HOW TO DECIDE WHICH COMPUTER TO BUY?

 

By AK. Udofeh

Many
people wonder what the right computer for them to buy is. They often find it
difficult to decide whether to go for either laptop, tower desktop or one of
those funky touch screen tablets. This problem pops up with almost everyone.
But this article will help make computer purchasing a bit easier.

In
the case of a laptop, before buying a new one, one need to decide on what
he/she really need and then get a laptop that comes closest to his
requirements. Generally laptop varies in terms of processor speed, memory
capacity, screen size, battery life, and total weight. In line with these,
choosing the right computer can seem confusing. You don’t want to purchase a
computer which will soon be obsolete, so how do you choose the right one?

Now
let's analyze a couple of issues that is worth considering.

WHO
AM I?

 

This
may sound like a silly question to ask yourself, but it will get you on the
road to a better purchase. Are you just an office application user or video or
graphics editor? This will help you decide what computer to get. For example,
if you're a video editor, you would want a computer that supports heavy
video-editing software. There are uncountable numbers of brands and models out
there. Eliminating some of them will help you remember what you're going to use
the computer for.

DO
YOU TRAVEL A LOT? 

This
is pretty much a decider between a laptop and a desktop. If you're somebody who
gets called on business trips a lot, then you might consider getting a laptop.
On the other side, however, if you're a person like a friend of mine who has
computers all around him at home and at the workplace, then a laptop will be a
waste of money considering the fact that a laptop usually costs more than a
desktop. You can also look at a different idea of a laptop: a tablet. These are
for people who don't feel like spending a ton on a laptop, and at the same time
want something portable and powerful that fits in their purse or bag.

This
is pretty much a decider between a laptop and a desktop. If you're somebody who
gets called on business trips a lot, then you might consider getting a laptop.
On the other side, however, if you're a person like a friend of mine who has
computers all around him at home and at the workplace, then a laptop will be a
waste of money considering the fact that a laptop usually costs more than a
desktop. You can also look at a different idea of a laptop: a tablet. These are
for people who don't feel like spending a ton on a laptop, and at the same time
want something portable and powerful that fits in their purse or bag.

NOW
YOU’VE DECIDED WHAT KIND OF LAPTOP YOU NEED, BUT WHAT ABOUT THE BRANDS. 

These
days’ computers are becoming a commodity item – most major manufacturers use
the same parts and just offer them in different packaging at different price
points. Choosing the right brand is like choosing the right midsize car, there
are many choices and a lot of them are very similar. Dell and HP/Compaq are the
two biggest computer manufacturers in the world; however, a large majority of
the market share comes from business market. For the home user, your needs are
different from corporate buyers. Other popular manufacturers include Sony, IBM,
and of course, Apple. I personally like Apple systems but when it’s comes to
price range, most users are scared away from it. Other things to consider are
warranty length and type, reviews, word of mouth, using the models hands-on and
many others.

Now once you have the brand in mind, start looking
at models. This is a place where you can save
some money. All brands have a wide variety of models. And once a new one comes
out, all the other ones get cheaper. You can check out screen size, processor
speed, memory, and lots of other factors. The possibilities are endless.
According to experts, when choosing features, you should remember that there is
no benefit to going to extremes for features that you will not use or that
bring problems with them. Also you need to keep in mind that whatever you buy
today will immediately be outdated

WHAT IS THE RIGHT PROCESSOR SPEED FOR ME?

The
first question my clients often ask when I am giving out the specification of a
laptop is: “Is that the highest speed of processor in the market now?” But the
fact is that unless you plan on using your computer for video editing, 3D
modeling, or computing large mathematical models, the slowest speed models
today are fast enough for a home user or an office user. To get an extra 0.25
Gigahertz out of a machine for an extra N10, 000 is probably not worth the
investment. That extra money can be saved or use to increase the RAM, as this
will go a long way in speeding up the computer in the long run more than a
slightly faster processor. As an IT professional, I tend to stay away from the
AMD line of processors. They are not too reliable when it comes to working with
graphics or heavy processor intensive tasks. Still they might be very useful to
the home user who doesn’t carry out much processor intensive task.

WHAT MEMORY (RAM) CAPACITY WILL BE IDEAL FOR ME?

For
my purposes, I don’t look for a computer with less than 2 GB of RAM (memory) in
the computer. This is because the RAM is where applications run when I am
working on the computer. The more memory my computer has, the more space for my
applications to run in and the faster my tasks are carried out. For most home
users, 512MB or 1GB of RAM is sufficient.

HOW LARGE SHOULD THE HARD DISK SIZE BE?

A
hard disk drive (HDD or hard drive) is a device for storing and retrieving digital
information, primarily computer data. It consists of one or more rigid (hence "hard")
rapidly rotating discs (platters) coated with magnetic material, and with
magnetic heads arranged to read/write data to/from the surface. So simply put hard drive storage is
where you store all of your applications and data files. Common computers today
have a minimum of 160 GB of space – which is plenty for most users. But if you
plan on doing digital video editing or other tasks which take up a large amount
of disk space, I bet you should rather go for the 320 GB or 500 GB upgrade. The
best option for video editing is a second hard drive which you will use
separately from the main drive. I would recommend a 320 GB main drive and a 1
TB (Terabyte) second (external) drive if you want to do a lot of video editing.

WARRANTY AND PRICE TAG

Most
people have come to realize this common fact that the more established
manufacturers offer more choices in warranties than the small shops do. So ask
yourself: How long do I plan on keeping my computer? Another issue to keep in
mind is: If you opt for a warranty beyond your typical one year warranty, check
to see if it has on-site service or mail in support. If you have an on-site
warranty, however, a technician will come to your house or business to repair
your machine.

Conclusively,
if you end up deciding to buy HP, Sony Vaio, Dell or even Apple, then visit
both their small outlets and their major outlets when pricing the machine. If
you price the machine in both outlets, you may notice a price difference in one
outlet over the other. Go for the machine in the cheaper outlet. Remember, the
price level does not necessarily determine the quality or durability, rather
your system spec goes a long way in enabling you save cost.