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Buying a new computer (2)
Brand name - or not? There are so many places where you can buy a computer these days, you can even get one from your local Woolworths. So what are the major considerations? Do you buy a name you have heard of before or not? Everyone knows someone with a Packard Bell, or a Dell, but are these necessarily the best ones? Here's quick list of the one's we come across on a fairly regular basis:
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Many people are guided by a brand name, and rightly so in some cases, and of course there are personal favourites. Here at Tactical Panda we like Dell, Compaq, Sony and Toshiba. Why? Because they are relatively engineer-friendly, the components are well made and the build is invariably of a high quality. Of course you will always get a 'lemon', but the same is true of all things mechanical.
So what are the main guidelines? First, ask around. Your family, friends, neighbours and work colleagues will more than likely already have a computer and will gladly tell you of their experiences. Add a pinch of salt to some of the remarks as their is always an element of 'user error' in most mishaps. Second, shop around either online or in your local store, don't be tempted to early by the latest offers and be guided to them by the PC World assistant. By the way, contrary to popular myth, he is not earning a commission from every sale! Third, have a close look at the package. Your new PC should have something like the following specification: |
RAM |
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| Memory or RAM (Random Access Memory) is where the computer system stores software applications and data that are being used. Memory is measured in Megabytes (MB) & Gigabytes (GB). The more memory you have in your computer the more programs and applications you can run at the same time. For example a computer with 2GB (2048MB) of RAM will be able to process more documents, downloads and programs at the same time compared to a computer with 512MB of RAM making your computer experience faster and therefore less frustrating in that the risk of 'waiting' whilst the computer is 'doing something' is significantly reduced. Nowadays you should be looking at a minimum of 1Gb or RAM - ideally 2Gb. |  |
Hard-drive |
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| The Hard drive (Hard Disk) of a computer provides you with space to store your programs and personal files and is measured in Gigabytes (Gb). Although the size of hard drives in today's computers are generally larger than you will ever require, you can never be too sure so the larger the better. For most home PC's you should be looking at a minimum of 120Gb hard-drive, preferably a lot more (like 250Gb). |  |
Graphics Card |
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| Along with the monitor a graphics card determines the quality of the image displayed. The better a graphics card is and the more RAM it has the faster applications - especially intensive multimedia ones like photo editing and games, will run. A better graphics card also affords a much more detailed image to be displayed. Ideally you should be looking for a 256Mb card graphics , but 128Mb will suffice if you are not playing games on the computer. |  |
Optical Drives |
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| Most disk drives available today have the ability to read and write CD's allowing you to save data and audio to a special type of recordable CD. You can generally store up to 700Mb of data onto a blank CD or 80 minutes of music. A DVD-RW drive can record and play both DVD's and CD's, however, DVD discs can record up to 4.7Gb's of data! Make sure you have a DVD-RW installed. |  |
Monitor |
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| There are two basic types of monitors, CRT (Cathode-Ray Tube) monitors and flat panel monitors, or TFT's. Although CRT monitors are much less expensive they are very bulky and can take up a lot of desktop space. Flat panel monitors (often referred to as TFT or LCD monitors) produce a sharper image and require absolute minimal space. Nowadays, the minimum size you will need is 17" - the days of 15" monitors are long gone! |  |
Cache |
| Cache is a computer's short term memory and is measured in Kilobytes (Kb) and Megabytes (Mb). Recently modified documents are stored in the computer system's cache (short-term memory) which means you are able to access them quicker. The more cache in a computer's processor the better the computer will perform, as more information can be stored in the short-term memory. For example a processor with 2MB of cache will be able to hold many more documents in its short term memory enabling you to open them twice as quickly compared to a processor with 1MB of cache. |
Processor |
| If you plan to use your PC for standard office productivity and basic Internet tasks, most any processor will do. But if you want more power, an Intel Core 2 Duo chip or an Athlon 64 X2 processor is your best bet. Both are dual-core processors, which will allow for faster multitasking and speedier performance on certain kinds of graphics and video applications. To save a few pounds, buy one or two levels down from the top - you're unlikely to lose more than 5 to 10 percent per tier in performance.
If you need top performance, choose a PC with a high-end Core 2 Duo chip or perhaps the Athlon 64 FX-62 processor. These CPUs are best for the most demanding applications, such as video editing or high-resolution game play. You can find some reasonably priced PCs with these chips, but to get the lower price you may have to sacrifice graphics performance, hard-drive size, and possibly monitor size (among other things). For the absolute top peformance, buy a PC with Intel's top-of-the-line chip, the 2.93-GHz Core 2 Extreme X6800 - but be aware that such a system won't come cheap. If you plan to play back high-definition movies on Blu-ray Disc or HD DVD, you'll need a lot of processing power. Software manufacturer CyberLink, maker of the popular PowerDVD movie playback application, recommends the following CPUs for Blu-ray and HD DVD: for Intel, the Pentium Extreme Edition, the Pentium D 9xx series, the Core Duo T2xxx series, and the Core 2 Duo E6xxx series; for AMD, the Athlon 64 FX series, the Athlon 64 X2 series, and the Turion 64X2 series. |
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