CompuServe Messages

In the next few days, I need to have specd out some hardware. The joy is that we have about $4700 to spend. The agony is that it must be this week and satisfy four faculty members. This is a machine that will be shared by faculty and some students, so that they may start experimenting with and learning about multimedia. This message will be lengthy because I will try to give background and potential uses. Below are also listed some capabilities that have been agreed upon, but nothing is cast in stone. These faculty are all computer users, teaching courses in spreadsheets, word processing, desktop publishing, business computer graphics, and other traditional non-programming computer topics. All use presentation software and some are learning Authorware. All are interested in exploring the possibilities of sound and video. This machine will be used for the next 6 – 12 months for tinkering and for classroom presentation. All of the faculty are in the Business Division, and use PCs with DOS/Windows. The machine will be attached to a Netware 3.12 network with plenty of storage space available. Development and playback will be primarily Authorware and Powerpoint, with some C++/MCI programming. Each of the following is open to discussion: Capabilities: Moving Video Capture Single Frame Capture Sound Capture Overlay and RF playback Dollars ($4700) can be traded up or down for various components, such as Pentium 60 or 90, 2x or 4x CDRom, 15" or 17" monitor. Our big unknowns are related to the video capture and playback. The capabilities are listed above according to priority. What video input/output options will provide the most bang for our buck? How much ram? 16 meg? Is 540meg hard drive enough or more than we need? Should the sound, cd, and hd all be SCSI? And again video in and out? Any help, suggestions or information will be greatly appreciated. Specific manufacturers, model numbers, and specs for the video components as well as approximate prices would be great. Any comments regarding bundled software would also be helpful. Thanks – Mike