12/11/95 GO AHEAD, RELAX AND BUY THAT PC

GO AHEAD, RELAX AND BUY THAT PC
Pick wisely, and there's little worry your new baby will be tomorrow's dodo
I am shopping for my sixth-generation home PC and struggling with a question that has vexed me since I brought home an Apple II: Why buy now, when in a few months I can almost certainly get something better and cheaper? Sooner or later, you just have to bite the bullet, and a look at the industry landscape suggests that the next few months may be a better time than most.
The reason is that the Intel-based world is in a bit of a technology hiatus. The transition to the Pentium processor is largely complete. Machines using its successor, the Pentium Pro, are now available, but don't look for the Pro on desktop machines for at least a year.
GNAWING HUNGER. Manufacturers say the most popular model for the home market today features a 100-megahertz Pentium, 8 megabytes of RAM (with many buyers wisely opting for 16), a hard drive of at least 1 gigabyte, and a quad-speed CD-ROM player. Slower 75-Mhz Pentiums are now entry-level machines.
My new computer will almost certainly be a 133-Mhz Pentium, the fastest currently available. Neither you nor I really need that much power--today. However, big productivity programs such as Microsoft Office are growing ever more hungry for resources. And getting the most out of multimedia software demands a fast processor. (Don't expect your Web surfing to speed up with a new Pentium, though. A high-speed 28.8 kilobytes-per-second modem will make a difference, but processor power won't.)
If you want to keep a computer for as long as possible, buy all the speed you can afford. If your budget is tight, you can get by with a 120- or 100-Mhz machine. But don't skimp on memory; a lot of Windows 95 software isn't happy with less than 16 megabytes of RAM.
If you can, consider holding off until early next year, when Intel Corp. will begin shipping a 150-Mhz Pentium and cuts prices on existing chips. Hot new 150-Mhz machines are likely to be priced around where the 133s are today, with the other prices moving down a notch. The 150, and the 166-Mhz chip due out later in the year, should boost raw speed by about 12% and 24%, respectively.
On the other hand, you almost certainly don't want to wait for the Pentium Pro, also known as the P6. Some P6-based computers are now available, but their price tags, generally starting at around $4,500, put them out of reach for most buyers. Those prices will come down, but for technical rather than economic reasons, the Pro will become a consumer item much more slowly than the 486 or the Pentium did.
Intel optimized the Pentium Pro to run well with programs and operating systems that gulp data 32 bits at a time. It's a screamer running Microsoft Windows NT, IBM OS/2, or Novell NetWare--all full 32-bit operating systems (as is Apple's Mac OS). However, the P6 is often slower than a Pentium in running Windows 95, which is a hybrid containing many 16-bit components. This largely restricts the P6 to use as a server or high-end workstation.
NASHVILLE UPSTREAM. Over time, Intel may design a new version of the Pentium Pro that does better with 16-bit code. Or Microsoft may offer a pure 32-bit Windows 95 at some sacrifice in compatibility with old programs. Company officials decline to say whether that might happen in the version code-named Nashville, which is currently under development.
Intel will continue to tweak more performance out of the Pentium, and there is talk of speeds as high as 200 Mhz. Change, however, will be incremental. So you can buy a computer today with some confidence that it won't be eclipsed instantly by newer technology.

Pricing Pentium Computers
(including 15-inch monitor)

P5-100 $2,074
100 Mhz processor, 8 MB RAM,
1 GB hard drive, 4X CD-ROM

P5-120 $2,499
120 Mhz processor, 16 MB RAM,
1 GB hard drive, 4X CD-ROM

P5-133 $2,764
133 Mhz processor, 16 MB RAM, 1.6 GB hard drive, 6X CD-ROM

DATA: GATEWAY 2000
BY STEPHEN H. WILDSTROM