What Do You Look For When Buying A New Computer?

these things are what i want in a new computer:

dvd burner
fast processor
webcam
lots of harddrive space
if it’s a laptop:
15 inches or less and lightweight
if it’s a desktop:
big flat screen monitor
extra equipment–will i get a printer? wireless keyboard and mouse?

Well, this is where I play the part of the sales guy at Staples and answer a question with a question. What’re you going to be using it for? Then we go from there, but anyway.
Incidentally this whole thing reads a lot funnier when you do it with a southern accent.

Generally I’m gonna wanna have some kinda Office …….thing….on there so i can take notes n stuff and write papers. What do i use to send email with it? What kinda virus protection should i use? How long does the battery (laptop) last? Do i need one o them flash ….memory……..things? Can i hook my camera up to this thing? Can i burn dvd’s with it? What kinda virus protection does it come with? What kind do you recommend? What about email…..how do i get that off o here? lol :\ What’s that big blue E do?

lol ok yer right. this IS hard

prossesor,Ram Ram type screentype laptop\desktop

OmniDragon is right. It all depends on what they plan on using it for. Most people just want to browse the web, check e-mail, and do a little bit of typing. Also, they simply want it to work. If there is a student in the family, maybe even a grandchild or nephew/niece, find out and save them some money by going to an e-teller that sells software at an educational discount.

For the average Windows user, I am assuming for personal use, they will have to get Windows Vista. Thanks to Vista, and for future compatibility for the next 3-5 years, make sure that the processor is at least dual core, over 2GHz, and has 2GB of RAM. If the person has some extra money, go with a dedicated nVidia or ATI video card rather than an integrated.

For the average Mac user, I am assuming for personal use, the basic iMac and MacBook works just fine. It they want to use it for 3-5 years, recommend the middle grade. Also for Mac users, I found two interesting articles at MacWorld.com last week. Talks about how Mac purchasing rules are changing and also some shopping advice.

http://www.macworld.com/article/133150/2008/05/macbuying.html

http://www.macworld.com/article/133374/2008/05/macshopping.html

Size of the hard drive doesn’t matter as much any more thanks to USB/Firewire because you can always expand and save externally through USB. Find out what they want to connect to it. If they want a laptop and want to connect millions of things to it, recommend a USB hub.

This was an easy question. I consult for average users all the time since I am a university computing consultant.

–Doug

When all the tech specs are taken care of, what is important to me is that the desktop pc be whisper-quiet. Some are obnoxiously noisy. So, if you plan to spend any time at all in the same room as your PC, try to listen to your intended unit before buying.
The sales hype can be very misleading. I once bought a replacement powersupply that was supposed to be silent but was anything but.
The PC needs to be designed with noise-minimization in mind.

I look for available slots. I want to have enough slots and bays so I can add what I want without have to take something out.

Hello,

This is a question which often comes up in Lockergnome’s Problem Solver Forums, usually when someone asks a question along the lines of “What’s the fastest/best/{insert other superlative here} computer” without taking the time to think about intended uses. Here are a few questions I like to ask people when they are thinking of buying a new computer in order to help them refine their purchase decision:

How much do they want to spend on the computer?

How much to they want to spend on any additional accessories at the time of purchase? Examples of these might include: A case or backpack (for notebook), external drive for backups, power bar, recordable media, spare power supply (for notebook) UPS, USB adapters or cables and so forth.

How long do they wish to use the computer for before replacing it?

How much do they want to pay per annum on hardware and software upgrades?

What are your primary, secondary and tertiary (if any) uses of the computer going to be?

Is there any software in particular that must run on the computer?

Is there any software in particular that would be nice to run on the computer?

How long a warranty is needed and whether or not on-site repair is required.

Generally, with those questions answered, they can then start looking at specific models of computers which meet their needs.

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Did you say “average computer user” ?

Did you want to say ” What Should You Look For When Buying A New Computer?” In this case you should look for a… geek, to advice, to complete my next basic recommendations, like hardware and software, since all sellers will offer a striped versions!

I am not really a geek, but not an average user too. My advice is:
- search for a brand name; also they offer different degrees of technical support and warranties, due to large series the computers are well done and test: hardware, operating system, drivers; if you have 2-3 years of support, should be just fine; if you are a paranoia, you can have even 5 years support, but i do not recommend; anyway, 5 years is a long time, maybe the world will be different, maybe a new computer will be needed…;
- an alternative is if you have a geek friend; just tell him how much do you have for and he will manage all the rest;
- avoid lasts models; they are powerful and expensive, more than an average user need; one to two years old model should be fine; take care to have maximum RAM and best CPU - in a year or so all these components will become hard to find and expensive too;
- for the operating system and programs, you need about 20+GB of HDD; certainly you will find with bigger hard drive, but do not go for the biggest - you will need an external device for backups - like an external USB hard drive - and this one could be of a larger size; your current files, emails, web pages, will have a lot of space on system disk, multimedia files - except the ones you want to see-hear now (2-3GB) - they will all reside on external disk;
- for the operating system, is difficult to recommend which one to go for, but is easy to recommend which one to avoid: Microsoft Windows Vista require powerful hardware - so please wait for other two or more years before consider it; if you a going with Microsoft Windows, in this case chose Vista Ultimate or Vista Business since Microsoft accept to downgrade these versions to XP Professional and the “business polices” does not offer anymore other Microsoft operating systems; the technical support from the “brand name” will help you, just pay for H&S the extra recovery CDs; PLEASE VERIFY FIRST THIS OPTIONS, not all “brand names” will do it!
- once you have the computer, with the operating system, you need some software; it could means an Office suite - if you use this personal computer to some business, also other usefull ones: to access internet and email, to play media…; this is the second time when a geek friend can help a lot…

I’m a student so would you conside me as an average user?

I don’t have a computer now but I planing to buy one. My parents is going to provede me the money. It was 25,000 philippine peso (aprox. 500 us dollars), not to mention that laptop prizes here in the philippines is up to 50% higher than it would be if I bought laptops there. I don’t have the idea what I want for at first but after some research I find myself that:

- of course I need one with a price that fits my budget. I look up the internet and what I get is those low end ones(sigh). I was considering buying ones with no os. They come cheaper (I was even considering second hands). Then I download a linux operating system from internet cafes. Linux might be harder to use but would allow me to stretch my budget.

- I would choose laptops over desktops. Our school has a free wifi access and i would like to take advantage of that. So I would like a laptop that is wifi ready.

- I would like ones that have 13″ screens or larger. I like to be able to read prints better. I read a lot and it feel that any screen size smaller that 13″ is strainous to the eyes.

- I like to have a compiler. I’m a BS Computer Science student so I would need one severely. But I could get it somewhere. I even think of downloading one to keep down expenses.

- generally speaking, I don’t care about the brand. Specs and the price wieghts more heavyly to me. But then if my budget allows, I would choose the well known brands. But as you see I just have to sacrifice it.

- I like to have a office suit. This is very useful for sprojects and term papers.

-like to have the largest Ram and the best proccessor that I would get from my budget. When I look around computer shops in the here, the best one I could get is a 1.8Ghz intel celeron with 512 Mb of Ram and 40Gb(large enough) of hard drive.

- I would like to have an antivirus software, but I see I can’t afford it yet.

- I would like it to be light as possible. But to tell the truth its ok for me if its heavy and large. I just like to carry heavy things. They have more pressence. I carry my books that i don’t use just to make my bag heavy.

-I would like to have the longest waranty possible. I want to keep expenses down(hope so).

- at least a dvd rom to watch movies, and a burner.

-an internet browser, some games.

Of course if I could buy one with msuch more higher specs, I would buy it. I will not stay a student for so long and I want to keep my computer longer. Having higher hardware specs means more flexibility. I don’t want to buy a new one just because my old one does not suit me anylonger.

Windows XP - NOT vista!!