This question came in from reader Steven Feldman:

Hi, just a question about USB 3.0. I am going to be purchasing a laptop in the next few months... I have been waiting because I want to get a SSD (solid state drive) in the laptop that can hold 256GB minimum for a reasonable price, but that is a story in itself. I have recently been reading about USB 3.0 technology being developed, and if I buy a laptop soon, I don't think I can upgrade it to USB 3.0 from 2.0 without replacing the motherboard.

I read online that products will be coming out for USB 3.0 in Q4 of 2009, but I don't care about the products; what I do care about is when laptops will be able to support the USB 3.0 technology. When are motherboards for laptops going to have USB 3.0 support in them?

See executive editor Jeremy Kaplan's answer after the jump.

This question came from reader Andrew:

On your Web site, it mentions that the LG Voyager can be used as a modem, and the best way to do that is with USB. How do you access the Internet [using the Voyager] on a PC? Naturally, I was told that you supposedly are unable to do that. Any help?

My reply after the jump.

This question came in from reader Dick:

I seem to remember an article somewhere that said some part of the spectrum being vacated due to the digital TV switchover was to be made available to a new communications service, which would allow people to buy a phone from anyone and use the new spectrum like a wireless internet service open to anyone with the right phone. I seem to recall the Google name was associated with the idea. I haven't anything more about it. Is something like this coming?

See Sascha Segan's answer after the jump.

This question from Phil Ridenour came in for ExtremeTech editor, Loyd Case:

When you addressed the "Which Kind of RAM" question (June 2008), you mentioned that if a PC has four memory slots, you should avoid filling all four of them. Just filling two of them is best. Does this apply to all PCs?

I have a Dell XPS 410 running Windows Vista Ultimate and recently upgraded the RAM to 4GB, filling all slots. I did notice that Windows recognizes only 3,070 MB of RAM, but I believe this is because I am running the 32-bit version of Windows. I saw an improvement in the system after upgrading from 2GB, but I wonder whether filling all four slots gave me a little less return for my investment?

Loyd's reply after the jump:

This question from Andrew Burford came in for ExtremeTech editor, Loyd Case:

Is a system armed with an AMD Athlon 64 X2 4000+ CPU, with 2GB of PC6400 DDR2 memory and a GeForce 7900GS, sufficient to play Crysis in medium detail?

Loyd's reply:

You didn't mention your monitor's native resolution. Your system can certainly run Crysis at medium detail at 1280x1024 or lower, and you'll get reasonable frame rates most of the time. I wouldn't run it at higher than 1280x1024, though.

This question from Bill Driscoll came in for ExtremeTech editor, Loyd Case:

My old (circa 1999) Dell laptop finally died. I have pulled out the hard drive and would like to get the files off it. I know there are many different connectors that can help me do this, but I don't know which I need to purchase. How do I figure out what type of hard drive this is--SATA, IDE, something else?

Loyd's reply after the jump:

This question from lbenetier came in for ExtremeTech editor, Loyd Case:

Is it possible to update an old Compaq computer? It's about 9 years old--I bought it in 1999. I added memory to its max of about 500MB. The operating system is Windows 98 2nd edition; I want to move to Windows XP SP2.

I would also like to update the computer with a newer microprocessor and new memory--up to 2GB if possible. Are plug-in parts and circuit boards still available?

See Loyd's reply after the jump:

This question from toothmaven came in for ExtremeTech editor, Loyd Case:

When building or upgrading a system, one is confronted with speed parameters for various components--chipset, memory, FSB, CPU, and others. How do you use these measurements (or their multiples) in concert to get the most efficiency and compatibility out of them? Also, why are memory module speeds expressed as both MHz and PC XXXX? Being aware that the MHz multiplied by 8 yields the PC XXXX value, I'm wondering whether this redundancy is really necessary. Is there 333-MHz memory that is not PC2700, or is there PC5300 memory that is not 667 MHz?

See Loyd's reply after the jump.

This question from Jim Bergmann came in for ExtremeTech editor, Loyd Case:

Following the advice of my first computer guru many years ago, I have partitioned my hard drives: C:\Operating System; D:\Data; E:\Programs; F:\Free Space for Future allocation.

The rationale: When the operating system goes crazy, just reformat C:\ and reinstall. Data remains in place and programs are all lined up in E:\ for reinstalling. And why should I want my "bits" floating around 250GB of hard drive space when I'm using less than 50GB?

Now my young neighbor (who lives and breathes computers) advises, "Enter the twenty-first century. Partitioning is unnecessary and counterproductive. It fragments the virtual memory and slows your computer." What say you? To partition or not to partition: That is the question.

See Loyd's reply after the jump.

This question form Scotti Ruhlman came in for ExtremeTech editor, Loyd Case:

I need a new PC and would like some recommendations on features I should look for. I'm a photographer and use Photoshop CS2 software. I've already bought a Samsung 25.5-inch monitor and have three external hard drives. Since I'll probably use this PC for at least five years, I want one that will be adequate for my purposes for at least that length of time, but I also need to keep the price well under $2,000--about $1,200, if possible. Any advice?

See Loyd's reply after the jump.

This question from Gerald Erickson came in for ExtremeTech editor Loyd Case:

In your article titled "Quadra-Screen," you said that to pipe a TV signal to an NTSC monitor, you need a video capture card to route the TV signal into the PC and out to a monitor.

I need to do the opposite. I want to capture what is on my computer screen and record to VCR, DVD, or hard drive. I cannot figure this out after spending a lot of time on the problem. I bought a video card with a TV-out feature but cannot get it to record on a VCR.

See Loyd's reply after the jump:

This question from Mathias Vermehren came in for ExtremeTech editor Loyd Case.

I'm thinking about purchasing a 30-inch monitor with at least 1080p native resolution. Which monitor/graphics card combination would you recommend? I've been investigating the following:

Gateway XHD3000 30-inch LCD Monitor
Dell Widescreen UltraSharp 3007WFP-HC (High Color)
Westinghouse 37" 1080p LCD Monitor (LVM-37w3)

The Westinghouse offers an excellent price for the size and picture quality. Nevertheless, critics say that it does not handle different video modes very well.

Now, I'm not sure about this, but if I have a video card that scales up resolutions with high-quality results to 1080p (as the video processor in the Gateway XHD3000 would do), wouldn't that be enough? My thought is that all the conversion features (equivalent to the ones built into the Gateway XHD3000) would be handled by the graphics card (maybe the MSI RX2600XT-T2D512EZ?), and would let me use the cheaper Westinghouse monitor, which seems to provide high-quality video as long as you use its maximum resolution of 1080p.

See Loyd's reply after the jump.

This question from Blake Leeper came in for Extreme Tech editor Loyd Case:

I have a 60GB laptop drive that I salvaged from my dead notebook. It has some of my files on it--pictures and valuable stuff like that. I was wondering if there was a way I could turn it into an external hard drive. I read the article titled "Build an External Hard Drive." The article was a little helpful, but I was hoping I could plug it in through a USB port. I was also wondering if there were any stores by me that would have the parts I need. Stores that are around me are WalMart, Comp USA, Circuit City, Staples, and Radio Shack.

See Loyd's reply after the jump.

This question from David Dean came in for ExtremeTech editor, Loyd Case:

If I buy two VGA to DVI-I adapters, will that allow me to view HD content?

Loyd's reply:

It depends on whether you want to watch protected content.

First, you don't need two adapters, unless you want to watch movies on two displays. However, watching protected content, such as Blu-ray or HD DVD movies, on your PC requires that the entire hardware and software chain support HDCP content protection. Which means you need an HDCP-enabled video card, an HCDP-enabled monitor, and software that understands HDCP.

If you lack any of the above, you can still watch HD content, but what you see may be running at a reduced resolution, typically 960 by 540 pixels. If you want the full 1,920-by-1,080 or 1,280-by-720, you'll need an HDCP-enabled graphics card and display, plus the correct software to view the content. PowerDVD Ultra and the latest version of WinDVD both support high-definition playback in the form of Blu-ray or HD DVD movies.

This question from Pat came in for ExtremeTech editor Loyd Case:

I want to expand the memory in my computer. It is an Intel Pentium 4, 1.7-GHz Sony PCV-RX651. The memory is 256MB of PC2100 DDR SDRAM, expandable to 1GB. Can you tell me without opening the computer what type of memory card is in it--DIMM?--how much memory per card, and how many cards are in the computer now?

Loyd's answer after the jump: