Do you really need a computer?
Are you going to be using your computer solely
for a task like word processing or games? Then maybe what you want is not really a
computer.
Consider a simple word processor. It's very similar to a computer, will still give
you a dictionary, spell checker and thesaurus, but it won't give you much more. On some
WPs you'll still be able to save your work on a floppy disk and/or print it out. It'll be
a lot cheaper, probably quicker than a low end computer, and doesn't crash as often. Since
this page is about deciding on a computer we'll assume you want to do more than just
writing the odd letter.
Games: Is your computer only for games?
It's not a good idea. Computers weren't designed to play games and the PC is not the ideal
platform for games. Sega and Nintendo have consoles that will cost you a lot less and give
you a lot more punch for your money. There are some games that are only available for use
on computers. But you will have to buy a pretty powerful computer to cope with some of the
modern games written for the PC platform. If games are just one of the uses you are going
to put your PC to then read on. Those of you thinking of buying a PC solely for playing
games: take my advice and buy a games console instead.
Before you decide on the
hardware you need
Decide on your software first and the level of
software support you need. This is very important. Most computer dealers talk too much
about the hardware and how fast and powerful it is. Avoid being sucked into deciding on
hardware till you've made your software decisions. The hardware you need is dependent on
what type of software you want to run on it and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
There's no point in using a top of the range computer with the fastest DVD drive and mega
fantastic 3D graphics card just to do some basic accounting. Don't use the old
sledgehammer for cracking open your nuts (to misquote Dan Quayle).
Save big money on
software and get most of it for free.
How upgradeable does you
computer need to be?
Too often customers get distracted with this
question. Our instinctive reply to it is this: don't bother about upgrading. Yes,
we're serious. Plan to use your computer for a few years and then sell it dirt cheap to
buy a newer model. That's the most cost effective long term solution. It hurts, but it's
true. Read on.
If you have to pay any extra for
'upgradeability' it's probably not worth it. Things change so fast in this industry that
when, at some point in the future, you want to upgrade a computer bought today you'll
probably be told: "We can change the motherboard but with the new motherboard you
need to also change the RAM. By the way, your existing graphics card doesn't fit into your
new motherboard so we'll have to change that as well". See what we're getting
at? Another example: People who bought the early Intel Celeron computers thought they'd be
able to upgrade the processor easily later. But then Intel changed the ground rules. The
new Celerons processors don't work on the older Celeron motherboards. Sorry guys. Tough
luck.
When the time comes to upgrade, the chances are
that you'll find it is far more cost effective to sell your computer in a boot sale and
buy a new one in its place. Trust me on this.
But does upgradeability makes a difference to your price? The more
"upgradeable" a computer the more it costs, generally speaking. Plan ahead
realistically. Get reconciled to the fact that no computer can be upgraded to infinity.
Every machine has a limited life. Make an estimate of how many years of use you want out
of this computer before your requirements will change and you'll need to upgrade.
If you still want to build some
"future-proofing" into your computer plan what type of upgrades you could
possibly need for the life of the machine. If you need to have the option of upgrading to
a top of the range graphics card later then you won't want to be stuck with a
"built-in" graphics card that can't be changed. However, if you don't need the
facility of upgrading the graphics then you can save a lot by buying a computer with a
"built-in" card. The same goes for most of the other parts. Make a list of the
upgrades options that you simply MUST have. How many spare bays, ISA slots and PCI slots?
Do you need USB or firewire ports? Make sure you specify those requirements to every
dealer you speak to. And even then don't count too much on the upgradeability of your
computer.
Things like hard disks, CD drives, DVD drives,
Zip drives, modems, etc can generally be added pretty easily irrespective of the type of
computer you have. However the maximum RAM a computer will take is sometimes limited to
128 MB or 256 MB. Can you forecast what your maximum RAM requirements will be over the
life of the computer?
Also bear in mind that no matter what any sales
person tells you about upgradeability they can't guarantee against new technology. A new
type of RAM could come out tomorrow that just won't work on any existing computer. It
could become standard in a matter of a few weeks and your "future-proof"
computer could become worthless virtually overnight.
Other things being equal between two choices of
computers don't pay extra for upgradeability.
Deciding on the hardware
Assuming again that you've read the basics of hardware let's see what you need. To have a complete
working system the minimum requirements are a monitor, keyboard, mouse and the main
processing unit (base unit or mini tower/midi tower/desktop) that contains your
processor, RAM, hard disk etc. You will need to have speakers if your computer has a
soundcard. There may be other things you need in your computer.
Now the nitty gritty of the hardware
specifications. How fast a processor, how much of RAM, what size of hard disk? There
won't be any one simple answer to your needs. It won't hurt to phone around a few computer
shops, tell them what you want to use the computer for and enquire what minimum
specifications would meet your requirements. You should form a rough idea of what you need
in terms of hardware. We'll finalise the exact specifications later. This
page should be of some help at this point.
Also, are there any specific tasks that will
require specialist hardware equipment (like video editing which requires a video capture
card or writing on CDs which will need a CD Writer)?
Do you need to pay
more for a "brand name computer"?
Brand name computers i.e. Compaq, Dell, Dan Gateway etc. do
offer some reassurance in that the companies have been around for a while and must know
what they're doing when they put a PC together. That's most certainly true. They have
reputations to consider and are therefore very careful about quality. They downside is
that some machines from the well known names tend to a) cost more b) come with poor
service (help lines that play you music while you hold for hours) and c) be designed so
that you have to go back to them and pay inflated prices if you ever want your
computer upgraded. Read
this page for more info
You can pick up branded computers for a lot less than the
list price in several ways. There are two main avenues for the sale of brand name
computers. Companies like Gateway sell direct over the phone. "Vendors" like
Compaq have a dealer network through which they sell their computers.
Lets consider the second case first. Vendors impose very
strict rules on dealers to prevent them discounting too much. So you may not have much
room for negotiating with a dealer or reseller of a branded computer. This is unless, of
course, the machine is a discontinued model. Also note that companies like Compaq
sometimes have piles of unsold inventory which they off load in the general market. Quick
thinking computer shops (who are not necessarily authorised dealers) move in, buy these up
dirt cheap, and sell them on at very reasonable prices. (Note also that this 'clearance'
equipment does not usually come with a warranty).
Moving on to the mail order suppliers like Dan, Dell and
Gateway. Most of the tips we've given you elsewhere on this site including negotiating, getting general freebies, the
importance of timing, savings to be made by not accepting stuff you don't need etc
will work when ordering from these suppliers over the phone.
About the Ad-Ons and
peripherals
Then consider peripherals that you may need to
accomplish the tasks selected. Examples: Printers, scanners, digital cameras, backup
devices, power protection devices (UPS), etc. Get yourself some free advice. Phone around.
Any company that's advertising computer equipment for sale will have some knowledgeable
sales staff (hopefully). Most will listen patiently to what you ask and then do their best
to advice you as to the right equipment for your needs. Remember to make several phone
calls to ensure that you are getting a range of advice from several independent sources.
The commonest peripheral is the printer and it
can be a difficult and confusing choice. It costs nothing to visit your local PC
supermarket just to browse around. Have a look at the various makes and models, try them
out, see how fast they go, see how good the print quality is. This should help in making
the decision.
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