Make sure it does what you want. (Buyers Guide: Choosing a PC system)

Member Name: romybuzzer

Product:	Buyers Guide: Choosing a PC system
Date:	04/09/01 (28 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A new PC is so nice

Disadvantages: Its expensive

My husband is heavily involved in IT with his job so computers have never been a shortage in our house.

We always seem to have a new computer or looking at one.
In fact, we are looking at a new one right now.
With his job, he needs a very high specification machine. Much more than most home users.
So what is needed when buying a computer? Well, you need to consider many factors. Mainly what you want the computer to do, how much money you have and how long you plan on keeping it.

1.What you want it to do.

If you want your computer to type letters and basic spreadsheets, a base model will do. Anything literally. You wont need a lot of ram or video perfomrance.
PC World and other such shops do deals for about £300 that will easily provide this and much more.
To just surf the web or send emails, you obviously need a few more bits. Mainly a modem and even a video card.
Sound does not just happen. A card is needed for this too.
A basic Multimedia PC to cope with this is about £500.

If you want it for state of the art gameplay or software design you need a top of the range processor,video card and lots of ram memory.
Pentium 4 or Athlon is the technology for you.

2.How much money do you have.

PC's cost from £300 to about £3000 depending on what you have.
I cannot jstify spending the higher amount on a computer as there are so many other things to buy and technology moves so quickly, that the machine will be available for a third of the price within 6 months and considered yesterdays technology.

Spend what you have. Go for an unbranded PC if it means you get more performance for your money. Just be careful. There are a lot of charlatans out there.

3.Lifespan.

If you intend on keeping your PC for years, get as modern a PC as possible. You know the technology will not be outdated as quick and will be more upgradeable. Remember, you can upgrade at a later da
te.


Thats about it really. Be careful when buying and try to make the right choice. Tomorrow there will be a better machine on the market but you bought it today.
Remember that statement.

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