In this section, we present you a dozen interesting things you can do with your Computer. There are of course dozens of dozens of things you can do with your PC...

Almost all the 'Things you can do' will save you money: some immediately, the others in the long run. You may need to invest money upfront on some add-ons though, so as to enable your Computer perform these tasks. Read on, have fun, extract more from your Computer!

1. Use your Computer to text-message your friends

2. Use your Computer as a Personal Organizer or Diary

3. Use your Computer as a Phone, voice-call your friends

4. Use your Computer as a Video Phone, video-chat with your friends

5. Create and maintain an Album of your digital pictures

6. Touch up old pictures, re-color old black and white photos, remove flaws in photos

7. Use your Computer to listen to Music CDs or DVDs

8. Use your Computer to read books that you have always wanted to read - but somehow, never found in bookstores

9. Use your Computer to copy tracks of music from music CDs (ensure that you aren't violating any Copyrights!)

10. Use your Computer to watch movies on CDs or DVDs

11. Use your Computer to copy Movies off CDs and DVDs (ensure that you aren't violating any Copyrights!)

12. Use your Computer to make your very own Home Videos, cut them onto CDs or DVDs

Text-messaging - Chatting, in today's parlance, is one of the simplest things you can do with your Computer. It is simple to set up, you have many options and it is a great way to keep in touch with friends far away or make new friends from across the world. Chatting is a lot like the Short Messaging Service (SMS) on mobile phones, except that;

• Chatting is completely free (except for the charges you pay for your Internet connection, of course)

• You can send long messages - there is no limit in the number of characters you can send at a time. SMSs are usually restricted to 160-alphabets per SMS, after which it is counted as a second SMS and charged accordingly

• If the person you are messaging is also online at the same time, you can carry on a conversation - by means of text - in what is almost real-time, without paying extra! If the person is not online when you are texting him/ her, you can still leave offline messages for them to see when they log on later

Chatting can be fun, but do be advised against unscrupulous people who want to intimidate you or seek your personal information. Women should be especially careful about who they chat with and what they chat about, since they are the targets such people seek. Now, having said that, it is absolutely safe if you chat carefully. For example, you can comfortably keep in touch with a dear one located across continents, with both of you completely cutting out the huge international telephone bills!

Computer Hardware requirements for running Chat Applications

Almost any Computer will do - even an old Pentium III Machine with 256 MB RAM and a 20 GB Hard Disk! You will need Bandwidth though - if you plan to use Video Chat, better get yourself a 256 kbps Internet connection - a 512 kbps connection would do even better!

• Any old Computer will do for Chatting, even one abandoned because it is too slow to run simple applications! This is because most of the hard work in Chat is done by your Internet connection - not your Computer's processor, memory or hard disk

• An Internet connection (recommended minimum: 128 kbps DSL Line) is required, along with the peripheral equipment that makes it work, namely a DSL Modem. For a barebones setup, all you require in addition to a Computer, a DSL Modem and an Internet connection is the software (commonly called Instant Messengers, more about them under the next point), to begin Chatting right away!

• You may want to be able to walk around while Chatting. If so, you will need all the following:

  • A Notebook

  • A DSL Modem costing about US$ 50/- or INR 2,500/-. The DSL Modem may also be hired for a small monthly rent, from your Internet Service Provider

  • An Internet connection

  • Instant Messenger software

  • A Wi-Fi Access Point costing about US$ 50/- or INR 2,500/-

  • In case your Notebook does not have Wi-Fi built in, you will also need a PCMCIA Wi-Fi Card costing about US$ 100/- (INR 6000/-). Even if your Notebook has the earliest 802.11a Wi-Fi connectivity, it is okay for Chatting, since Chatting is hardly an Internet-intensive application.

  • The second option is to purchase an Access Point-cum-Router-cum DSL Modem. Such peripherals cost about US$ 150/- (INR 8000/-) but the drawback here is that if any of the Access Point, Router or DSL Modem goes kaput, your investment would go waste, you may have to buy all 3 equipment separately, or buy yet another Access Point-cum-Router-cum DSL Modem. On the other hand, if you have purchased these peripherals separately, you will only need to replace the faulty peripheral, thus easing the total replacement cost!

  • If you do not have a Wi-Fi enabled Notebook, you may prefer to stick to the wired mode of Internet access. With the minimum total cost of Wi-Fi enabling yourself being about US$ 150/- (INR 8,500) when you include the Access Point as well, it may not really be worth it.