Oh Boy! If you have never bought a computer, this can be a confusing task. So before you go to your local
super store and shell out
$400 to $4000 dollars ask yourself:
What do you want to do with a computer?
What type of style do I want?
What type of things must the computer do?
How much can I afford for a computer?
Confused?Well, you need a little more information to help you decide.
First, you should be looking
for RSA (Reliability
and Stability and
Assurance)
RSA is found in most new computers.
Any Company that builds New Computers are called OEM's.
(Original
Equipment Manufactures) The list
includes:
HP, Dell, Toshiba, Panasonic,
Daay-Glow, Compaq and any local system builder in your area.
Unfortunately,
the BIG manufacturers don't build there own
computers they are built in another country then shipped to you or your
local super store. The bad news is they use the
cheapest
parts to mass produce your computer to get
the biggest profit. It looks good but it is like a fake coach purse.
Use only OEM Builders (Original
Equipment Manufactures) OEM are
your local system builders like me that use name brand parts. You have a better chance of
getting exactly what you want with
RSA
built in and up to 3 years of Manufactures warranty with out paying
extra.
Decide what type of computer you want?
Netbook, Laptop, Cellphone, Desktop, Cube.....
Try to be as specific as
possible.
Buy as much as you can afford.
RSA
Reliability -
Imagine a world where your refrigerator was as
reliable as your PC. It doesn't sound too
appetizing, does it? You'd probably end up
eating out a lot, and your kitchen would soon
smell like a landfill.
Roughly 22 percent of computers break down each year. That makes them
significantly worse
on average than VCRs
(9 percent),
big-screen TVs (7
percent), clothes
dryers (7 percent),
and refrigerators (8
percent), but about
as problematic as
vacuum cleaners (22
percent). The only
product we found
with a problem rate
higher than a
computer's is the
riding lawn mower
and lawn tractor,
which showed an
average problem rate
of about 25 percent.
On average, most people report close to two problems each year with their home computers.
Stability-
In the computing world, the term "stability" is used (by analogy, and rather liberally) to any situation involving acomputer crash (or "downfall").
Okay, let's list the two major categories of crashes:
hardware-related crashes - faulty hardware and hardware glitches
(Somewhat un) fortunately, computer hardware tends to fail after long periods of use (usually in the 3 to 5 year span). And, most of the time, any computer part that fails goes down spectacularly hard: CPUs burn, power supplies explode into bursts of blue (or wacky colored) smoke, PCI cards overheat and melt, or hard disk motors die down. So, when these conditions are met, you're usually left with a nonfunctional computer, hardly what you might call a "crash".
software-related crashes -
And software causes the majority of computer malfunctions as well! That's a no-brainer, of course. If you got good hardware, and your computer starts to fail, software isalmost surely the cause.
Device drivers, Bugs in device drivers
Malicious software,
First, they break a vulnerable part of the operating system,
which isextremely easy on Windows, because Internet Explorer isa gateway for all kinds of malware,
or they go in unnoticed thanks to the "marvelous" AutoPlay feature for CDs that also defaults to On,
or they sneak in through malicious and deceitful software installers,
then they sit there, most of the time attempting to replicate themselves onto other computers.
End result? Crippled computers, and annoying pop-ups telling you how to refinance your debt or gain several inches on key parts of your anatomy.
Assurance- Information assurance is defined as: "Information Operations that protect and defend
information and information systems by ensuring their availability, integrity, authentication,
confidentiality, and non-repudiation. This includes providing for restoration of information
systems by incorporating protection, detection, and reaction capabilities".
Less formally and in the present context, providing information assurance means taking the actions necessary to protect a PC and the information on it from unauthorized access and use while maintaining its
availability and integrity for authorized use.
Laptop vs. Desktop
If you MUST be mobile with your computer or you must look good with a computer get a laptop.
Pros and Cons
Pros
a.Laptops are mobile
b.With the right external equipment you can hook into anything, anywhere at anytime.
c.They make you look smart and sheik.
d. You don't have to go home to do your homework.
e.Your office is mobile
f. They take up less room
Cons
a.Laptops cost more than desktops
b.Laptops are easy to steal along with all of your personal
information
c.Laptops run on batteries and the batteries run down
d.Laptops are a chore to carry especially if you have printers, disks, cd, paper etc…
e.Laptops break easily and are expensive to repair
f. Laptops (most) are less powerful than desktops.
These are just some of the Pros and Cons of Laptop vs. Desktop. The Desktop has its draw backs also; here are the pros and cons of a desktop.
Cons
a.Desktops are too heavy to carry around and you need a plug
b.You cannot send your resume from a desktop unless you are in
front of it-at home or work.
c.They use electricity and that cost money
d.They take up a lot of space and you need a desk to put them on.
e.There are too many wires
Pros
Desktops are easier to repair than laptops
Desktops are more difficult to steal
Desktops can be upgraded at affordable prices
Desktops have the power to be servers, thin clients, super computers, workstations
Desktops can be faster and
can hold more information
Cheap laptops and desktops are the norm today, however, 99% of the
time you have to upgrade them to make them run like they should.
Then you end up spending the same amount of money anyway
What's a mega-kilo-giga-tera byte?
1024 Kilobytes (KB) = 1 megabyte| 1000 megabytes (MB or Meg) = 1 gigabyte (gig)
the more gigabytes you have the better off you are, but not in all things.
Hard drive This is where all of your programs like office, xp, Photoshop, internet etc... will work from. The
Bigger it is the better, because it can fill up to where you have no more room. For business - 20 gigabyte hard drive is good
For downloading music 80 gigabytes are good (1 cd holds 60 minutes = 700 megabytes) 40000/700 = 57 CDs
For storing
DVDs, and pictures
250 gigabytes or more are recommended.
Today's programs and computer demands that you have at least a
20 gig hard drive. You can use smaller drives but those drives are normally
USED and do not have a warranty and will probably
FAIL in the first 6 months.
Hard drives
spin at different speeds --- 4200 rpm are the slowest and 15000 rpm are the fastest.
The faster the better.
RAMRandom Access Memory
In the old days computers only needed a small amount of ram to run the operating system. Today's operating systems are RAM hungry. To run Microsofts
windows 7 operating system you need a bare minimum of 512 Megs of ram, but if you have office the internet, Photoshop, popup blockers, spy ware cleaners, firewalls, antivirus programs, burning software you need more ram. I recommend
2GB of ram just to keep a head of the game in the beginning. The more ram you can afford in the beginning you will be better off.
A motherboard, also known as
main board(Mobo) or system board is the central or primary circuit board. A printed circuit board or PCB interconnects electronic components without discrete wires. Alternative names are printed wiring board or PWB.
Why is it called a motherboard? Because everything attaches to it so it is
affectionately called a m-o-t-h-e-r board. There are a lot of motherboards out there; however knowing what is in your computer can be complicated. Let’s start with brand names IN NO PARTICULAR ORDER:
ASUS
GIGABYTE
MSI
ABIT
INTEL
TYAN
These are the motherboards of choice, they usually come with a manufactures warranty and they are known for their reliability, longevity. IF YOU DO NOT KNOW WHAT MOTHERBOARD IS IN YOUR COMPUTER---DO NOT BUY THAT COMPUTER.
The next time you are in the computer superstore ask the salesperson:
What motherboard is in this computer?
2.Do I get the complete documentation on it?
Documentation tells you what the motherboard will do and what it will not do---if you will need it to have your computer populated and repaired properly and in a timely manner.
The motherboard connects:
Power Supply
Car
Water Sprinklers
Video Card
RAM
Hard Drive's
Floppy
DVD, CD, Blu Ray
USB, Firewire
Security system
Printers
Camera
Speakers
Keyboard
Mouse
Piano
Sound Card
Mixer
TV,
IPod
Tape recorder
Movie Camera
Phone
Internet
And anything else you can think to add to the motherboard
Not all Mobo have the ability to hook up to everything, but it is something to think about when you choose your computer.
Warning: Be careful when you buy Dell, Hp, Toshiba
etc,,,,it may look like what you want until you try to use it.
SLI Video, PCI
EXPRESS are newest video cards on the market They have proven to be the next
generation of graphics that "Intel" has invented. The same numbers apply
when it comes to Megs for these cards also.
32 Megs are good
for videos and business
64 Megs are good for rendering
office graphics
128 Megs are good for engineering graphics
and Vista
256 Megs are good for power users.
512 Megs and above is gaming, TV/Blu-Ray, magazine and good for just about everything.
Most video cards are 4 to 8bits today but AMD has a 10bit video card that
will handle 1 billion colors.
Q: DVD writer speed is measured in "X" units, like 1X or 4X. What does the X mean? How does it compare to the speed of a CD writer?
v
DVD? X= 1.385 megabytes per second
CD? X= 150 kilobytes per second
The bigger the number before the X the better, however certain brands work better and longer than others.
LG
Any DVD or CD not on this list---->>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>Warning: Stay away from them!!
TEAC
LITEON
SONY
ARTEC
TOSHIBA
SAMSUNG
PLEXTOR
LG
You may have a fast
DVDRW or CDRW burner but if your media (disks) is rated slower than your fastest
speed on your optical drive (DVDRW, CDRW) then the drive will slow down to the speed
of the media. Two new types of media on the market today are Lightscribe
and Blu-ray. Lightscribe you can burn both sides of a disk, but one side
is only for titles. Blu-ray has the capacity of 25 gigs on one (1) disk or
50 gigs on dual layered disks. But right now the blu-ray's are slow
writing optical drives.
Style--- How you physically view your computer. Certainly HP, Compaq, Dell, and Gateway computer have a lot of style. Usually they are all the same color
or color scheme including the monitor and the cd, DVD,7n1 card reader are all the same color but you don't really know what is inside
of the computer. However, Style is important to some people and the things you want to look at are:
Does it match the room?
Does it match the desk?
Does it match me?
How much room do I have?
You do have a choice other than white. There is gray, silver, blue, green, orange, yellow and a combination of colors.
However to color match the cost is a little more- but--You decide.
Monitors (LCD's) are tricky and a part of style. The LCD (flat monitors) take less space, they are brighter and the screen
are true size. However, they are slower (refresh rate) and the dot pitch is less.
(but they are getting faster and better)STOP BEFORE YOU GO ANY FURTHER-
BUY THE BEST YOU CAN AFFORD
GO
Today, you can
use your high definition flat screen tv with most computers or just stick
to a computer monitor.
Usually, not
always, most monitors (LCD) will view up to 420p (TV) but if you want the
Blu-Ray experience your monitor must be 1080p
CPU – the brain of the computer. There are 2 major players in the CPU (Central Processing Unit)
Intel or AMD—who is better, faster more reliable?
Here is the deal:
1. Intel cpu's 64 bit use more power than AMD's 64
bit
2. Neither one of them are true 64bit chips---they
are 64 bit extensions
3. The faster the chip goes the harder and more
expensive it is to
keep cool and running.
4. Intel cpu's are faster than AMD's.
5. Cache is Important get a minimum of at least
256k cache and up to 8 megs on a dual and quad core processors.
1.business 1. to 1.5 gigahertz - Does not have to be ultra
fast
2.home 1.6 to 3 gigahertz - play movies out to your big
screen
3.high end graphics and games- 2.1 to 3.0gigahertz
duo or dual core
4.cad, engineering, games, etc 64 bit or dual or duo core
or quad core 3.0 to 3.8 gigahertz and up
Operating Systems:
Today the choices are
endless - However, narrowing it down to 32bit VS 64bit. Today 32 bit
operating systems (OS) are in use but as soon as 2008 and beyond 64bit will
be the next step. Microsoft vs. Linux
1.
Linux is the least expensive per unit (sometimes free) and the software that runs on
Linux OS's are way less than half the cost of Microsoft's software
But, the number of programs written for Linux is less than Microsoft.
Linux is great for small businesses and large business and some one who
only wants to surf the internet and use email. The best
thing about Linux to me is there live CD's. (ask me about that)
2.
XP has been the Standard for Microsoft for over 5 years now but security
is an issue. However, programming new applications is easier
because of its longevity. It is the most expensive OS Microsoft
has.
3. Vista is more secure from
outside attack than XP. It is less expensive than XP.
Nevertheless, it uses more expensive hardware to run. The good
news about Vista is that is comes in 32bit and 64bit. The bad news
is that sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.
4. Windows 7 is the newest OS from Microsoft and is
upgradeable from Vista but not from XP.
the bigger the number the better
(but not always) If speed is
what you want then a
36 gig raptor is very fast
because it is not looking through a lot of data but more is better because
of the chances of running out of room is less. = more $
Ram
the bigger the number in megabytes the better but the smaller
number in Cas Latency (cl) the better= more $
Today you need at least 512 megs of ram up to 2 gigs on a 32bit
system. The 64bit OS can handle as much as 128 gigs of ram.
Motherboards
the good ones are: (They
offer Assurance)
ECS (not
really)
ASUS
GIGABYTE
MSI
Aopen
ABIT
INTEL
TYAN
I could go on forever about the
power supply, speakers,
printers, software etc but that is
for another time.
So print this out and take it with you to buy a computer.
REMEMBER:
Ask questions:
Its hard sometimes, when you see the perfect computer to
ask questions because you want it now. If you don't ask, then you get
what you get. SO ASK:
What is the name and type of motherboard in this computer?
Do I get the complete documentation of the motherboard?
A limited Warranty should come with any new computer of at least a year.
You should also have the opportunity to buy an extended warranty
