How to Purchase a Computer

How to Purchase a Computer

Author: Owen Jones

It is a great deal simpler to purchase your second computer than it is to buy your first one, because those who've bought and operated a computer in the past already have an idea of what they want in a new computer, but those who are new to the computer world can easily become bewildered in the multitude of choices to be had.

The brief answer to "What should I buy?" is "the best". Of course that response is very biased because "the best" to one person is not going to be the best to another. Our meaning of "the best" is the fastest and with the biggest memory, but even that can leave the computer newbie puzzled. Here's a quick list of what the computer novice should do and why.

1. Buy a computer that has all the basic peripherals. Every computer arrangement can be broken down into four major components: CPU unit, screen, keyboard, and mouse. For the novice, it's best to buy a computer that has all of these components incorporated so that when it's taken home, assembling the computer is a uncomplicated matter of plugging the bits in where they belong. Leave the individual purchase of these components to those who have more experience.

2. Make your mind up what you'll use the computer for. If you want to use your computer for cruising the Internet, sending email, or doing straightforward word-processing or spreadsheet tasks, a computer with the major peripherals that we just talked about plus a printer should be adequate. If you want to use a computer to help with a career in multimedia however, you're going to have to accessorize your system with maybe a scanner, digital camera, tablet, or digicam as well for instance. If you want a computer to help with a career in music, you might require a quality microphone and set of speakers.

3. Make a financial plan and stick to it. How much can you afford to splurge on a new computer? Even though the price of computers is decreasing, they can still be rather a large expense especially if you want supplementary components as talked about previously. In addition, you'll have to figure in expenses for Internet access, maintenance, servicing, and insurance.

4. Commence comparison shopping and search for the quickest and largest. By quickest and largest, we imply the computer with the quickest processor, the fastest modem, the biggest memory, and the largest hard drive capacity. Even if you think that you'll never need the amount of speed or space obtainable on the market today, it's important to have in the event that you truly do need that much in the future. Having such a large reserve will cut down on costs when the time comes to upgrade.

5. Stick with the better-known makes. Going off the trodden path with lesser-known brands is again an adventure for those who have more familiarity with computers. Although those better-known makes might be a tad more expensive, the computer greenhorn will be grateful for the comfort of purchasing a computer from a business that has a lengthy record of building quality products, and that has the money available for satisfying returns, trades, servicing, and guaranties.

6. Pick a quality store. Once you have an idea of what you need in a computer and what kind of computer that you need, the only task left to do is to choose the place where you want to buy it. There are many places, which include computer stores, online shops, auction sites and used computer shops. For the computer greenhorn, we advocate purchasing a computer from a bricks-and-mortar store. In a real store, you have the opportunity to see the computer of interest itself and ask questions. New computer buyers will also have a store warranty, returns, trades, and services.

These recommendations ought to give the computer newcomer a useful start in selecting a quality computer for the first time and these suggestions apply to either Windows computers or Apple Macintosh computers. After taking these decisions and finally picking one that fits your needs, you can then venture into the spellbinding world of software - a world that is just as impressive as the world of hardware!

Owen Jones, the author of this article writes on several subjects, but is currently involved with Handheld Bug Zapper devices. If you would like to know more, please go to our website at Indoor Bug Zapper

Article Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1165981_10.html

About the Author: [Owen Jones has travelled extensively for many years and has various websites]

http://welsh-products-online.co.uk