The buyer's bible! (Buyers Guide: Choosing a PC system)

Member Name: Technical Tobes

Product:	Buyers Guide: Choosing a PC system
Date:	15/04/01 (1412 review reads)
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● UPDATED: 07/08/2001 ●
Get ready for the buyers bible, the low down, the truths and the facts about what you should really being looking out for when going to buy that new PC.
I suggest making a cuppa now!


◦◊◊◊ UPDATE HISTORY ◊◊◊◦
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● 07/08/2001 ●
Revised pricing, CPU section updated, hard disk section – big update.
● 12/05/2001 ●
General edits, nothing major.



◦◊◊◊ INTRODUCTION ◊◊◊◦
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I used to run my own business selling and upgrading computers for people & businesses so I’m somewhat of an expert at putting together PC’s – I still do it for the select few – and at work!

The PC industry has subtly changed over recent years, particularly when it comes to the importance of PC’s specification. Prices have remained about the same, while specification and thus performance has risen. The best day to buy a PC is always tomorrow!

I aim to make this opinion for the average Joe Bloggs wanting to buy a new PC, since your reading this, you must already have some computer knowledge and if you have lots of knowledge, then you won’t be needed advice!

I should point out that I am specifically targeting the standard ‘PC’ as opposed to Apple Macintoshes or any other types of computer – although many points will apply to both. I would not recommend opting for an Apple Mac purely because they are not all that common and will make life that bit harder when trying to get software, hardware etc.

At the end of this opinion I will give a brief summary of points to bear in mind and an idea to the price you should be paying for what you get.
First however, let me start off by giving you the low down on what you should be look
ing out for in a new PC, and what has the most bearing on performance etc. I have made this as comprehensive as possible and so, despite my best efforts, it may appear somewhat technical in places. Here goes...



#1 : Processor (CPU)
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A few years ago this was the single most important aspect of a new PC. Nowadays however, this is highly overrated and many other components will do much more to enhance performance. This being, and I do stress this, the CPU is the first thing you should trade off in pursuit of more for your money.
Processor speed is measured in Megahertz (Mhz) or Gigahertz (Ghz), 1Ghz being equal to 1,000Mhz.
The type of processor also makes quite a difference here, the main types are from two manufacturers, ordered from worst to best (left to right) for each manufacturer...
▪ Intel : Celeron, Pentium III and Pentium 4.
▪ AMD : Duron & Athlon.
There are some others available but, in general, they are all cheap and crap!
Pentium 4’s were extremely expensive, but have recently come dramatically down in price. Pentium 4’s are however often much slower than AMD Athlon’s, even Athlon’s at a much lower clock speed. This is largely because software needs to be written to take advantage of the Pentium 4 and thus current software (including Windows itself) hasn’t yet. Expect Window XP to be Pentium 4 optimised.
The one benefit of a Pentium 4 is that the motherboard bus speed is at least double of its rivals. Put simply, this goes a far way to improve system performance overall on more powerful systems, particularly that of the hard disk – since the rate at which data can be transferred is at least double.
Overall then, the AMD offerings are slightly quicker and much better value for money.
You will find it hard to go wrong here, almost all new PC’s on offer, boast more than enough power for just about ever
ything. At work, the highest processor amongst us techie IT people is 600Mhz – which still runs all the latest games without problem, in fact the lowest (400Mhz does too!).
Currently, prices go up fairly steeply above the 1Ghz mark, and once you reach the 1.4Ghz point, very steeply. The best value for money residing at around the 900Mhz to 1Ghz level.
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◦◊◦ Points to remember ◦◊◦
● Don’t go below: 900Mhz (value for money reasons).
● Go for the Athlon or Pentium III/4 if at all possible.
● Do NOT get any CPU’s not mentioned above.
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#2 : Memory (RAM)
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Not to be confused with the hard disk that is used for storage, memory is the temporary storage that all your programs use to run, display graphics and hold your work (before you save it).
Memory or RAM is measured in Megabytes (MB) and today’s systems will typically come with between 64MB and 256MB.
You will often see memory referred to as 64MB DIMM, SIMM or even RIMM’s. This, put simply, refers to the physical size of the stick of memory. Your memory will almost certainly be in the form of DIMM’s, possibly RIMM’s, SIMM’s being an older and now out of date size.
The ideal amount of memory for you depends really on what you’re going to use the PC for and what operating system in installed (Windows 98, Me or 2000). New PC’s will probably come with Windows Me which uses more memory to run than Windows 98, Windows 2000 requires a lot – but you are unlikely to come across this.
If you’re going to use the PC for intensive graphics work, such as video editing or ‘professional’ publishing then the more memory the better.
64MB is the absolute mi
nimum these days, I would suggest targeting 128MB as a minimum as this makes a big difference in performance over 64MB. 256MB makes a little improvement but beyond that offers no real benefits (unless you really are into video editing!).
You may occasionally come across memory stated as PC100 or PC133 (or perhaps 133Mhz memory), PC133 is a bit faster when used with the faster CPU’s, but don’t concern yourself with this – you’ll be extremely hard pushed to notice any difference.
With the introduction of the Pentium 4 came the RIMM type of memory, this may be shown as PC800 and is currently much more expensive than DIMM’s (3 or 4 times in fact).
The cost of standard memory has come down considerably recently and thus all PC’s should really come with a generous amount. An extra 128MB should make around £25-£40 difference to the price.
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◦◊◦ Points to remember ◦◊◦
● Don’t go below: 128MB, 256MB preferable considering the price.
● Don’t worry about the type of memory (PC100 or PC133).
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#3 : Hard Disk (HDD)
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The hard disk (sometimes called a hard drive) is the permanent memory (and thus often confused with RAM memory). All your programs (even Windows itself), games, documents etc. are stored on the hard disk.
Hard disk capacity is measured in Gigabytes (GB) and can range from a few GB to up to 75GB (and soon over)!
Pretty much all PC’s these days come with 10GB or more of hard disk storage space that in most cases will be more than enough.
Windows and all your programs will probably take up around 1 to 2GB, while games can often take up to ½GB each when installed. Again, only video editing or studio quality music editing will tak
e up gigabytes of storage, so don’t worry about how much space your documents are going to take up – you’ll have plenty of space!
Games are the big storage space hogs; so if you’ve got a lot (or think you gonna get a lot), consider a bigger hard disk.
In terms of performance, many, in fact most PC supplies neglect to state this information, even though it can be one of the most important aspects of your PC’s performance – making Windows and program load and run quicker!
If the supplier does not state, ask for the following information...
▪ The spin speed: 5400rpm or 7200rpm.
▪ The drive type: UDMA33, UDMA66 or UDMA100 (sometimes referred to as ATA100, Ultra66 or whatever – just watch out for the words UDMA, ATA or Ultra and take note of the numbers after it!).
The spin speed makes a big difference to performance, 5400rpm drive are cheaper and slower while 7200rpm drives will make a noticeable difference in speed.
The UDMA33/66/100 or ATA33/66/100 or whatever refers basically to the amount of data that can be transferred from the disk to the PC per second. It gets technical so I won’t go any further! Suffice to say, 100 is better than 66 which is better than 33. 33’s are rather old now, 66 should be common while 100’s are starting to penetrate the market place. Many PC manufacturers (Dell is an example) may use a new ATA100 or UDMA100 hard disk but on an older motherboard that does not support ATA100, thus it will only run at ATA66 or 33. There is no easy way to tell this, so don’t concern yourself with it too much.
It is worth mentioning that there are more than one type of hard disk. IDE (or EIDE) is the most common and this is what I have been referring to above. The other type is SCSI. SCSI has the advantage of being much quicker even at like-for-like specification as a IDE drive. Drive spin speeds can go up to 10,000 or even 15,000rpm and access t
imes are much quicker. There are many different specifications of SCSI disks and extra hardware is needed to use them. This is a bit too advanced for here, so I’ll leave it at this. Needless to say, SCSI hard disks are a lot more expensive than standard IDE!
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◦◊◦ Points to remember ◦◊◦
● Don’t go below a capacity of: 20GB (value for money reasons).
● ASK what type and speed of hard disk is installed, and...
● Go for a 7200rpm model – makes a BIG difference.
● At least UDMA/ATA 66 or 100 if possible & make sure it runs at that speed!
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#4 : Video or Graphics Card
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This is bit of hardware that outputs the graphics to your monitor.
If your use of the computer is purely for business, academic or internet use then this component will not really be a concern for you, all will handle these tasks without problem and by opting for PC with a bog standard and thus cheap one, you could save a bit of cash – just make sure all the other components aren’t bog standard too!
For those wanting to indulge in games however, this is far and away the single most important component for you!
There is no easy way to tell a good graphics card from a crap one, they all have a memory capacity, in Megabytes (MB) of between 4MB and 64MB but this does not necessarily go hand in hand with performance.
The memory is basically for storing the graphics before they are sent to the screen, how fast they are sent to the screen makes the biggest difference between them on performance. Most cards will come boasting things like full screen anti-aliasing, bump-mapping, 350Mhz RAMDAC and so on – do not concern yourself with this or you could get very confused!
Look
out for extra features, some video card have the ability to output to a 2nd monitor or TV screen, video capture or even an onboard TV tuner! Don’t worry about these unless you really want these features, it will make the price a little greater – but not much.
Things like the maximum resolution and colours are not an issue today; even bog standard cards give true colour performance at good resolution.
Video cards are all of AGP type these days (PCI was the older standard). Don’t worry about this! It can, however, be a good idea to check if the video card is ‘onboard’, this basically means it’s not a ‘card’ but built into the main electronics (motherboard) of the PC. If this is the case, you will want to make sure that there is a free AGP port available – if not, you will not be able (or will find it difficult) to upgrade the video card at a later date. Of course, if you know you will never upgrade it, this doesn’t matter! Also, in general, onboard video cards are less powerful and are never at the latest specification.
The best way to gauge how good a particular video card is, is to take note of the exact model and look online or in a PC magazine at how much it costs – the more the better! Prices for video cards you’re likely to find in a PC can range from under £35 for a bog standard card to nearer £200. This is one area that you cannot afford to skimp on if you want to play games at a decent pace and quality. Better still; look out for reviews in PC magazines.
Currently, the Geforce2 (make sure it’s the 2, the GTS version is a very good sign!) and Radeon cards are top notch for performance! The Geforce3 is the dogs wotsits!
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◦◊◦ Points to remember ◦◊◦
● If you don’t play games – don’t worry about this!
● Consider 32M
B of RAM on the card a minimum.
● Try to find a review of the video card on offer with the system and take note!
● Find out how much the card costs separately, £100+ means it’s top notch! £50+ is okay.
● Ask if the memory is ‘shared’. Cheaper ‘onboard’ cards ‘share’ memory with the PC’s memory – very slow & to be avoided – sign of a poor quality PC!
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#5 : Monitor
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As this is the screen you’ll be staring at lot, it makes sense to get as good a monitor as possible.
The main selling point for monitors is the screen size, typically 15”, 17” or 19”. Simply walk out of the shop if there are still selling PC’s with a smaller (14”) monitor. You’re unlikely to find a place selling a monitor larger than 19”, although you can get them – at a cost!
Prices of monitors have come down sharply in the last year or two and thus there is no excuse for manufacturers skimping on this one, a 17” monitor is thus the one to go for, 19” if you can, but have in mind the space required and the weight of these beasts!
Be very wary of the actual size of the monitor, the measurement is often not the ‘viewable’ area and there can be up to an inch in difference between monitor screen sizes. A 17” monitor is usually around 16.1” viewable.
There are, of course, many other aspects to a monitor that can determine how good a picture you’re getting, look out for...
▪ Screen type: Standard curved or flat. Flat screen monitors are often referred to as Trinitron of flatron etc – these offer a superior image quality and reduce glare.
▪ Dot pitch: The lower the better, on a 17”, 0.24mm/0.25mm is good, 19”’s about 0.26mm and 15
221;ers 0.28mm. The lower, the crisper the image quality, but to be honest it’s hard to notice the difference!
▪ Maximum resolution: 15”’s should be able to display 1024x768, 17”’s should be capable of displaying at 1280x1024 and 19” should be able to go up 1600x1200. Recommended view resolutions are the next one down from all these on each respective monitor, but, bear in mind the next point...
▪ Refresh rate: I always regard 85Hz as a minimum for a comfortable refresh rate, any lower and you will notice screen flicker which can cause headaches and tiredness. The maximum refresh rate will differ at each resolution so make sure that it’s a minimum of 85Hz at the resolutions I’ve given above, or, ideally all.
Of course, this only applies to the standard and bulky CRT monitors; you may have an option of a flat panel or TFT panel. These will cost a lot more but weigh a lot lot less and take up much less space. They do look sexy and the size stated is the size you get (i.e. 15” is 15” viewable) but... These monitors are not very good for games, or indeed anything with fast moving graphics due to the ghosting you get with them (similar to enabling mouse trails!). Also, the resolution is fixed (usually at 1024x768) and although many can stretch the screen it will degrade quality – this affects any program or game that insists on a certain resolution. TFT monitors are now starting to fall in price, for 15” models anyway – I’ve now seen them for under £400, a year ago they’d have been at least £800. Above 15” however, and you’re talking up to and over £1,000 easy.
Read my other opinion in the buyers guide: computer monitors section for more detailed information, including price guide ;-).
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◦◊◦ Points to remember (CRT monitors only) ◦◊&
#9702;
● Don’t go below: 17” – and ask for the viewable area (should be around 16.1” on a 17”).
● Opt for a flat screen monitor if possible (Trinitron, diamondtron etc).
● Check that the refresh rate is at least 85Hz for all resolutions up to 1280x1024 for a 17” and 1600x1200 for a 19”.
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#6 : Sound
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Sound on a PC comprises of two elements, the soundcard (the electronics inside) and the speakers.
If you’re going to use the PC purely for business, letter writing or whatever then this is not important at all – you could even do without sound altogether. For those who will indulge in multimedia and perhaps the odd game, again any soundcard will do.
The only real concern if for the games PC’s or those wishing to use their PC to play DVD’s or create music. If you’re a serious games player then 3D and surround sound come into their own and will give you the edge in some games by being able to hear where an enemy is before you can see them!
There really isn’t much cost involved, even in a really good soundcard, so try an opt for one with 5.1 surround options and environment audio (EAX), the SoundBlaster Live Player 5.1 is ideal for this.
If you’re into making music you’ll want to be a little more careful on your choice and ensure that you have digital input and outputs on the card, look at the SoundBlaster Live Platinum 5.1 as a starter as this offers all the inputs outputs you’ll need at positioned at the front of the PC. Take professional advice if you want a more serious card, they can go up steeply in price!
Of course, you’ll want some decent speakers to get the most of your soundcard. For non-gamers, the standard ones will do – sometimes even built into the monitor. These ca
n always be bought afterwards if you decide you want decent sound quality. You can link your soundcard directly to most hifi’s if you prefer which will do away speakers altogether (or allow just crappy ones to be used).
There are many speaker sets available to take advantage of surround sound, ensure you get a good quality subwoofer as this makes all the difference! Make sure there are a total of 5 speakers to support surround!
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◦◊◦ Points to remember (games players) ◦◊◦
● Ensure you card supports 5.1 surround and EAX (Environmental Audio eXtensions).
● Remember speakers define quality, get a good set – specifically the subwoofer.
● Is a microphone included?
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#7 : CD-ROM / CD-Writer / DVD Drive
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Your new PC will come with either a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM , CD-Writer drive or any two in combination. Any one of them will read CD’s, but not all will read DVD or be able to write (record) to CD.
The speed of your CD-ROM is no longer a concern; it will certainly be plenty fast enough. Speed for these drive are quoted as a number (x40 for example).
A CD-Writer is a very useful thing to have these days, not least to copy music CD’s (for backup purposes only of course) but, more boringly, to backup your data. CD-Writers are CD-ROM, CD-Writer and CD-Rewriter drives all in one and thus the speeds quoted for these drives are usually in the format 32x10x8. However, just to confuse you the order is often muddled around (e.g. 10x8x32). So, as a rule of thumb, the biggest number refers to the CD-ROM part, the next biggest is the Writer part and the smallest the rewriter speed. A faster writer (10 speed+) will greatly reduce the time taken to create (often referred to as cutting
or burning) a CD. If at all possible try and get a ‘burnproof’ CD-Writer, this prevents a thing know as ‘buffer under runs’ when creating a CD and is the curse of all CD-Writer owners (it cocks up the CD basically & you have to start again!). Your CD creating life will be a whole lot easier with a burnproof CD-Writer!!!
As for DVD’s, well again, just to confuse you, although the speed is measured in the same format, the numbers a lower even though they are as fast as a CD-ROM, expect DVD speeds of between 4 and 16, so 10 or above are a good bet to look for. If you wanna know why the difference, email me! DVD drives will read CD-ROM’s too; a 10 speed DVD is roughly a 40 speed CD-ROM.
If you want a DVD (and I’d recommend it), the best option is to have it separate with a CD-ROM or CD-Writer drive, i.e. you have 2 drives. There is a simply reason for this; although DVD-ROM’s can read CD’s, I’ve heard many stories of them not reading copy-protected CD’s (particularly from Microsoft). This is due to the design of DVD drives and is stated on the box (if bought separately) that it will not read some forms of copy protection. If you have two drives, you can simply use the other one, if not, your stuck!
Incidentally, CD-Writers are much higher quality than CD-ROMs for reading normal CDs.
There is the option of a DVD-RAM, but for now, forget this option, there are currently slow to write and very expensive. They’ll be much quicker and cheaper in a year’s time!
As a final point, CD-ROM’s/Writer’s etc can, as with hard disks come in SCSI form (instead of IDE or EIDE). SCSI is now sometimes offered for the CD-Writer as due to the nature of the SCSI format is much more reliable – buffer under run errors are non-existent with SCSI! More expensive (surprise!), but maybe worth it if you plan to do a lot of CD recording.
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◦◊◦ Points to remember ◦◊◦
● Don’t worry too much about CD read speed, slower drives are actually more reliable!
● If opting for a CD-Writer, get at least a 10 speed writer and try and get one with ‘burnproof’ technology.
● If opting for a DVD drive, make sure the CD-ROM/Writer is separate.
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#8 : Modem
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You’ll almost certainly need and the PC will almost certainly come with a modem. This is what you are using (at least somewhere down the line) to read this now, i.e. connect to the internet.
All modems should be of 56k class (V.90 type as opposed to 56kflex etc.) and just about any will be sufficient to do the job.
Most modems will offer voice and fax capabilities, some even voicemail, but make sure to check first if you need these abilities.
The V.92 standard has recently come out so opt for a V.92 modem if possible, but don’t worry about his too much, V.92 is not exactly a major speed increase!
The most important thing to make sure of is that your modem is a hardware modem and not software, considering the inexpense of a modem, there is really no excuse for using a software modem and it will decrease the PC’s performance slightly.
The one other thing I would suggest is opting for an external modem, these are much more reliable and offer the ability to ‘see’ what’s going on and disconnect manually if Windows cocks up and keeps your line connected! Internal modems are often cheap and cheerful and much harder to replace should they go wrong. And of course, if it’s external, you know it’s not a software modem!
Other options such as ISDN and ASDL are beginning to come into the scene, however, currently the expense (in hardware, connection a
nd charges) does not justify the gain unless you seriously do need a faster internet connection (can you name a good reason?).
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◦◊◦ Points to remember ◦◊◦
● Go for an external modem if possible.
● If you get an internal modem, make sure it’s not a ‘software’ modems (ask!).
● Double check that the modem is of either V.90 or V.92 standard.
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#9 : Bundled peripherals (Printers, Scanners etc)
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Often, PC deals offer free thrown in hardware; printers, scanners and digital cameras being the most common. This may seem like a good deal, but...
Do you really want these extras? Bear in mind these are not free, just absorbed into the price of the whole PC! Also bear in mind that they are often the cheapest of the cheap (particularly with digital cameras), so if you want it you’ll probably want a better one which will cost you more in the long run and if you don’t want it you’ll be wasting money – ask if you can get money off the system if you don’t have the camera or whatever.
Cheap bundled printers and scanners were my most common problem when I ran my own business, cheap ones often shared one parallel port and frequently didn’t work properly, if at all, from the start!
Always go for USB printer, scanners and even digital cameras – in fact any add-on if it can be USB, get it as USB! USB is much faster and a hell of a lot easier to setup and use. The only one time you may want not to use a USB device is if you want bi-directional support for your printer; this means the printer can tell the PC how much ink its got left etc, USB printer can’t (USB can send but not receive information).
A cheap printer costs £40, a cheap
scanner £30, a cheap digital camera £60, a cheap web cam - £30 (why?). All are crap so think hard about that offer including all these goodies for ‘free’!
Offers like this usually indicate that quality and performance have been compromised elsewhere in favour of extra goodies, or if not, the PC is going out of date (old model) and they want to get shot of it quick!
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◦◊◦ Points to remember ◦◊◦
● ‘Free’ peripherals are never ‘free’!
● Research the ‘freebies’ that come with the PC before parting with your cash!
● Avoid ‘parallel’ port scanners like the plague, USB is best!
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#10 : Software included
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All PC’s come with some kind of software with them, not least Windows itself!
It is very important you get as much as you can, want and need in this department as software is heavily subsidised with new PC’s and will cost a lot to buy afterwards. You stand to save the most if you get the best-bundled software with your new PC.
Try and get well known and widely used packages, go for Microsoft Office 2000 or XP (i.e. Word 2000, Excel 2000 etc) as these are by far the most widely used and I doubt a company would have a problem if you sent them your CV in Word format, any other however & they’ll be left unable to open it! PC supplies often try and bundle cheaper office packages like Lotus SmartSuite or something, avoid these!
That said, if you use a certain package at work or at school, try and match it in your software bundle. Schools and colleges are often use the lesser know packages purely because they are cheap.
Of utmost important is that the installation discs are included, many manufacturers wil
l not give you the original discs unless you ask, some not at all. This can cause all kinds of problems and hassle if you ever need to reinstall anything. The Windows CD is commonly not supplied and commonly needed! Office 2000 frequently asks for the installation CD for just about any change you make to it – changing the office assistant for example!
Going on from this, Microsoft has started a policy of not supplying new PC’s with the installation CD’s to help prevent piracy. In this case, you will (or should anyway) be given a disaster recovery CD that can reinstall the entire system in the event of a failure. This is not good at all in my book, as the disaster recovery CD will only work for that exact model, upgrade or replace any parts or your PC and it may not work – what do you do then?!?
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◦◊◦ Points to remember ◦◊◦
● Get well known software and/or software that is relevant to you.
● Ensure the PC is supplied with ALL installation CDs if at all possible.
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#11 : Warranty / Support
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This is a tricky one! If you know a fair bit about PC’s and/or know someone who knows a fair bit you can probably getaway with not worrying about this, and save a fair bit on the extended warranty! If not...
Make sure that there is a 24hr support line available and that the rate is local, or better still, free! This can solve the majority of problems that would otherwise involve taking your PC back to the shop or sending it off etc.
Verify the warranty details, read the small print and make sure everything is covered!
If a ‘recovery’ CD is included in the package so much the better, I’ve seen some good ones that will automatically reinstall the whole
system to how it was new. Then again I’ve seen some dire ones that serve to confuse even more than actually offer any help.
Make sure documentation is included for everything and a getting started guide from the actual PC supplier / manufacturer is always a good sign.
Do you go for the extended warranty?
Well, extended warranties cost a packet, expect to shell out over £100 pounds. It’s always a gamble here, you shell out all that money and nothing will go wrong, then again you could shell out all that cash only to find the warranty wasn’t worth the paper it was written on. But overall, PC’s are probably the most likely of your electrical appliances to go wrong, usually in the software sense.
Overall, if you’re not confident in fiddling with your PC or any of it’s settings then it’s probably safer to opt for an extended warranty, in this case...
Make sure it’s onsite, RTB (return to base) warranties are usually crap and you’ve probably heard of countless stories of PC’s being away for ‘repair’ for months on end. Most problems can be fixed in a few minutes so onsite is, although a bit more expensive, worth it!
Read all the small print, make sure everything is covered (in particular software problems) and for how long and ask the what if questions; find out if you have to call a £1/minute number for ½ hour to report a fault!
Extended warranties are only worth it if several things go wrong over the years it covers – and I mean several. Using a local PC repairman may cost £20/hour or whatever but frequently works out cheaper in the long run than an extended warranty. Most problems can be fixed in minutes. Beware of cowboys however!
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◦◊◦ Points to remember ◦◊◦
● Ask about support - availability and costs involved.
● Do you ‘
need’ an extended warranty? If yes...
● Read the small print, ask the “what if...” questions, know what is covered and the procedures involved should something go wrong.
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#12 : Upgradability
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If you never see yourself wanting to upgrade your PC, and these days there is not much left that can easily be upgraded before buying a new PC becomes an option, then you can simply skip this bit!
In general, find out if the following things can be upgraded...
▪ Memory; are there free memory slots available?
▪ Hard disk; is there space for extra hard disk?
▪ DVD / CD-Writer; if not already included, is there space for one to be added at a later date?
▪ Video card; if the video card is onboard, is there an AGP slot available to accommodate an upgraded video card. Generally, video cards have to be replaced for an upgrade, adding memory is not normally an option.
These are the most common and easily (if you can call is easily) upgradeable items, although you will still need professional advice before you go about upgrading these items.
Of course, if the PC is in a new ultra stylish case the chances are upgradability is severely limited or non-existent, the bigger the PC case, the more upgradeable it’s likely to be.
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◦◊◦ Points to remember ◦◊◦
● Ask what can be upgraded and by how much.
● Check if the video card is ‘onboard’ and, if so, is there an AGP slot available.
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#13 : Expandability
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Once you’ve got your PC, it won’t be long before you fancy adding a printer, scanner,
webcam, joystick or whatever. Make sure this can easily be achieved in the future when you buy it!
Of utmost importance to expandability these days is the existence and accessibility of the PC’s USB ports. These are basically little slots in which you can plug in all of the above-mentioned peripherals and more. It’s dead easy to do it this way and thus USB connectivity should be the number one priority when buying any peripherals – most are today.
Of course, nothing is ever straight forward, and USB is no exception...
By default your PC will have 2 USB ports, normally hidden away on the back of the PC. Some PC’s may have the USB ports built into the monitor or keyboard, or even have a separate little box of USB ports (known as a USB hub). Any of these options are preferable but make sure they are ‘powered’ USB ports, i.e. have their own separate power source. By default, the two USB ports draw power from the computer in a very limited amount, this is okay until you add power hungry device or too many devices, in which case you can find they stop working or don’t work properly. This is another common technical support query!
You can buy a powered USB hub separately for around £40/£50 and there is no real limit to the number of devices that you connect via USB, even more USB hubs!
Not everything is USB however, make sure you have 2 COM ports, one is likely to be used by the modem so you’ll need a spare for things like a data cable for your mobile phone or whatever.
Avoid anything wanting to use the ‘parallel’ port (you only get one on a standard PC), a printer is the only thing you should use that for, everything else is better off being USB. And definitely avoid anything parallel port peripheral that states it has a ‘through-port’ for your printer, they often cause problems or just don’t work!
Find out how many IDE (or EIDE) connections are free, most PC&#
8217;s have a total of 4 and each hard disk and CD-ROM or DVD etc uses one, you’ll probably have either 1 or 2 free. These are used to add a DVD drive, tape drive, extra hard disk etc. Of course, you will also need space in the main PC case to add on of these, check for free 5.25” drives bays, a free 3.5” is good, but not generally needed.
For adding additional hardware, you will need free PCI or, for older hardware, ISA slots on the motherboard. PCI slots are the ones to look out for these days, most systems will have at least one free (unless they are ultra small and fashion conscious) but make sure it’s usable (i.e. not shared with the neighbouring and full ISA slot or something).
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◦◊◦ Points to remember ◦◊◦
● Make sure there are USB ports of some kind and, if external, are they powered?
● Make sure there are 2 COM ports, at least one being free.
● Ask how many free IDE slots and ‘usable’ free 5.25” drive bays there are.
● Ask how many free and usable PCI slots there are.
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◦◊◊◊ SUMMARY ◊◊◊◦
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Okay, that’s just about all you need to know to get the best PC for your money, so where are the best places to buy a PC?
Well that’s the million-dollar question! There are no ‘best’ places to buy a PC, in my experience I’ve had to fix problems with PC’s from just about every manufacturer and have experience countless problems with countless companies.
As a rule of thumb however, buying from a well-known company is better, supermarkets are hardly going to be able to give advice or offer any decent support afterwards. That said, I’ve used Del
l a lot at my current place of work and very rarely do they actually supply exactly what we order! Tiny have had no end of problems recently, PC World are pathetic and there is a general lack of knowledge and thus good advice at places like Dixon’s and other big chain stores. If you’re getting an extended warranty, buying from a bigger store means they are more likely to still be there in a few years time (especially in the current market place where demand has dropped and suppliers are disappearing almost monthly).

When you go to buy a PC, go armed with questions, I’ve given you the ammunition; just make sure your fire it! If the answers you get don’t tie up with what I’ve said or they just can’t answer then it’s unlikely that they will be able to offer kind of decent advice or support and should be avoided. Don’t be afraid to bargain, you may be able to get a reduction if you, say for example, go without the free scanner or something. Ask, ask, ask and look around and compare – try and find the genuine salesman (if there is such a thing).

At the end of the day, if looks crap it probably is, if the keyboard is cheap and shoddy or the monitor cheap looking then the components probably are too. Don’t buy a PC just because it’s cheap, you really do get what you pay for in this area! Don’t get taken in by hundreds of free add-on thrown in, as most probably all the decent components have been thrown out to accommodate this amazing offer.
Always make sure that you have seen the PC you are about to buy running first – making sure it is the exact model you will get! This can be very important these days as a badly built PC with low quality cooling fans may make an awful noise. This is particularly true when buying a PC with a very fast processor (Athlons often suffer from noisy case as they get hot and need bigger fans to cool them).

Many companies offer th
e ability to choose your components and they will put together the PC for you. This can be a good way of getting the spec you want, providing the offer a decent range of options and don’t put a premium on the service. If you’re going to do it this way, you will need to research properly the components you want. Buy a few PC magazines, they usually offer good review and buying advice on different products.
It is particularly important that you get good support and service from a company when opting to do it this way.

As a quick reminder, here is a quick list of the importance of the more major components in your PC in terms of performance benefit (1 – most important)...
1. Video card (for gamers really, makes a huge difference).
2. Hard disk (big noticeable difference with a good one).
3. Memory (from 64MB up to 256MB makes a big difference).
4. CPU (type as well as the Mhz has improvement benefits).
This is based on the kind of PCs you are likely to find on sale today. Take particular notice that the CPU is last in the list, the 3 items above really are more important these days, an old 400Mhz PC with a decent video card, hard disk and lots of memory will be miles faster than a 1.5Ghz PC with crap components – trust me!

It’s a big purchase, so take time and research before you buy – don’t get ripped off!


Before I finally shut up, I’ll give you a brief guide as to what a PC for different use should cost and the important / unimportant factors are, basically a summary of review...


◦◊◦ LOW END : Business, general office use only ◦◊◦
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●● Price range: £400 to £700 ●●
• CPU: Unimportant.
• Memory: 128MB minimum (64Mb absolute minimum).
• Hard disk: Unimportant, 5GB+ will do.
• Video card: Unimportant,
any will do.
• Monitor: Not too important, 17” preferable.
• Sound: Unimportant.
• Modem: Probably not required.
• Software: Try and get as much office software as possible, Microsoft Office is a good one (if rarely bundled).
• Other items: Just a CD-ROM drive, perhaps a printer.
• Notes: For office use, particularly if it’s for business use, you could put some of the saving on the other hardware towards a good quality laser printer.
You really can’t go wrong at this level, any system will do the job, it’s just a question of how much money you can save.


◦◊◦ MID RANGE : Family PC ◦◊◦
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●● Price range: £700 to £1,000 ●●
• CPU: 900Mhz or more, Pentium III/4 or Athlon preferred.
• Memory: 128MB minimum, 256MB preferred.
• Hard disk: 20GB+, any more is useful. A faster 7200rpm one is preferred.
• Video card: Mid range, 32MB preferred but not desperately important.
• Monitor: 17”, supporting at least 1024x768 resolution at at least 85Hz.
• Sound: Any soundcard will do the job well with decent speakers.
• Modem: 56K V.90 or V.92, External preferred.
• Software: Try go get as much as possible, an office package (Microsoft Office) and any other software you may find useful to your needs (i.e. home accounts, games etc).
• Other items: A CD-ROM or CD-Writer and a DVD combination is ideal. Getting a printer and other bits and bobs may be worth while but make sure it’s decent, these can always be bought afterwards.
• Notes: A PC to this spec will handle games, multimedia and general office applications with ease without breaking the bank.


◦◊◦ HIGH END : Power user, gamer ◦◊◦
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br><br>●● Price range: £1,000+ (probably a lot of the +!) ●●
• 1Ghz or more, Pentium III/4 or Athlon preferred. Stretch to a 1.3Ghz or more if possible, the higher , the longer your PC will stay high-end.
• Memory: 256MB minimum.
• Hard disk: 30GB+, the more the better, particularly if you plan to do video editing or such like. Make sure it’s a fast one (7200rpm, ATA or UDMA 100).
• Video card: 32MB or 64MB Geforce2 GTS or similar high spec video card. Geforce3 for max performance.
• Monitor: 17”, supporting at least 1280x1024 resolution at at least 85Hz, a 19” monitor is better if you can afford it and have the space available.
• Sound: 3D 5.1 surround EAX card with quality surround speakers and a good subwoofer will provide the ultimate in audio experience.
• Modem: 56K V.90 or V.92, External preferred.
• Software: Don’t worry about the software too much, get what you can though – a few free games might be good!
• Other items: A CD-Writer and a DVD combination is a must. Some decent games equipment may be the order of the day, force feedback joystick, steering wheel etc. A printer is only required if you think you may need it, a crap one will do for occasional use.
• Notes: The spec PC will provide the ultimate gaming performance, providing fast game play at high resolution and maximum detail. The dogs!


Of course, this is only a guide, there are so many combinations of PC setup that it’s impossible to provide the definitive answer to all, all at once. For example, fancy a bit of style and go for a flat display panel monitor and you’d instantly wack on another £500 odd to the price ranges above.
What I hope I’ve done is given you ammunition to fire at the salesmen when you go to buy your new PC. At the same time, reading this should have clued you up about the performance
and importance of the various parts of the PC and provided an explanation of the various terminology that is plastered all over the adverts for PCs.
I’d advise you to take note of the points I’ve made in this opinion and take them with you, the more questions you can ask, the better! In fact, you’ll probably know a lot more than the salesman after reading this – always a good position to be in!



Hope you’ll still with me – well done for getting this far, you should be getting dooyoo miles for reading this!! Oh, and poo poo if you’ve just skipped down here!

Feel free to drop me an email if you want any extra advice or anything (hope I don’t regret saying that!), I could go on for hours here, but I think for reasons of health and safety I should stop now!



Thanks for reading, the rating you’re about to give me and any comments! All very much appreciated!
TT.

(© 2001)

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