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WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN BUYING A NEW COMPUTER
A new computer is a big investment and you will want it to last at least 5 years with some upgrades along the way. While price is important, it shouldn't be the prime consideration. You want to find a computer that can perform the tasks you plan to use it for, and then look for the best price for a computer capable of performing those tasks.
Purchase Consulting: If your like most people who don??™t know the difference between DDR and SDR memory and don??™t care. We will be happy to accompany you on your computer shopping trip, help you configure it online or do it all for you.
With that in mind, the following checklist will help you buy the best computer for your needs:
- Floppy Drive ??“ Do not buy a computer doesn??™t have one. Without a floppy, some diagnostic tasks and repairs simply can't be performed.
- Case ??“ Be sure the case meets ATX form Factor, and has slots available for future upgrades and expansion and should have a ventilation fan in addition to the one in the power supply. Power Supply -- Rarely considered, the power supply provides the critical power necessary to run your computer. A power supply should be capable of at least 300 watts, with 400 watts recommended.
- Processor -- The "brains" of your computer, the processor is the most important factor that determines the performance, or speed, of your computer. You should look for a computer that has either a Pentium 4 or AMD Athlon XP processor rated for at least 1.5ghz..
- Motherboard -- Ask your computer salesperson what motherboard the computer has. You should look for a motherboard that offers on-board audio, USB and 10/100 LAN in the ATX form factor (not Micro-ATX) with at least 4 PCI slots and 1 AGP slot.
- Hard Drive -- In most cases, 80 GB of hard drive space will suffice unless you plan to work with large photos, videos or graphics. Besides the size of the drive, you should also look for hard drives rated at 7200 rpm with an average seek time of less than 10 ms. The larger the "cache" or "buffer" size, the better. The cache is where frequently used data is stored.
- Memory -- Modern computers use DDR (dual data rate) memory. You'll want at least 256 MB, which will do fine for most common uses, but if you plan to use high end graphics or multitasking with multiple applications and files open at the same time then consider 512 MB
- Modems -- Look for a computer that has a 56K modem with the new v.92 standard. Many ISPs are switching to v.92 modems, which cuts logon time in half, allows you to answer the phone while you're online so you don't miss important calls (also allows you to get rid of that dedicated modem line), and offers a faster surfing experience.
- Monitors -- Because of the need to save desktop space, LCD flat panel monitors are becoming more popular than the standard CRT monitors. A 15-inch LCD monitor offers the same viewable areas as a 17-inch CRT monitor. One of the major criteria for a CRT monitor should be the dot pitch. Look for numbers such as .27 dpi or .25 dpi or .27 mm or .25 mm. You want nothing higher than .25 if you will be working with photos or graphics. Flat-panel LCD monitors do save desktop space, but like your basic laptop monitor, they are not as sharp as standard CRT monitors. If you opt for a flat-panel LCD monitor, you'll want a response time of no more than 20 ms and a contrast ratio of no less than 350:1.
- CD Drive -- You want a computer with a CD-RW drive that will copy CDs as well as read them. You should make copies of you operating system and software CD??™s. You should also invest in a DVD drive if possible, as DVDs are becoming more common. We do not recommend the combo drives, which have CD-RW and DVD all in one drive. Separate drives are more reliable and if one fails you will still be able read CD??™s.
- USB Ports -- Check the number of USB ports your new computer offers. You'll need at least two, but given that USB devices are surging in popularity because you don't have to turn the computer off to add a device to your computer, you should look for at least four USB ports.
- Software -- There are two types of software -- operating system software and application software. Windows 95, 98, ME, 2000 and XP are operating systems. Do not buy a new computer with Windows 95, 98 or ME pre-installed, these are obsolete operating systems and are not very stable. The best choice is Windows 2000, which is very stable & has built in security. For applications, any new computer should have the following as a bare minimum -- word processing software, a web browser, email software, and antivirus software. You will probably also want office productivity software such as Microsoft Office, WordPerfect, or similar, and some kind of financial software such as Quicken. Be sure to ask your salesperson what software applications are included with your new computer.
- Other Considerations -- If you plan to play games or music, you may want an upgraded video card, sound card and speakers. For games, you want a video card with at least 64 MB of memory. If you plan on editing video on your computer, you'll want a computer with a FireWire, or IEEE-1394 port. FireWire offers the fastest, most error-free transfer of those large video clips from your camcorder to your computer.
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