Hi all,
I have decided I need to buy some new hardware :-) I am sick of my slow 10BaseT unswitched network and also want to try and use the gimp with a graphics tablet.
Anyway, what is peoples opinions of cheap network cards? I am currently looking at either the Netgear FA311 (15UKP) or an even cheaper Realtek 8139 clone (7UKP), now I know these cards are not as fast as something from 3com or Intel but how much slower are they?
Of course I then need to get a switch to make it all work (note I don't want a hub) again I looked on Dabs and saw a Netgear FS108 8 port switch for 67 quid inc Vat, again is it garbage or not??
Normally If I was spending other peoples money then I would buy either Intel or 3Com kit but lots of money is not an option at the moment :-( as my budget is about 100 quid for 2 cards and an 8 port switch.
The other thing I have been playing with recently is the gimp and I think a graphics tablet may enhance the experience! basically I have got a choice of two, either the wacom intuos A6 or the wacom graphire A6, has anyone ever used these under Linux? and if so what is your experience with them?
Thanks for opinions/advice in advance Adam
The other thing I have been playing with recently is the gimp and I think a graphics tablet may enhance the experience! basically I have got a choice of two, either the wacom intuos A6 or the wacom graphire A6, has anyone ever used these under Linux? and if so what is your experience with them?
I've got an Intuos A6 tablet which to be honest I haven't been using as much as I should, mainly due to lack of desk space (roll on the new house!!).
It works fine under Linux. You have to set it up in the XF86config as another pointer device but I think SuSE knows about them anyway, at least gives you some clues, can't speak for other distros though.
In practise, the default pen area on the tablet is smaller than the screen so you do end up creeping across the tablet and falling off the edge and having to re-centre the pen. I think it is possible to change this to make it use the whole tablet area but I haven't gotten around to this yet- when I get some more desk space I will pay more attention to this... You get used to it though.
To use the pen is fun, you can do quite lot of funky stuff, but for some things the mouse remains the better option. Again, in the Gimp I have seen options for getting the pressure-sensitive stuff to work but haven't managed this yet... not sure if the Gimp will talk in that way to my tablet or if it's just something we haven't set up yet.
At this point I shall cease to sound so useless and crawl back into my corner ;)
Jo
Anyway, what is peoples opinions of cheap network cards? I am currently looking at either the Netgear FA311 (15UKP) or an even cheaper Realtek 8139 clone (7UKP), now I know these cards are not as fast as something from 3com or Intel but how much slower are they?
I have a cheap realtek (8139, also) card in my desktop at home. And well, it works. For 7 quid I dont think you can beat that for something that just does a job simply. Not like my home network is high traffic.
Andrew
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Adam Bower -
Andrew Glover -
jo＠yee-ha.demon.co.uk