what do you usually look for when buying a pc / notebook?

First the needed work to do with the PC or Laptop. If it is for only surfing, mailing, movies and songs then it should be a very basic one with a single core processor like sempron/ celeron D and 256 mb DDR ram and dvd combo and if you want a 15'' LCD. If you want to do much resource needed programming in VB.Net 05/ Oracle 11i/10G a Pentium D/ Core 2 Duo/ Athlon X2 based systems along with 512 MB DDR2 ram is must. For every gamer AMD FX is a dream, now Intel has got the price advantage so Core 2 Extreme is on a roll. Gaming requires at least 1 GB DDR2 ram along with a very big HDD like 300 GB/ 500 GB, blue ray DVD writer and obviously Nvidia 7900 chipset based SLI ed system with a Samsung bordoux display, if you have deeeeeeee..................p pockets. In low end laptops I prefer Acer Ferrari with Tourion64 chip with a dual layer DVD writer and in high end Toshiba with Core Duo processor based systems or an Alienware.

A good warranty is always an important first step, more so on a notebook that has so many non-replaceable parts.

Make sure you buy a PC with a dual core processor, they are much faster than old processors. The processor spec will say something like 'Core Duo' or 'Core Duo 2'.

Also, I usually double the memory on my systems. Right now most PCs come with 1GB so I buy 2GB, it's much faster when performing multiple tasks at once.

Boy this is a big question

First you need to define your usage of the PC / Laptop.

If you need something for average user, then look for the following:

Processor: Intel p4, celeron, or AMD would do the trick

Memory: 512 MB (I would prefer 1 GB)

HDD (hard disk drive) anything above 80 GB would be good

Build in video card and sound card should be ok.

The above specification would keep your price to a minimum.

Good Luck

I look for warranty period (at lease 1 to 3 years) and what's covered under the warranty.

I look for things that i need like DVD RW, WIFI, LAN, OS, Anti-Virus.

I'll look at the colour, style, size and weight of the notebook too.

I like bigger screen (14" or 15" is prefered)

Battery life is also a matter to consider (5 hours at lease)

the things that should be keep in mind while purchasing the pc or notebook are:

1. latest processor such as dual core with higher speed.

2. dvd rw

3. high memory i.e. 256 or more

4. can be upgradeable that the board supports.

Price. Whatever it is, it's gonna break, be slower than my desktop, suck battery life, and get lost, stolen, or shattered... and no warranty is gonna fix that (as in.. "oh, you took it OUT of the box, that voids the warranty").

As long as I didn't pay a lot, it won't bother me as much when I buy the replacement.

Go with some ebay used/refurb special, or the Walmart sub $400 unit built in some Chinese prison.

It generally depends on the needs per person and wat is the purpose of it....