my motherboard and 32MB of SDRAM here. It was THE BEST experience I have ever had in purchasing anything mail order. (As far as I can remember.)

BalaTech- Today's Prices These guys have a "ticker" to keep track of memory prices. It's fun to watch.

Hard Disk Partitioning$ Why and How Briefly...So each of the thousand tiny files in your browsers cache don't take 16 KB of HD space. Did you know this? Have you ever erased 25MB of crap and seen an extra 50MB of stuff show up? Do you know the difference between FAT16 (win95a) and FAT32 (win95b)? Actually, I don't think the last part is in the above...See my win95 page.

Modem FAQ -- Curt's High Speed Modem Page (28.8 & 33.6 Modem Tips & Tricks) I actually don't know much about this link...Havn't visited it much yet.