Buying a Computer

Firstly you need to consider what you need the computer for before going out and buying. Is it simply going to be used for writing letters and compiling budget spreadsheets, or are you going to be playing the latest games and using all the latest software, large graphic files etc?

If the computer is only going to be used for basic office functions like typing documents and reading and sending emails then you can consider buying an older used computer, i.e. A Pentium II. There is always plenty to choose from, just look in the Sunday paper classifieds. The problem with this is that you might unknowingly buy a faulty pc. Another route to take is to approach a computer dealer and ask if they have any used pc’s. Then you can be assured that the computer is in working condition and ask for a 3-month warranty on the hardware.

If you want to buy new, you still have a few options to consider. There are 3 main types of computer you can look at. The cheapest two options being Celeron and AMD processors or to go for the more expensive Pentium 4. If price is not a consideration then the Pentium 4 is the best option as it is the newest and has the fastest speeds. If you are looking to spend a little less then a celeron or AMD processor will do. They are generally just as reliable and you probably wont notice much of a difference in the way of speed. When looking at what type of processor to get you will also have to decide what speed you are going to need. Entry level pc’s are now using 1.3 Ghz (giga hertz) processors, going all the way up to 3 Ghz. Deciding on this you must again look at what the pc will be used for. If you are working with large graphics etc then I would suggest going for the fastest processor you could afford.

Then there is the memory. Computers come out standard with 128 KB of memory. If you want to beef it up a bit then you can upgrade it to 256 KB. There are also two types of memory, the PC133 SDRAM which is the older type, and the PC266 DDR SDRAM which is the newer faster type.

A lot of the new computers have graphics and sound integrated into the motherboard. These are usually of a decent quality and will be able to cope with most of your needs, but should the computer be used for advanced graphics or the latest games then you may want to get a better graphics card. Make sure the motherboard has an AGP slot for the graphics card, should you want to put one in at a later stage.

One of main uses of computers these days is for sending and receiving emails and browsing the Internet. To do this you are going to need a modem. There are generally two choices, an internal modem or an external modem. The external modem is the better option but will be more expensive. Internal modems are usually quite cheap and will do the same job, but they use the computers processing power to operate, so if it is an older pc you may notice a significant loss in speed when logged on to the internet, but the loss will not be very noticeable with the newer pc.