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This article is specifically aimed at those of you who are considering buying a new computer as n upgrade or replacement to the one you currently have, or it may be your first computer. In past it was certainly true that when you bought a new top of the range computer it was pretty much out of date the minute you bought it. This was because new parts were being developed continously and released. In todays market (since the release of the Core 2 range) things appear a little more stable although no different than before. One thing is for sure though, and that is that the Core 2 range are staying around a little longer in systems being sold than a few of its earlier incarnations. With this said then it is always worth remembering that unless there is a really good reason to buy the top model you shouldnt really consider it. I say this because there is nothing worse than spending £££'s on a nice new top of the range computer and then seeing it 2 weeks later at 50% off. Where as some of the more reasonably priced computers rarely go too much lower in price, unless they are end of line stock. So what are the things you should look out for in a computer? Well, we explain below. But first, as we covered what each part means in an earlier article ("Introducing The Computer") what we have done instead in this article is created tooltips. What is a tool tip? Its a handy feature that allows us to keep a document short, while at the same time not skimping on any of the information you might need. For example, if you use your mouse pointer to hover over " This " then you should have seen a little box appear with some text in. So when ever you see something that looks like this, " Example ", then you know it is a tooltip. So then, the things to consider and keep in mind when looking for a new computer are; - CPU (Central Processing Unit)
The Speed of the CPU accounts for a lot in a new computer. Although it is not the only thing which makes a computer fast, responsive and great to use, it is often one of the most expensive parts to change should it not suffice. So making sure that you choose a computer with a CPU that offers sufficient speed is a relatively big part of your overall experience in using that computer. To read up on how speed is worked out on CPU's use this tooltip . There are different makers of CPU (Such as Intel and AMD) each of which offers different varieties.
Intel offers both the Pentium range and Celeron range. Among many system builders and IT specialists the Celeron is seen as a workhorse for people not doing anything more than word processing and like minded work. Where as the Pentium range is seen more as being a performance CPU which you would typically use for more demanding stuff like playing games, video editing, high end graphical design.
AMD also offers two main kinds of CPU. The Sempron is the AMD equivalent to the Intel Celeron and the Athlon is the equivalent to the Intel Pentium. Now I know you might be asking, if they are equivalent then why not have 1 company. Well like any other business in the world they are in competition but there are differences. We will explain these differences later on though.
Our train of thought is that it is always worth while spending that little bit of extra money for a good performiance CPU (Pentium or Athlon) as you will never know when you might need it.
- RAM (Random Access Memory) aka Memory
RAM is another important factor in a computers speed. The Ram and CPU pretty much can go hand in hand to be fair. But RAM is limited somewhat and you can only have so much before it would make no more difference for a normal user.
What we mean is that the operating systems (Windows XP or Windows Vista) on the general market to home users are typically based on a 32bit operating system. Without complicating matters, what this means in short is that the operating system will only see and utilise a maximum of 4Gb of Memory in total. What you need to remember is that dedicated Graphics Card have their own amount of memory built in, but this still counts towards the overal 4Gb limit.
Unlike CPU's, RAM can be upgradedmore easily and more cheaply and so even if initially say that 1GB of RAM was enough it can be upped for a far smaller cost than the CPU.
Click the tooltip to see our Recomended RAM Allowance guide for Windows XP and Windows Vista.
- HDD (Hard Disk Drive)
As more information becomes available every single day and there is more being supplied via the internet our requirements for storage have gone up also. Compared to 10 years ago the average person thought 30Gb of storage was more than ample, in this day and age it is unknown for a person to use in excess of 200Gb of storage. The reason is that we now have all this content we can download, for example iTunes for the ipod, BBC iPlayer, ITV Player, downloadable films and so on.
This is not the only reason our storage requirements have gone up. Other factors are also that new software uses more complex coding resulting in larger installations which ultimately means more space is needed to store the files.
When choosing a computer make sure you get a reasonable amount of storage which will be able to hold your information and then last you for the future also. Although it isnt a major problem to have an additional HDD installed to increase your already existing storage capacity. There is something however that is always worth to remember, and that is when advertised as, for example, 250Gb HDD, this is not the ACTUAL amount of space you will have. There are a number of reasons for this, and to find out what these are please use the tooltip to find out about how HDD Storage Space is calculated.
- CD, DVD or BlueRay
Most computers these days typically dont come with much less than a DVD rewriter. This means that you will be able to create CD's and also DVD's. Newer technology however such as BlueRay have both Reader and Rewriter versions. When browsing round computers it is always a good idea to ask just to be certain, but a rewriter allows you to create discs where as a reader (normally called ROM) does not.
- Graphics
Graphics is something thats sometimes pushed by advertisements or sales reps to try and sell a computer. But to tell you the truth unless you were going to use the computer for something graphically intensive, such as video editing, playing high end games or intense graphical design its something that could possibly be absolutely useless to you.
Even if the computer was intended as a higher end gaming machine, most people much prefer to buy their own graphic cards which would be more suited to what they want to do.
However as far as graphics go there is integrated (onboard) graphics or dedicated graphics. The difference between the two is that integrated graphics has no memory of its own and uses the RAM and so can impact the preformance of the computer as a whole. Dedicated graphics on the other hand is a stand alone component that is slotted in and has its own dedicated memory. What this does is it accompanies the already existing RAM but is used for nothing other than rendering graphical information.
- Interface ports
Every computer on the market has similar Inteface ports and then depending on the model some extras. The average person only uses USB 2, PS2 (on some), Network, and your speakers and microphone connectors.
However there are additional ones which come on some higher end systems such as eSata, Optical sound, Firewire and inbuilt memory card readers.
As a rule of thumb we would say you can never have enough USB connections as these are used far more widely than any other interface, as an example you can USB for printers, webcams, speakers, lights, keyboards, mice, tablets and the list goes on.
- Monitor (Screen)
One final peice to the puzzle is the monitor. Although fairly straight forward, you can often upgrade the size of the monitor for a small additional charge. A 17" monitor as an example may appear large enough to begin with, you may soon find that it is relatively small. These days 19" widescreen monitors are a little more common as they not only offer that little extra screen space but a slightly higher resolution.
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