TechWire

PC World finally pulls plug on floppy disks

It's official: floppy disks are yesterday's technology. If you haven't left your house since 1997, PC World's announcement today (below) might come as a shock:

PC World, Europe's leading chain of computing superstores announces today that it will no longer stock floppy disks once existing stock has been sold in all its stores, including the 12 PC World stores in Ireland, located in Dublin, Galway, Limerick, Waterford, Dundalk, Sligo, Naas, Navan and Cork.
The floppy disk, capable of storing 1.44 megabytes of data, is now no longer adequate for most day to day computing requirements.

See you in 2017

In business, confidence is a key asset. And Microsoft clearly has plenty. In the specifications for its Windows Vista Business and Enterprise editions, it has named the day when its support for these products will run out: April 11th, 2017. Must be nice to be so sure you'll be around in 10 years.

No Macs for under €1,000

Apple has raised the entry-level price of its desktop computers to €1,020. It means that the cheapest Mac is now over twice the price of the cheapest PC. The price hike is due to the incorporation of Intel dual core chips.

Price of an ordinary computer falls below €400 in Ireland

Dell’s standard Dimension 1100 PC has fallen in price to €380 (including Vat and delivery), setting a new industry benchmark for the price of an entry-level computer. The machine comes with an 80GB hard drive, a 2.5Ghz Intel Celeron processor and 512MB of Ram, specifications which would have been considered medium to high end two or three years ago. Where it skimps is not having a DVD burning drive (though it plays them fine) and an old-fashioned boxy CRT monitor instead of a flat panel one. Available on dell.ie/deals.

Dell.ie's new telly-loving PCs

Dell is getting right on board the 'media centre' (ie computer-telly hybrids) bandwagon with its two latest arrivals. The Dimensions 5150C and 9150 both sport Microsoft Media Center (sic) 2005 and Intel's Viiv technology, which features dual core chips. According to Dell, both PCs boot up extra-quickly in an effort to emulate 'turning on' a normal TV. The machines are able to stream the inbound TV signals to 10 other computers around the house. Which is a bit ambitious, considering that well under half of Irish households have even one computer. The 5150C is €990, while the 9150 (which has a 1GB network card) is €1,040 from Dell.ie.