Buying a computer? (what you need to know)

What kind of computer to buy?

Buying a computer can be a frustrating process. There are so many numbers and specs that it can make your head spin. When buying a computer you must ask yourself three questions: What am I going to use it for, how much am I willing to spend, and do I want a laptop or desktop?

Home computers can be divided into low, mid, and high end levels. Laptops generally cost more than desktops. However, their prices are falling fast. If you only plan to surf the internet, pay bills online, and use email; then just about any of the low price range PC’s will do the job ($350-$600).

If you want to do all of the above plus moderate use of photo editing, music, and video; then I recommended at least a mid level machine ($600-$900).

High end PC’s ($900-and up) are needed for heavy photo, games, music, and video editing. If you are a gamer then you will definitely need a high end PC.

A quick note on playing games: If you want to play games like the Sims, World of Warcraft, or games that have been out for a few years, then a mid-range PC will probably do the job. First person shooters like FEAR, Bioshock, or Crysis, most likely will not run on a mid or low end PC. One of the most important factors for playing high end games is the video card. The intergraded cards just can’t do it. You’re going to need at least one of the NVIDIA 9000 series or higher or an ATI equivalent such as the X1900 or HD series to run these type of games. Be sure to check the requirements on the games box. It will tell you what type of hardware you need.

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Different brand names and where to buy (Click the store to go to their website)

Wal-Mart has good prices on their low-mid level PC’s. I have seen cases where Wal-Mart was selling the exact same Dell desktop cheaper than Dell’s. website. Check them before you buy from Dell

Best Buy has good deals during a sale.

Dell is probably one of the cheapest places and they are almost always running a sale (but check Wally World first). I like Dell PC’s because they are among the most popular meaning you can always find parts on eBay. You can also customize them on their site and their support is probably the best you can get. Though I have heard many complaints and I have a few of my own, this can be expected no matter who you choose.

Newegg is my favorite. Their prices are usually the lowest,

shipping is fast, and I have never had any problems with them. They also have the widest selection of brands and sell parts to build your own computer as well.

HP These are good computers as well but personally I'm more of a Dell fan.

Other common brands are Gateway, Acer, and Toshiba.

There are also some less familiar brands out there that I have not dealt with. Because I know little about these brands I will not comment onthem.

I feel that all of the bigger names are good. I like Dells better than HPs because in my opinion they are easier to work on.

Just remember, if you buy a laptop, no matter what brand, pay for the warranty. Laptops can be damaged in many ways and unlike a PC, there are few parts that can be easily replaced in a laptop. If you are not careful you can quickly end up with a very expensive paper weight.

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What are the main things I need to look for?

Processors

The two types of processors you will see are Intel and AMD chips.

Either one is fine in my opinion but they come in many different flavors. I won’t go into great detail because most people don’t care anyway. I’m just giving the basics of what they are.

Intel and AMD (Low-level)

Celeron: This is Intel’s lowest level chip with exception to the Atom. They have very low cache levels which basically mean they don’t perform as well as the others. (I don’t recommend this chip for anyone.)

Atom: This chip is found in Netbooks and is designed for low power consumption.

Athlon: The Athlon's are older processors and are basically AMD's version of the Pentium III and IV.

Centrino: The Centrino isn’t really a processor but more of a package which includes a Pentium M or Core Duo processor, motherboard, and wireless adapter. The package is designed for a slight performance increase.

Sempron: Single core processor which is AMD's version of the Celeron.

Intel and AMD (Mid-level)

Intel Coreduo (32-bit): These are the first generation Intel Core.

Intel Core2duo (64-bit): These are Intel’s newer chips. They come in both dual and quad core. (This one also falls into the high-level category as well).

Athlon X2: These are newer dual core versions of the Athlon.

Intel and AMD (High-Level)

Core2Quad: Quad core Core2Duo

Phenom X3: Triple core version of the Phenom X4

Core2Extreme: Comes in both dual and quad core. They have higher bus speeds and unlocked multipliers meaning they are much easier to overclock.

Turion X2 Ultra: These are available in Desktops and Laptops. They come in both 32 and 64 bit versions. They also support AMD’s HyperTransport technology.

Core2i7: Quad core processor offering Hyper-threading and Intel Turbo Boost.

Phenom X4: Quad core processor designed for high HD quality.

Intel and AMD(Older Processors)

Pentium M: This is an older mobile processor. They range from 900 MHz to 2.26 and are used in laptops.

Pentium Dual-Core: These are earlier dual core processors which are rated below the Core duo and Core2duo.

Any of these will be fine for the low-level user. Mid-range users may want to focus on the Core duo or Core2duo. High-end users will want the Core2duo or Quad core processors.

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What are Dual Core processors?

A dual core processor is like having two processors on one chip. The computer will see the single processor as two separate processors. This increases performance but mostly under heavy use (i.e. multiple programs open at the same time).

What are Quad Core processors?

These are like the dual core only the computer thinks you have four processors. Again this is mainly beneficial if you use multiple programs at the same time. Some games will perform better with a Quad Core but the game has to be designed to see all four cores. Otherwise it only uses one or two cores and the others just sit there. Remember multiple cores don’t really make things run faster they just enable you to have more programs running at the same time without slowing your system down.

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What’s the difference between 32-bit and 64-bit Operating Systems?

Two of the most important aspects between the 32 and 64bit operating systems are memory and compatibility. Many new computers are coming with Windows 64-bit. This is good because the 32-bit versions will eventually go away. Windows 32-bit will not recognize memory sizes over 4 GB including video ram (memory). The newer service packs and updates will show more than 3GB in the system properties but if you look at your Task Manager you will see that you are still not getting the full 4 GB that may be installed in your system. The reason for this is, your video cards ram is included within the 4GB limit. So if you have 4GB of system ram and a 512MB video card, Task Manger will only show 3.5GB. The other 512MB is set aside for your video card even if it isn’t shared. Microsoft’s website has more information on this. A 64-bit OS is required to gain full access to the entire ram. However, the downside to the 64bit operating system is some programs are not compatible with a 64-bit OS.

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Memory

Memory comes in different sizes and speeds. Unless you’re building your own gaming PC you’re probably not going to be concerned about the speed.

Basically I wouldn’t by a computer with less than 2GB. 1GB will work fine if you only need a low end PC that runs Windows Vista. Windows XP runs fine on 512MB but most new PCs will have at least 1GB of ram and will have Windows Vista preinstalled. Windows Vista doesn’t run well with less than 1GB. So if you do find a PC with Windows Vista and only 512MB of ram in it, don’t buy it.

You also need to watch out for “shared video ram”. Your computer’s video card has its own memory to help with the display and video. In many cases computers have a “shared” video ram configuration. This means that the video card uses a percentage of that 1GB advertised on the box. This is something that needs to be considered when buying a PC. This is one of the main reasons I say get at least 2GB of ram. This way you will have some room to spare.

Don’t confuse memory with hard drive space. Memory is used for loading and running applications. When you open Windows Media player and a web browser to surf the internet, these programs are loaded into memory. The more memory you have the more programs you can run at one time. Also if a program needs more memory to perform an action it will have memory available. When you save a file such as pictures, mp3’s, or documents, this is where hard drive space comes in. Memory and hard drive space are like a kitchen table and cabinets. You store all of your dishes (installed programs, files, etc.) in the cabinet but only take out what you need. When you are ready to eat you use the table (memory) to set out the dishes (programs) you selected. Also remember, the computer can access information much faster from memory than it can from the hard drive. This is why programs are run from memory and not directly from the hard drive.

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Hard Drive space

Well I pretty much covered the use of the hard drive above. This one is pretty simple. The bigger the drive the more stuff you can save on your computer. They come in different write speeds but again unless you’re looking at the high end pc you’re probably not going to notice the difference. Most of the new drives are SATA II (Serial Advanced Technology Attachment). This is basically the write speed and connector type used for the hard drive. SATA drives write at 1.5 Gbit/s and SATA II drives write at 3Gbit/s. They also spin at different rates including 5400, 7200, and 15,000 rpm’s. If you’re looking for how to free up hard drive space see “freeing hard drive space”.

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Video Card

Your video card plays an important role in performance as well and is often overlooked. Like the rest of your computer the video card has its own processor and memory. The more memory it has and the faster the processor the better everything performs. Most of the low end PC’s will have onboard or “integrated” video cards. These types of cards are built into the motherboard (the computers main circuit board). These are the common “Intel integrated graphics” that you see under the video listing. These are fine for the low end and some mid range PC’s depending on what you want to do. However, for gaming, heavy photo and video editing, you will need more than one of the integrated cards.

ATI and NVIDIA are two of the most common manufactures of high end video cards. These cards are constantly advancing but for now ATI has the X and HD series. The X1950 and HD4800 being the highest. NVIDIA has the GeForce, GTS, and GTX series. The GeForce 9000, GTS, and GTX being the latest models. I won’t go into details on these but any of them will be far better than the integrated cards. If your looking for a high end PC, especially a gaming PC, then you will want to research these cards further. NVIDIA (Quadro) and ATI also make business Workstation and server video card models as well but they are not necessary for the average home user.

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Displays

CRT monitors (the big clunky ones) are finally a thing of the past. The biggest things you need to look for in a monitor are the type of connection (VGA or DVI), refresh rate, and native resolution. Basically a DVI connection is better than VGA. The lower the number in the refresh rate the less your picture will blur during fast motion (ghost effect). The screen resolution on LCD monitors is a little different than the old CRT monitors in that they have a native resolution. The native resolution is the highest resolution the monitor can display. These monitors can display other resolutions but unlike CRT’s these other resolutions look fuzzy. If you want a monitor that will display high definition you will need one that has a native resolution of 1280×720 (or higher for 720p) or 1920×1080 or higher for 1080p). This is the same for LCD TV’s as well.

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Optical drives (CDRW-DVDRW)

Almost all new PC’s have CD burners these days (CDRW) and many are now coming with DVD burners (DVDRW). Just make sure you check this before you buy.

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What are Netbooks?

Netbooks are fairly new. Basically they are tiny laptops without optical drives. You can use external drives via USB if you want. Though they are cheap, I wouldn’t recommend one as your primary PC. The screens are small and they are much slower than the average low end laptop. However, because of their size they are easy to carry around. I have an Acer Aspire One and love it. Again however, it can be aggravating at times if you try to do more than surf the internet.