What do you look for when you want to purchase a new computer?

"What do you look for when you want to purchase a new computer?"

If i'm buying for me personally the first thing I check is that I can easilly and legitimately get it with XP. If i'm buying for the uni I don't care about this since the uni has a volume license upgrade/downgrade.

What I look for next depends on the planned use of the computer. For example I recently built a PC for electromagnetic simulation at uni, in this case I wanted lots of ram (I built it with 48GB but it may get upgraded if larger modules become available at a reasonable price) and I wanted to avoid the expensive and hot running FBDIMMs, CPU power was a secondry objective but I still wanted it decently high so I ended up with a system built arround an intel S5520SC and 2.4 GHz processors (fastest that would fit in the budget I had).

Other times performance per core is more important, last time this was the case (a box I was going to use for FPGA work) I went for the fastest core 2 duo dell offered in the range I'd picked (I didn't want to be bothered building a machine at the time), the range was picked for it's support for 8GB of ram (FPGA work is not as memory hungry as electromagnetics simulation but ram is still important).

When I bought my "netbook" getting a decent resoloution (I do not consider 1024x600 decent) on a 10 inch panel was the overriding factor (and I paid about twice the price of a regular netbook to get it).

Recently i've been preffering intel due to thier superior performance per watt and per core but on a budget system i'd probablly go AMD.

"Check out our cheat sheet outlining what you need to look for when purchasing a new laptop."

Lets see

Processor page: what it says is probablly true for laptops but for desktops (and the title of the linked page doesn't mention which it is for though your question says laptops) it's not that hard, just a matter of checking what your motherboard supports and following the instructions.

Gigahertz page: mentions correctly that processors from different ranges can have different speeds but fails to mention that two processors marketed as "celeron" or "pentium" can be based on widely different architectures and have wildly different performance per clock. Also uses the term centrino as if it's a processor when afaict it's a name for a whole platform (processor, chipset, wireless etc). Also the claim that a 2.0 GHz C2D is faster than a 2.6 GHz celeron is almost certainly true for a P4 based celeron but it's almost certainly not true for the core 2 based 2.6 GHz celeron your company just released (I couldn't find any direct comparisons but given how close a 2.2 GHz C2D and a 2.2GHz core 2 based celeron are i'd be very surprised if a 2.6GHz core 2 based celeron beat a 2.0 GHz core 2 duo).

On the ram page you claim that ram can be easily upgraded later. It's true that if memory can be upgraded it's an easy upgrade to do BUT it's also true that if you aren't careful it's easy to end up with a machine that is maxed out on ram and still wanting more. There is also no mention of the fact that 32-bit desktop windows caps out at 4GB of address space which in practice means about 3.5GB of ram in most cases.

The graphics page is very misleading, yes you may need a high end processor to get the most out of a high end graphics card but for gaming a slower processor with a moderate graphics card will be much better than a faster processor and integrated graphics. Also you claim integrated graphics is integrated in the CPU, this is only the case with the latest dual core i3 and i5, in earlier generations it's built into the chipset meaning you can get much better graphics performance with a nvidia chipset. Also in the case of laptops discrete graphics doesn't nessacerally mean a distinct card.

Overall it looks more like a marketing puff piece than real advice and is very misleading in places.

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I look for a computer that is future proof. I investigate does the native software simply work? Do I need the type of processor(s) within my area of use? If so, or if not what do they do, in laymen's terms? One of the more important aspects of considering a new computer would be does it make sense, to me. The downside of trying to understand the more technical aspects of purchasing a computer is "geek speak." Does the average person know the computer performance language, like video and audio format support? The many acronyms that as so flippantly mentioned to describe performance? My duo core 2 works great and it will in the near future provided I have the ram capacities for my computer to function, so why would I need a i3 chip? At what rate does the band width expand for the core applications to be maxed out?

Honestly, these are questions I ask myself all the time. Their is so much I don't understand or know as relevant to the backstory of purchasing a new computer. What has proven simple and passes the smell test is Apple's Mac. I don't understand why I should ever purchase a PC regardless of Intel or AMD, because PC's are a operational headache. Mind you, I work with VISTA Business everyday, all day, and I have Snow Leopard OS which allows Windows based applications to be utilized, also. I cannot answer the simplest of questions about VISTA, it is not a complimentary platform for your chip. Why would I want to get a PC regardless of Intel, AMD or any other processors when I experience the software problems? Everything ultimately slows down in the PC format proven to be high maintenance. Intel may have a great chip, but it is viewed through the lens of PC, for those of us who know a little something. If this is good for your business, then good for you. I know what is best for my business and what the format looks like. I am open to learning more aspects of Intel and PC. I guess, Intel's chip is as good as a PC. Which doesn't provide a clear advantage to Intel. If Intel is in a Mac application, I can see more clearly what the core i3 or i7 performs. Why? Because Apple is pure and simple, so the inner brains show marvelously, their is no dementia after three years.

Best.

What I look for next depends on the planned use of the computer. For example I recently built a PC for electromagnetic simulation at uni, in this case I wanted lots of ram (I built it with 48GB but it may get upgraded if larger modules become available at a reasonable price) and I wanted to avoid the expensive and hot running FBDIMMs, CPU power was a secondry objective but I still wanted it decently high so I ended up with a system built arround an intel S5520SC and 2.4 GHz processors (fastest that would fit in the budget I had).

Other times performance per core is more important, last time this was the case (a box I was going to use for FPGA work) I went for the fastest core 2 duo dell offered in the range I'd picked (I didn't want to be bothered building a machine at the time), the range was picked for it's support for 8GB of ram (FPGA work is not as memory hungry as electromagnetics simulation but ram is still important).

When I bought my "netbook" getting a decent resoloution (I do not consider 1024x600 decent) on a 10 inch panel was the overriding factor (and I paid about twice t

This is what the computer uses to open files and run applications. The more RAM you have, the faster applications can run. RAM works sort of in conjunction with the processor so if you have a fast processor, you will want to increase the RAM to help boost the speed. If you have maxed out the RAM and have a slower processor your computer will still run slow. For most users, due to the more powerful and larger operating systems, 2 GB of RAM is recommended. If you are still running XP, 1GB will be more than enough to keep you happy. Windows 7 is even bigger than Vista, so now you will see up to 12 GB of RAM available in home systems. No normal user - even gamers, will really need this much RAM. If you think you want RAM for media files and gaming, 4-6 is still plenty (look at the processor instead)

Hard drive space: This is your storage space. Think of it as your file cabinet. The bigger the hard drive, the more files will fit. It also stores your operating system and any programs you may run on

I never go by the CPU speed or memory or anything like that because one computer may seem to have a lower processor than another computer, but due to the way it is setup, it will perform better overall. I just browse all the computers in the price range I'm looking for, read reviews on Amazon and also go by the reviews on CNET.com and the editor's rating (on CNET they compare computer speeds for you). Also check reviews on newegg.com. Reviews are important because even though a computer may advertise to have the most memory, you don't want to get one that will break in a month or have problems connecting to the internet via wireless LAN or have an operating system that has a lot of bugs and hassels like Windows Vista or Windows 7 starter. So when buying a computer always check the customer reviews.

I investigate does the native software simply work? Do I need the type of processor(s) within my area of use? If so, or if not what do they do, in laymen's terms? One of the more important aspects of considering a new computer would be does it make sense, to me. The downside of trying to understand the more technical aspects of purchasing a computer is "geek speak." Does the average person know the computer performance language, like video and audio format support? The many acronyms that as so flippantly mentioned to describe performance? My duo core 2 works great and it will in the near future provided I have the ram capacities for my computer to function, so why would I need a i3 chip? At what rate does the band width expand for the core applications to be maxed out?

The first thing you want to look for is a good processor. Whether you are getting a pc for gaming or jsut for surfing the net, a processor is how fast your computer processes information.

Secondly, this depends on if you want a gaming pc or not, but a good graphics card is good because a poor graphcis card will slow down your game considerably.

Thirdly, RAM. RAm is Random Access Memory. RAM pulls off memory from your harddrive and places it into itself so you can access it faster. For example, if you play a game, your game will be downloaded into your RAM and the game will run off of it. RAM affects how much memory can be placed into it before it dumps old memory off the edge.

Lastly, a harddrive. If you are a hardcore music listener or movie watcher, a harddrive is important. A harddrive is you main computer memory where everything is stored. The average harddrive nowadays is about 500GB I think.

Anyway,do research on each of these components of a computer before you buy and you will be golden

I build my own. Proprietary systems are a total ripoff. Or if you can't build your own, have somebody like Danger Den build a rig to your specs. Dell, HP, Compaq, they're all garbage when it comes right down to it. Apple is OK, it just depends on what you'll be doing with it. Apple software is outrageously priced. They're REALLY proud of it. My mother has an iMac and she likes it. But then again all she really does is use it for web browsing. Any other tasks she uses her PC that I built her 2 years ago. You'll have a much better experience by doing your homework and installing the hardware and software that YOU specify, not some company out to make a profit quickly.

ends on the planned use of the computer. For example I recently built a PC for electromagnetic simulation at uni, in this case I wanted lots of ram (I built it with 48GB but it may get upgraded if larger modules become available at a reasonable price) and I wanted to avoid the expensive and hot running FBDIMMs, CPU power was a secondry objective but I still wanted it decently high so I ended up with a system built arround an intel S5520SC and 2.4 GHz processors (fastest that would fit in the budget I had).

Other times performance per core is more important, last time this was the case (a box I was going to use for FPGA work) I went for the fastest core 2 duo dell of

Why would I want to get a PC regardless of Intel, AMD or any other processors when I experience the software problems? Everything ultimately slows down in the PC format proven to be high maintenance. Intel may have a great chip, but it is viewed through the lens of PC, for those of us who know a little something. If this is good for your business, then good for you. I know what is best for my business and what the format looks like. I am open to learning more aspects of Intel and PC. I guess, Intel's chip is as good as a PC. Which doesn't provide a clear advantage to Intel. If Intel is in a Mac application, I can see more clearly what the core i3 or i7 performs. Why? Because Apple is pure and simple, so the inner brains show marvelously, their is no dementia after three years.