FAQS! FACTS! FAX! 067 (30/07/97)

TINGLE  FACTOR

I have a Packard Bell 486 PC and my wife, who is a writer, has an Olympia electronic typewriter. On both of these machines she is having serious problems, apparently from static electricity, with tingling in the toes, fingers and face, which I do not feel. We have tried an earthed wrist strap and an earthed wired taped to the typewriter case. She has tried wearing plastic, rubber, cotton and leather gloves. Some gave protection for a while, but they all failed eventually. My local computer shop has been unable to offer any useful advice, do you have any suggestions?

M. Priestley, Edinburgh EH4.

A

Static electricity seems an unlikely candidate. The symptoms you describe are very similar to those experienced by sufferers of repetitive strain injury or RSI, however, your wife should consult her GP if the condition persists. RSI has become a growing problem with the advent of electronic keyboards. They permit much faster typing speeds than mechanical and electric typewriters, moreover the keys tend to have shorter strokes, often with little or no cushioning. Over time the constant jarring can result in damage to joints in the fingers and hand. There are many ways to avoid and alleviate the condition, including relatively simple measures like a change in posture or seating, to ergonomically designed keyboards. There’s an abundance of information on RSI on the net; an excellent overview, along with plenty of helpful tips can be found at: http://www.eecs.harvard.edu/rsi

COOL SOUNDS

I am using my PC as a fax/answering machine during the day. It has power saving features, where the monitor and hard disc drive shut down, but the fan is constantly operating. Surely if the computer is in ‘sleep’ mode cooling is unnecessary? Is there any way of changing the cooling system to one that runs with thermostatic control, and if so can you recommend one?

Paul Hickman, via fax

A

The constant whirring sound of a cooling fan can be very annoying, especially in the home environment, where levels of background noise are generally a lot lower. Move or re-position the system unit, so that the fan isn’t facing a wall as noise will be reflected back into the room. If that doesn’t help try placing an acoustic tile or other similarly absorbent material in the path of the fan outlet. Sound also escapes through the feet. A flat rigid surface, like a desktop, can act as a sounding board. A thin piece of foam-backed carpet under the case will provide effective isolation.

It would be a mistake to try and modify the cooling system on your PC, unless you know precisely what you are doing. Pentium processors and their equivalents do get very hot, even when apparently inactive, moreover the power supply generates heat all the time, so effective cooling is vitally important. Overheating affects the operation of the processor, and shortens the life of electronic components. It’s little consolation to you right now, but several manufacturers are working on ways to quieten future PCs, so that they emit little or no noise.

COST EFFECTIVE?

About nine months ago I brought a P133 Pentium PC with 16Mb RAM, a 1 gigabyte hard disc, quad-speed CD ROM drive, sound card and speakers, 15-inch monitor and 28,8k external monitor, with Windows 95 and quite a lot of other software pre-installed. The whole system cost £1300. Given that the prices of new PCs are dropping constantly, how much is my system worth now by your reckoning?

Sunil Panchal, Foxton, Cambridge

A

New PCs with 133MHz processors but a generally higher specification -- larger hard disc drives, faster CD ROM etc. --  can now be purchased for well under £1000. The second-hand value of your system probably lies somewhere between £750 to £850, or a little over half what you paid for it. In a year’s time its value will have dropped by another 50% or so. The good news is that depreciation slows right down in the third year, and the value of some components -- the monitor and memory modules for example -- hold their value comparatively well. It looks bad but that’s the price we pay for constant improvements in speed and performance. It seems highly unlikely that it will change in the foreseeable future, if anything it is going to get worse, as the pace of development continues to accelerate.