The 233 MHz Computer That Felt Faster Than My 850 MHz Notebook
I put my 13 GB hard drive into a 233 MHz computer and installed Windows ME on it. I wasn’t expecting its performance to make me question my notebook.
But it did.
It seemed to boot and respond faster than my 850 MHz notebook had when I ran Windows ME on that machine.
That made me happy for the people who would be using it, and disappointed about my notebook. I had rather higher expectations of the machine with the much larger number attached to its processor.
This wasn’t a controlled test. I didn’t measure startup times, match the software configurations, or isolate which component was responsible. I can’t tell you that the older processor was faster, or that the drive change explains the result.
What I can say is that the experience surprised me. The machine felt more responsive than I expected.
It is a useful reminder to look at the whole computer when thinking about performance. The processor number is easy to compare. The experience of starting the system, opening something, and waiting for it to respond depends on more than that one number.
The disk, memory, configuration, and installed software would all be things to investigate before deciding why these two machines felt different. I don’t have those answers from this evening’s work.
For now, I’m pleased that the older computer is running so well. It is doing a better job of making its new users happy than its specifications led me to expect.
My notebook and I may need to have a conversation.