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Ask a dozen ‘experts’ what is the best computer to buy and you will get a dozen different replies. So, what do you do? There are two criteria in any decision on buying a computer.
1. Set yourself a budget. It is useless going to a computer salesman for advice. A salesman’s main job is to make you take a computer home under your arm and, unless you know how much you are prepared to spend, you could finish up with a product that is of no use to you.
2. Next determine the minimum requirement you need for your particular purpose. This is where you do need some advice.
To determine what your minimum requirement is, decide what you want to do with the computer. Do you want to write letters only? Do you want to add pictures to your letters? Do you want the computer to help you work on your family budget or on your tax returns? Do you belong to a club of some sort and are expected act as Treasurer or Secretary with all the responsibilities those jobs entail?
Whatever your minimum requirement is, at the beginning you will soon discover that the computer you buy will not be big enough. You soon learn there are so many things that can be done with a computer that you will soon want to upgrade - or as they say in the trade - ‘go upmarket’.
So, having determined your minimum requirements and your budget, go to a salesman armed with the facts. Tell him you want a computer that has a word processor, a spreadsheet and a database. That is presuming you do need all those things.
Now let’s get technical. What is a word processor, a spreadsheet or a database?
Here are some short explanations, remembering that modern programmes do all sorts of wonderful things over and above their basic use. A ‘word processor’ does writing. Writing of any sort. A spreadsheet is a very powerful calculator that will handle any sort of mathematical problem you put to it. A database keeps records of ‘things’. Things like a register of names of club members or a list of products in a shop. A database can help you keep track of all your personal property. Books, for example, or an inventory of household effects for insurance records. Naturally you have to feed that information into the computer first but once you have put information into the database you can then ask it to give you the titles of all the books in your library written by a particular author and where those books are stored. Or you can calculate the value of you property and even find out where that lost and long forgotten piece of property has been stored.
It is good to know how a computer works. The basic computer comes with a CPU (central processing unit or the main computer box), a keyboard, a monitor (the TV screen) and a mouse.
Also, if you want to print your masterpieces, then you need a printer. The quality of printer (and the resultant quality of print) will depend on your budget but even the cheapest will be good enough for the average household or small business applications.
There are several important things to look for in a computer and the budget will determine how your computer is configured. First there is the CPU itself. One of the most common computers in use a few years ago was known as a ‘486’. That is an abbreviation, if you like, for the ‘model’. If you buy second hand today it could be a 286 or a 386 or a dinosaur model sold before the 286 was invented (avoid them all please!). In recent times the speed and capacity of computers have leapt ahead at such a rate that it is almost impossible to keep track of the latest version so making a decision on second-hand computers is that much more difficult. It is wise to seriously consider buying new rather than second hand. Ask yourself why the seller is trying to sell a perfectly good computer(probably because it will not cope with the latest developments or handle the latest programmes).
The next thing to look for is the capacity of the hard disk. The CPU has a hard disk not unlike an old record on which all the data (information to the novice) is written and stored. The hard disks have increased in capacity over the years from about twenty megabytes to hundreds of megabytes and, more recently, to gigabytes. A megabyte is near enough to one million ordinary alphabetical characters. Once a good guide to new computers was to ask for a minimum of about 120 Mb. That was fairly average but today that is old hat and it is almost impossible to buy a computer with less than one gigabyte of hard drive space.
Next thing is memory - or, as it is technically called, the RAM (Random Access Memory) A RAM is a whiz bang thing in your computer which keeps all the work you do in limbo until you ‘save’ it at which time it is written onto your hard drive for perpetuity (or until you delete it). These days you need a minimum of 64 Mb of RAM. That amount handles most modern programmes comfortably but if your budget can stretch to it ask how much higher RAM capacities would cost and buy the biggest you can afford. You will not regret the decision as you develop more skills and branch out into more complicated programmes.
Speed of computers is measured in MHz. You could once get have a 16 MHz or a 32 MHz or up to 66 MHz or even 100 MHz - and that used to be fast fast! If you are not in business or planning a trip to the moon a 100 MHz is fast enough but most computers now come with much faster speeds. Go for the fastest your budget can withstand.
So what does all this mean? Well if you have worked out your budget for a certain amount go to a salesperson and tell him or her you want a minimum of:
· Hard disk of 1 Gigabyte
· RAM of 65 megabyte
· 17 inch monitor
· Keyboards and mouse are fairly standard but you can go crazy and get much better than average of both.
· A CD Rom drive – preferably with DVD capabilities.
If all that comes below your budget you can ask for more. Increasing the RAM would be a good idea as some of the more sophisticated programmes need a lot RAM. Or go for a bigger hard drive. Keep edging up until you hit your budget limit and then buy. As soon as you leave the store the computer you buy will be out of date but you must be content and accept that that is the way it is.
Then there are the programmes that have to be installed inside the computer after you have bought it. Registered programmes do not come cheaply and it is an infringement of copyright to ‘pirate’ a copy of any programme. It is fairly common these days for retail outlets to offer installed programmes and some of the common programmes that come pre-installed are Windows and Microsoft Works for Windows. Those two programmes alone will help you go a long way in getting started.
Two more very important things to remember when buying:
· Watch out for servicing. All machines break down and if you have to send your computer to some far-flung city to get it serviced that can take a lot of the fun out of computing. You will have to bear the expense of transport as well as the time lost while waiting several weeks for it to be returned. Check to see how the servicing is done. Is it local? Where do you have to take it for servicing? What is the average turn around in time?
· What does the warranty cover?
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