Buying a new PC can be a confusing experience, and unfortunately many
so-called sales advisors are all too keen on getting the sale rather
than addressing your specific requirements. Often, you will be
presented with reams of information and numbers, many of which may mean
nothing to you unless you know your way around a PC, so here are a few
things to look for and important questions to ask when looking to buy a
new machine.
The first thing to have in mind before buying a PC is what you will be
using it for. A casual user interested in little more than day to day
office work will be catered for adequately by a budget end business
machine. You should be looking at a budget-end Intel Celeron or AMD
Sempron CPU, along with at least 512MB of RAM and a 40GB hard drive. A
large drive is preferred if you intend to do a lot of office work,
though even then it would take a while to fill.
If your interests stem more towards gaming or multimedia, you will want
something a little more powerful. A higher end Intel Pentium 4 or AMD
Athlon CPU is a must, along with 1GB of RAM, a 160GB SATA hard drive
and a Radeon X800 or GeForce 6800. This really is a minimum, and higher
specification machines with treble the drive space and a higher end
graphics card are fairly common. High specification machines will set
you back considerably more, though you will be able to do a lot more
with them and they will last you significantly longer than a budget-end
machine with limited upgrade potential.
The next thing to look for is what is included with the package. Many
retail stores will offer extras such as printer, scanner, digital
camera and so forth. These may or may not interest you depending on
what you have already, but if you�re looking for a family machine may
well be worth the extra on top. These extra peripherals are often not
the best on the market, though are perfectly adequate for day to day
use. You should also check what software is included, and whilst most
machines are shipped with an operating system like Windows XP, you may
only get a trial version of an office suite. If this will be important
to you, do not forget to factor this into the costs when budgeting.
You should also ask about expansion potential. How many spare drive
bays does the machine have? Does it support SATA? Is it PCI-Express
equipped? If it has onboard graphics, can they be upgraded? These are
all questions for the retailer, who should be more than capable of
answering. Although you may not think you need to upgrade yet, having
the ability to add extra RAM or another hard drive may be crucial at
some point down the line should you want to get more out of your PC.
Also look at the external expansion potential, such as the number of
USB ports. Again, with so many devices using the USB interface, you may
be looking for upwards of four ports.
The monitor is another talking point, and whilst CRT monitors are
cheaper, they are bulkier and heavier on the eyes than their newer LCD
counterparts. Consider opting for an LCD monitor if your budget allows,
and many retailers will upgrade you from a CRT to an LCD for a small
additional cost.
Finally, it can be worth checking out the warranty provided with the
machine. You will have a twelve month warranty on the components at the
very least, though many retailers will offer extended warranties for up
to five years. Although these are often a little expensive for what
they offer, if you are unfamiliar with PC�s, it may be worth taking out
a short warranty to offer you support whilst you are getting to grips
with your machine. Many warranties cover accidental damage, and some
also offer annual health checks to keep your PC running smoothly.
Again, these are generally overpriced, though may be just about
worthwhile if you�re unsure of what you�re doing.
The most important thing to do is to shop around, preferably with the
aid of somebody that knows a little about computers. You can often get
better deals online, though you lack the face to face sales advice and
returns can be problematic. Again, for the first time buyer, you would
be much better off buying from a shop where it is that bit easier to
ask questions and see what you are getting for your money.
Buying a new PC can be a confusing experience, and unfortunately many
so-called sales advisors are all too keen on getting the sale rather
than addressing your specific requirements. Often, you will be
presented with reams of information and numbers, many of which may mean
nothing to you unless you know your way around a PC, so here are a few
things to look for and important questions to ask when looking to buy a
new machine.
The first thing to have in mind before buying a PC is what you will be
using it for. A casual user interested in little more than day to day
office work will be catered for adequately by a budget end business
machine. You should be looking at a budget-end Intel Celeron or AMD
Sempron CPU, along with at least 512MB of RAM and a 40GB hard drive. A
large drive is preferred if you intend to do a lot of office work,
though even then it would take a while to fill.
If your interests stem more towards gaming or multimedia, you will want
something a little more powerful. A higher end Intel Pentium 4 or AMD
Athlon CPU is a must, along with 1GB of RAM, a 160GB SATA hard drive
and a Radeon X800 or GeForce 6800. This really is a minimum, and higher
specification machines with treble the drive space and a higher end
graphics card are fairly common. High specification machines will set
you back considerably more, though you will be able to do a lot more
with them and they will last you significantly longer than a budget-end
machine with limited upgrade potential.
The next thing to look for is what is included with the package. Many
retail stores will offer extras such as printer, scanner, digital
camera and so forth. These may or may not interest you depending on
what you have already, but if you�re looking for a family machine may
well be worth the extra on top. These extra peripherals are often not
the best on the market, though are perfectly adequate for day to day
use. You should also check what software is included, and whilst most
machines are shipped with an operating system like Windows XP, you may
only get a trial version of an office suite. If this will be important
to you, do not forget to factor this into the costs when budgeting.
You should also ask about expansion potential. How many spare drive
bays does the machine have? Does it support SATA? Is it PCI-Express
equipped? If it has onboard graphics, can they be upgraded? These are
all questions for the retailer, who should be more than capable of
answering. Although you may not think you need to upgrade yet, having
the ability to add extra RAM or another hard drive may be crucial at
some point down the line should you want to get more out of your PC.
Also look at the external expansion potential, such as the number of
USB ports. Again, with so many devices using the USB interface, you may
be looking for upwards of four ports.
The monitor is another talking point, and whilst CRT monitors are
cheaper, they are bulkier and heavier on the eyes than their newer LCD
counterparts. Consider opting for an LCD monitor if your budget allows,
and many retailers will upgrade you from a CRT to an LCD for a small
additional cost.
Finally, it can be worth checking out the warranty provided with the
machine. You will have a twelve month warranty on the components at the
very least, though many retailers will offer extended warranties for up
to five years. Although these are often a little expensive for what
they offer, if you are unfamiliar with PC�s, it may be worth taking out
a short warranty to offer you support whilst you are getting to grips
with your machine. Many warranties cover accidental damage, and some
also offer annual health checks to keep your PC running smoothly.
Again, these are generally overpriced, though may be just about
worthwhile if you�re unsure of what you�re doing.
The most important thing to do is to shop around, preferably with the
aid of somebody that knows a little about computers. You can often get
better deals online, though you lack the face to face sales advice and
returns can be problematic. Again, for the first time buyer, you would
be much better off buying from a shop where it is that bit easier to
ask questions and see what you are getting for your money.