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June 20, 2008
Dear CNET members,
Happy Friday! Many of you are probably wondering where the
heck Lee has been, or more so, like where the heck has the
CNET Community newsletter been for these past few weeks?!
Well, before I explain myself, I would first like to
apologize to you folks for not giving some advance notice for
being MIA (missing in action). And for all those people who
have e-mailed me directly to check up on me and the
newsletter: thank you for your concerns (and quite honestly
it feels good to be missed!) As you can see, I'm still alive
and kicking, and the Community newsletter will continue on.
Over the past few weeks I have been head down with a few work
projects and truthfully I haven't had much time to surface
above water to get a newsletter out to you. In addition, my
daughter was ill, so there went another week. So again, I
sincerely apologize to you all for not being around, but I'd
like to say one thing, I did miss you all! Now let's get
started on Garrett's question about Windows ReadyBoost as to
what is it and does it really improve performance.
For getting a good overview of what exactly is Windows
ReadyBoost, there's nothing like looking to the handy-dandy
Wikipedia site or even going to Microsoft's Windows
ReadyBoost information site. I personally have not used
ReadyBoost myself, so I cannot give you a fair analysis if it
actually does help boost performance on the Vista system.
However, after reading many of our members' answers to
Garrett as to whether ReadyBoost does help speed up your
computer, it's a mixed bag, but I will say that it leans
toward the side of minimal performance. Members have said the
performance using ReadyBoost does help somewhat, but you may
be better off using alternative methods of speeding up Vista
without the use of ReadyBoost. So, please give all our member
answers a read!
Now if any of you out there are currently using ReadyBoost or
have used it in the past, I encourage you to step up to the
plate and post your experience in this week's discussion
thread to tell us if it's done wonders for you in
performance, or not. It will not only help us get a better
understanding of it, but it will give us an even better idea
if ReadyBoost is something a few of us would like to try out.
I have a couple of member posts (Wolfie2k5 and BigGuns149) to get the discussion
flowing. After reading our members' comments and advice, I
hope it will give you a better understanding of what to
expect out of ReadyBoost and whether it is something you'll
end up trying. Luckily, USB flash drives are inexpensive
nowadays and Windows ReadyBoost is already configured into
Vista, so it pretty much is plug and play and the moment of
truth will be revealed--nothing much to lose for trying it
out. Have a great weekend folks!
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Member Question of the Week
Hi, I recently bought a new laptop with Windows Vista and I
would like to improve the speed of it. Some one mentioned to
me that using Windows ReadyBoost using a USB flash drive to boost
performance. But left with many questions unanswered in hopes
that you can help me. What exactly is ReadyBoost and what
does it do exactly to help boost performance? Does it really
work that well? I know it requires a USB flash drive or card,
but does it make a difference what kind of drive I should use
or does it require something that is fast? How much memory
should I consider for the flash drive? I've gone through the
Internet and read a few articles that mentioned that
ReadyBoost does initially help performance in the beginning,
but over time the performance gains starts to deteriorate. Is
this true? If that's the case, is it even worth getting into?
Any help and explanations will be helpful. Thank you in
advance.
Submitted by:
Garrett G.
 Just some member contributions to get you started, but please read through the all answers!
ReadyBoost - the good, the bad, and the ugly...
--Submitted by: Wolfie2k5
ReadyBoost is a bit overrated.
--Submitted by:by BigGuns149
Read all member contributions
Thanks to all who contributed!
 Previous week's Q&A
I am the father of two sons, ages 9 and 11, in search of
advice in regards to the "right sizing" of laptops for them.
I have tried getting advice from the forums, but the feedback
I have received has been questions on why I want to purchase
laptops, mostly from nonparents. Sure, it might sound like a
large investment for their age, but mobility is the driver
behind the decision as we travel a lot.
Given their age, you would think that the requirements would
be easy to spec, the primary applications being Internet
research, e-mail, light doc processing, and of course gaming
both online (Runescape) and off. I'm looking for something
that can survive the treatment from their age, have enough
horsepower for gaming, and yet still be "reasonable"
price-wise. (Maybe I am being delusional.) Any advice you
could offer would defiantly be appreciated. Thanks!
Thanks to all who contributed!
Community Buzz
 Each week we take a look at topics discussed in the forums.
Have fun and enjoy!
More from the forums
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Check out next week's question:
Hi! I hope you can help me out. I'm in the process of buying a new computer and it's already pretty difficult to figure out what's what with specs and all, but the two bit (pun intended) is figuring out the differences between 32bit versus 64bit processors. I can only assume the 64bit processor is faster, or am I wrong? I'm not very tech savvy, but I would like to know if it's something I need to consider when making my new system purchase. The other one bit (pun intended again) has to do with Windows Vista, do I go 32bit or 64bit version? Are there any advantages of going with Vista 64bit? Please help me out, I'm really confused here and I would love if you could give some simple explanations to clear up this whole bit between the processor and Vista. One more thing, will buying a 64bit PC be somewhat future proofing my new desktop purchase? Thank you all for your help!
--Submitted by:
Jack W.
Have a question?
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