How to Buy a Computer

Do you need to buy a new computer or upgrade one that you already own? Learning how to buy a computer will help save money and choose a computer that is right for one's needs. Learn as much as possible before making the decision and consider the pros and cons of each computer add-on and accessory.

The very first thing you need to do is decide how much to spend on a computer. After that, deciding what the maximum that you can afford to spend will give you a price range to work within. When making these decisions you may also want to consider reserving money for peripherals such as a printer or a router or a scanner or if you don’t need them right away then you can obtain them at a later date.

Next decision is whether you want a PC vs a Mac computer. Then you must determine whether a desktop or a laptop system. Next determination is what hardware configuration will best suit your needs this includes memory, hard drive, optical and/or removable storage, graphics card, and monitor.

Another consideration is additional peripherals. While you don’t need to purchase these now you do need to make sure that your chosen computer system is capable of handling those items that you may need.

First go online if possible and check prices, if you don’t have a system yourself get a friend or family member to help you do this or you can go to a library that offers computers for public use or a coffee shop that has a system in addition to its WiFi service.

If you are unable to get to a computer that can go on the Internet then buy a news paper that has all the sales circulars. Stores such as Best Buy, or Wal-Mart, or other retailers that carry computer systems sometimes send out flyers in the paper for these items. Last resort is to go in the stores and just write down the prices so that you have an idea of what range you may be looking at.

Once you have an idea of prices you can determine what your price range is. First select a price that you would prefer to pay that is within the range of the ones offered. After you have this selected then determine the maximum amount that you can afford to put into this item hopefully the functions you require to perform your desired tasks will be available within this price range.

Now the tasks you intend perform with your computer system need to be determined. The most common uses people put their systems to are E-mail, browsing the internet, social networking, uploading-receiving-storing pictures-videos-music, banking, home or business paperwork, graphics work, and gaming.

Different tasks require different levels of system performance. Writing email or letters or doing home or business work requires the lowest level of performance. Browsing the internet or obtaining and using music and pictures needs a slightly more powerful system next comes watching movies and TV shows streamed from the internet, graphics design uses even more of the computers resources and then comes gaming which the most in a system with the exception of high end animation such as CGI ( Computer Graphics Imaging) used in movies. While there are other tasks that require more computing power it is unlikely that you would be trying to perform them on a home system.

Now that you have determined what tasks you want to perform you need to decide what configuration you will need. To do that you need to understand what the various parts of the system are and what they do.

1. The Motherboard or Mainboard connects all of the other parts together. Unless you have special requirements you need not concern yourself with this part as all systems will have it and just knowing what you need on the system will determine the right one.
2. The Central Processing Unit or CPU is the workhorse of a computer. This is the “brain” of the system and essentially tells all the other parts what to do and when to do it. They come in versions that have 1 or more cores which means that with more cores the system can delegate tasks to the different CPUs and possibly improve the speed of your program.
3. Memory also called Random Access Memory or just RAM. This is the part of the computer that holds the instructions for performing our tasks as well as the data that you are currently working on. The data in this particular part of the computer gets erased when you are done with it or if the computer is turned off.
4. The Hard Drive is the device that holds all of the information that you routinely access. It works kind of like your home library or bookshelf. When the computer receives instructions to access a program or some information that it currently does not have in memory it accesses the hard drive and retrieves the information it needs. When the system is done with the information or program it erases it from memory after saving any changes back to the hard drive. Thus your data is available the next time you need it
5. The Graphics card converts the information that the computer needs to output to you the user into a format that the monitor can display and that is useable by humans.
6. The Monitor is the device that actually displays the information for you to look at. Its function is similar to a TV but with a direct connection to the computer instead of an antenna, cable or satellite system.
7. The optical drive is a device that can read and or write information on either a CD or DVD. If you only load programs and data or watch movies and listen to music then you only need a drive that will read these formats, however you may want to get a drive that will read and write on both CDs and DVDs in order to back up your data or make discs that are useable in CD and DVD players.
8. Removable storage covers items such as USB thumb drives, cameras, cell phones, external hard drives, electronic books, memory cards or any other device that you can transfer data to and/or from that is not a part of the system itself.
9. Peripherals are items that connect to the computer system such as printers, scanners, or any other device that may perform a needed function.
10. A modem allows connection to a standard telephone system for access to other computers or the internet. This type of connection is very slow and is really only useful for retrieving text only email or HTML only websites.
11. A network is a system consisting of a router and/or a hub and/or a switch connected to other computers and possible the internet. For use at your home you would have a cable/DSL/satellite modem that would be hooked directly to your computer system or to a router which would then distribute the internet signal to all computers in your household via special cables or through a wireless connection.

Now that you have an idea of the different parts you can decide what you should have in the computer to perform the tasks you require. Although there are still single core computers available you should probably get a CPU with at least 2 cores that will ensure that your system will be viable for a longer period of time.

The memory not only holds your data while you are working on it but it helps improve system speed. The more you can afford the better but you need to remember that if you want more than 3 Gigabytes then you will need an operating system that manipulates data in 64 bit segments. The hard drive should also be as large a one as you can afford and if you are storing large amounts of data such as pictures, videos and music then a second drive may reduce the likelihood of losing your information although regular data backups should still be performed.

Your graphics card affects the speed at which information is displayed if your needs are just for email and internet browsing then a low end card will be find but if you get into gaming then the better the card you can afford the better the graphics that will be displayed. Your monitor should also be as large as you can afford and while the price on that 15 inch monitor may sound great you may not be able to see everything clearly on such a small screen. Look at several different sizes of monitor and get the one that you can see the best on for the price you can afford. An optical drive is essential for installing programs and one that has recording capability will allow you to backup data and create CDs and DVDs. While you may need some peripheral devices to perform things such as printing documents or scanning old photographs these need not be purchased at this time unless your primary task involves the use of these devices.

Now it’s time to discover what type of system you need to purchase. If you need something that is easy to carry from place to place then your best bet would be laptop or netbook. The Laptop is larger usually having a display size between 15 and 18 inches diagonally and has most of the same components as a desktop. A netbook on the other hand is smaller with a smaller display size and does not have an optical drive therefore all file inputs and installations need to be done via a network or external drive. Both of these systems are very portable and can be easily carried from place to place. One more option that has recently appeared on the screen is the iPad a form of tablet computer that seems to be popular but it has the draw back of no physical keyboard. http://communication.howstuffworks.com/laptop.htm http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch001159.htm http://www.pcworld.com/article/193505/ipad_vs_laptop_vs_netbook_vs_iphone_typing_test.html

If all of your use is going to be in one place then a desktop system is probably a better choice. With a desktop computer your choice of monitor sizes is virtually unlimited as you can choose from monitors specifically for computers all the way up to very large LCD TVs that have various inputs that a computer could use. Now comes the choice that is one of the biggest controversies in the computer world, Mac vs. PC.http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2010/02/23/pc-vs-mac-the-straight-scoop/ Macs are generally considered to be easier to use than PC systems although the gap between them has slowly been closing but the price gap remains fairly large. Another consideration is that the software availability For PC Windows systems is several times larger than for the Macs OS X. Before you begin your shopping you should either go to someone who has a Mac and Someone who has A Windows PC and try it out for yourself to see how each one works and if you understand how to operate them. If you don’t know anyone who owns one of these computers you can visit a store and try one out. Another difference between them is that because most users have Windows PCs and a much smaller number have Macs the cracker community targets the Windows PC’s much more often that Macs so that Viruses are rampant in the windows community but can easily be avoided with protection software. A far as your price requirement is concerned if its $1000 or less then you should probably be considering a PC with a Windows OS. If your computer allowance is $1500 or up then either option is viable depending on your preference and software requirements. There is one other operating system available for the PC but unless you are very computer savvy then the Linux OS is not really an option and it also has limited software availability and less vulnerability to malware again due to very low numbers of users. http://www.microsoft.com/windows/searchlp.aspx?CMXID=ef_sem&semid=ef_GGL_884c5416ab30d458e6f2dc6d6b67a34e&WT.srch=1&category=Update http://www.apple.com/macosx/ http://www.linux.org/

Now that you have had a chance to determine your requirements and make a decision as to what type of system you want and what operating system may best fit your needs its time to choose your system. Use any resource that you have access to. Go online to various sites that make or sell computers to see what they have to offer. You should also check various review sites for information on reliability and customer service ratings as well as warranty terms for the various manufacturers.

If you have a friend or family member that is an expert on computer systems pick their brains for information. If you have found an enticing price online see if you can find a store in the are that has the same model on display. Remember this is a decision that you will be affected by for several years to come so follow any lead you can find to ensure that your choice will be reliable and meet all of your needs for the foreseeable future.

Do not be swayed by the salesperson's attempt to have you purchase the most expensive cutting edge system available. Software typically runs several years behind the hardware so check any software you are considering purchasing and get a system that exceeds the recommended by a small margin and your system will almost certainly meet your needs for at least 3 to 5 years.

Once you have found the system that meets your requirements and price purchase it. If you keep searching you may miss out on a great deal and have to settle for something less. Also don't jump on the first deal you run across make sure that it is a reliable system and fully meets your needs before making the purchase that way you will more likely be satisfied when the deal is done.

Check out the videos below to learn more through other "how to's" about technology.

1. How to Protect Your Computer From Viruses
2. How to Protect Your Computer From Malware
3. How to Back Up Your Computer Hard Drive
4. How to Build a Gaming Computer
5. How to Clean a Laptop Screen
6. How to Make Your Computer Run Faster
7. How to Start Windows in Safe Mode
8. How to Buy a Computer
9. How to Install Ram in a Laptop
10. How to Check for Windows Updates
11. How to Optimize Your Computers Visual Performance
12. How to Optimize Your Computers Virtual Memory
13. How to Check Your Computers Wireless Security
14. Computer Keyboard Shortcuts
15. How to Optimize Settings in Control Panel