| Your brand new computer is already obsolete.
That's right, by the time it is unboxed and plugged in, someone, somewhere has made one
bigger, better and faster. So trying to stay up-to-date with the latest technology is a
race you cannot win. The difference between a 550 MHz chip (or CPU) and a 600 MHz CPU is
only about a fortieth of an eye blink. When you realize that, then you might learn to
live with a technology that is a bit older, a step or two back from cutting edge, for the next
three to four years. By then (no matter what computer you purchase today) it will seem
too slow and not have enough hard drive space to run the latest games, office programs or your
favorite applications. The best decision you can make, knowing that this is the case, is
to...
Always buy "not the latest" technology.
If you drop back one or two levels from the high priced X,000 MHz CPU that
was just released, to one that has been out for a few months you will be rewarded two-fold.
First, older CPU cost better than half the price than the latest creations and second, they
have been used and tested. When you buy the newest and fastest you are being a tester
for their new product. Many times, motherboards and drivers do not yet exist for these
super fast new chips. So you end up testing it out for them and many times finding the
frustrating truth that you have to wait for the rest of the technological world to catch up to
your new system.
The price you may pay besides the money.
I remember the week the 600 MHz chip was released and we put them into a
bunch of PC's for a client who wanted the very fastest for his network, spare no expense.
It was great until we ran a program on any of the PCs; any program and the entire computer
froze. All of them did the same thing, nothing would run. The high-end motherboard
(manufacturer by the same company as the CPU, by the way) that was rated for up to 800 MHz
(even though they didn't exist yet), couldn't handle the 600. We replaced them with 550
CPU's and everything was fine. The next generation of motherboards (released a few
months later) could handle the 600's but by then the 700 MHz were out. Take my
advice and live with the older, proven, components -- the actual difference in performance
will be unnoticeable, you will save some money and not have to work as an unpaid tester.
Since you know that your investment is going to be good for the next three to four years you
must...
Plan for the next three to four years.
What are your needs for the next few years? What applications are you
going to be using? Are you going to be just word processing, browsing the Internet and
using email? If so, then you won't need a lot of power. But if you are going to be
doing video or music editing, running games, graphic or photographic art programs then, you
are going to need a lot more computer. Extra memory (RAM) and a larger hard drive for
the bigger files and piggish programs. For extreme power you might think of getting a
dual CPU motherboard with two older CPU (for about the same money as one of the latest X,000
MHz). Even the latest games need some pretty powerful components that might include the
latest video board with lots of video RAM, fast Internet connection and upscale sound card.
What peripherals will you use and how will they connect to the PC? Do you need USB ports
for a scanner or video camera? What type of Internet connection will you use?
Phone line, cable, will it require a network card? Plan ahead and make a list of the
items you know you are going to need and have it with you when you go shopping or talk with
someone about the purchase. Some bargain PCs may not have the capacity to do all that
you need.
Buy lots of RAM; RAM is power.
Even the slower computer chip will perform well with an abundance of RAM
memory. When you save a small fortune by not buying the latest X,000 MHz CPU you can put
about half of that money into more RAM. Doubling from the standard 64MB to 128MB or even
more will make your operating system sing. All your programs will love you for it. We
run between 256MB and 512MB on our office PCs and 1GB to 2GB of RAM on our network and web
site servers. RAM prices can fluctuate with supply and demand, so if they are high, buy
half now and half when the prices drop again. I remember the earthquake in Taiwan had
more than doubled the price of RAM for several months. Unfortunately, RAM technology
keeps changing too, so the idea of adding more RAM to your older (three to four year old)
computer may not be so easy to accomplish.
Buy a nice monitor.
You are going to be looking into this part of the computer all the time so do
yourself and your eyes a favor, get a good size, quality monitor. It doesn't have to be
large but a good one will be worth the extra money when you are browsing the Internet or
working in front of it. Monitors do not fluctuate or drop in price like the rest of the
computer components, although they have come a long way down in price over the past three
years. So that 48" flat-screen monitor may still be a bit over-budget at $16,000.
Keep in mind that by the time the standard monitor needs to go to the shop for repairs it will
probably be cheaper to get a new one than ship it. If you get a high-end monitor make
sure to check the warranty and avoid anything with only a one year period, as there is
probably a very good reason why they don't cover it for more than that!
Get a comfortable keyboard and mouse.
This is your physical connection to your computer. Buy something that
fits you. Some keyboards make a clicking noise like a typewriter, some don't, some are
curved (like the natural keyboards) and some just plain plain. The mouse can be a ball
mouse which requires cleaning from time to time, a newer (no cleaning) optical mouse with no
ball or even a track-ball type mouse which is stationary. Some are even wireless!
Stop by the retail computer store and test them all out before you buy. When you order
your new PC you can ask for these items as an upgrade to the plain ones that usually accompany
it.
Buy the right hard drive.
Here again the latest ones, now 80 to 100 GB in size are very expensive,
however the 20 to 40 GB ones are very reasonable. As the newer hard drives are released
into the marketplace the older ones drop in price. You should always figure the size of
the hard drive for your first one to two years of storage space that you need. After
that you can get an additional hard drive (it is easily installed as a second drive) and
double your space. The cost will be pennies, compared to what you would have spent on
one twice the size today. One year ago we were installing 10GB hard drives in all our
computers. Six months ago you couldn't find a 10GB drive as the manufacturers were only
making 20 to 30GB. Today we are using all 40GB drives since smaller ones are just not
available and they are less expensive than what we were paying for the 10GB ones last year.
Don't try to save all those old cards.
Today's newer component (modems, video, network, etc.) cards are faster,
smaller, better constructed and cheaper than the ones in your old computer. To take an
older (slower) card out of one computer and put it into the new one would probably cost in
labor about the same as buying a brand new card. So don't get too involved with trying
to salvage those older parts. Let them go, they had their time, it's time to get the
newer versions of everything to go with your newer faster computer. You will be glad you
did.
Don't automatically buy your peripherals with your computer.
When you buy a bargain computer online or in a retail store, they always try
to sell you a printer, scanner or other peripherals at full (or marked up) price. Don't
buy until you do some shopping: You may find that peripheral at a steep discount elsewhere.
Also be weary of those TV shopping networks that sell you a full system with a printer,
scanner, digital camera and can opener. We have seen the components, some don't have
names on them and I can only say it is pretty sad. We have had many tech calls
asking us to try to make them work with the computer and in most cases there was not much we
could do. I remember one printer took almost 5 minutes to print each page. Our
rule of thumb is, if the tech call is going to cost more than the new peripheral let's get the
customer the new peripheral.
Pay attention to the software you need.
Software is expensive when bought at retail, but sometimes a bargain
when bundled with a computer purchase. However, bundled software is no bargain if it is
software you don't need. Sure that one on TV shopping club comes with over 500 programs
but you will probably not use even one of them. What could be worse they may have them
all installed for you already. There is nothing worse than filling a brand new computer
with a few hundred programs that you are never going to use. What about an operating
system (OS)? Some computer sellers list price may seem very inexpensive because it may
not come with any OS installed. You can bet there will be an increase in the price for
that. If you do purchase a computer without the OS installed you may be in for a
surprise if when you install it some of the components do not work. Is it a hardware
problem or the OS installed wrong? Don't go there. Original Equipment Manufacturer
(OEM) versions of software are available from most companies that build custom computers and
this can be a savings as you only need to purchase the license to use the software and not the
retail box.
What about laptops?
A notebook or laptop computer offers few advantages over a desktop if you
never move it. Notebooks are "cooler" and handier than desktops, but they're also much
more expensive. Sometimes 50 to 100 percent more expensive than desktops with comparable
power. In addition, they are not easy to expand. Most laptop companies make
their real profit on the upgrade components, for example RAM typically may cost 100% more than
the same amount of RAM for a PC. Some of the clients I have known who needed a laptop to
be able to work from home, as well as work, actually got a better deal by purchasing two PCs
instead of one laptop. If you really need notebook portability, don't get one that is
too heavy, you may lose a bit in features to gain a thinner, more lightweight, notebook but it
will be well worth it once you start carrying it around.
Buy your computer direct from the manufacturer.
Otherwise you're paying somebody a retail markup. Did I happen to
mention that we manufacture our own computers and laptops?
I sure hope this helps and I hope you don't mind my sending you here for the
answer to your questions.
James Squires has been working with computers since 1974 and is the owner
and founder of TELEcomputers Services. |
