Nowadays, computers are at the
center of everything. They are widely used for multiple purposes
from professional to amateur to downright basic. One of the
first steps of using and acquiring computer skills is to practice,
get familiar with this machinery by placing one in the comfort
of your own house. Here at Discoverhaiti, we are dedicated
to helping you chose the right one for yourself. If you are
even loosely in contact with the computer world, the first
thing you'll learn is that right after buying a computer,
the owner finds that it is already obsolete. This is a challenge
to many people on the market for a new computer: How to acquire
a machine that will serve their purposes for years to come?
The following is an attempt to help you carefully decide what's
best for you and your family.
Prices on computers
have dropped dramatically over the years, and most people rely
on that fact as an excuse to delay their ownership of a new
system. It is true that the prices have been dropping, but from
my analysis, it seems that for the past 4 to 10 years, the prices
have been pretty steady. It is true that the value of a machine
goes down in less than a year, but nevertheless, due to exciting
new technologies merging with new computers, the average price
of computers remain the same. So, how do you get the best deal
out there for your money? Simple, when buying a computer, make
sure you get what you need first, then what you want should
be your next concern. If you follow that simple guideline, you
are sure to be happy with your system for years to come. How
do you determine what you need from a computer…? Well, you and
only you can know what you need the system to do for you. One
of the basics questions you might ask yourself is what do you
think you are most likely to do on a daily basis. How is that
question going to help you, well if you know what you need,
then maybe we can help you with these following tips:
1) If what you want to do on your new
system is mainly word processing and basic internet access
(e-mail, websites browsing and basic downloads once in a while)
then you probably don't need the ultimate power of the latest
processors. A Celeron processor might be all you need to satisfy
you. It is not the best processor out there but it will serve
your purposes as you will be able to accomplish your necessary
tasks without any extra power that you will probably never
use. I would suggest that you go for one of those processors
at around 800 MHz (Megahertz: speed of
the processor, it determines how fast your system will respond
to a command) with a 64Mb (Megabytes) memory (this
will allow the quick retrieval and uploading of files)
or more. When it comes to the recommended hard drive space
that you will need, a minimum of 20 GB (Gigabytes: storage
space for your documents and software) will be amply sufficient.
The Celeron processor will even support your basic needs for
a CD-RW (CD burner or recorder).
2) On the other hand if you think
your needs are a little more than word processing and basic
internet access, you might want to go for the Duron processor
from AMD. This processor will give a tad better performance
than the Celeron as it would be better suited for people with
word processing, internet and basic gaming needs with a reasonable
budget. The Duron processor will work fine with the CD-RW
as well. Although I wouldn't totally recommend the use of
DVD on these two processors, it is only fair that I mention
that they would support it. The specifics recommended on the
Duron are the same as the ones on the Celeron.
3) Now, if you want high level quality
gaming experience, the Intel Pentium3 (P3) processor is what
you need. The P3 will allow you to burn your CD's or watch
your DVD's without any problem. What most people really need
from a computer, the P3 will deliver the service with great
quality. The P3 has a better graphics display than both the
Celeron and the Duron, so, even if you are running a small
graphic design business, the P3 will be able to help you deliver
quality services to your customers. Equipped with an 866 MHz
(or more, up to 1Gigahertz) P3 and a 128Mb of memory, a PC
will deliver quite a performance whether it is for basic use
or for a small business. A P3 computer will be less likely
to freeze when a user is doing multitasking on it. It is also
great for the internet as it can handle the download needs
of many from email downloading to transferring Napster (music
downloads) to your computer of a recommended 30+ GB hard drive.
4) The AMD Athlon's is an even better
processor as it will accomplish all the
tasks of a P3 and still give you greater performance when
it comes to gaming and all of that for a cheaper price. With
speeds from 800 MHz to approximately 1.2 GHz (1200 MHz) the
Athlon is a great processor with an ultimate ability to handle
graphics and display them with great quality. The Athlon processor
is preferred by many over the Pentium 3. It is capable of
delivering a better performance than the P3 due to the fact
that its' bus speed (speed at which information is sent from
the processor to the memory and vice-versa) is faster than
the P3. It is said by many that the Athlon processor may have
been one of the key reasons why Intel decided to upgrade its'
line of processors, adding Pentium 4 as its latest.
5) The Pentium 4 is the latest processor
out there. It is also the "fastest" one as
it may go up to 1.8 GHz of clock speed. The new processor
is faster and can deliver a better performance than the Athlon
in graphics display and in speed as well as in multimedia
experience (MP3, Movie Editing etc…). Although not many applications
are totally optimized for the P4, it is definitely the wave
of the future as the latest softwares in development are taking
advantage of its performances.
Hopefully with the above, we have given
you a rough idea of what to look for in the computer that
you intend to acquire. Moreover, the followings are somewhat
necessary for the high end systems (Athlon, Pentium 3 and
4): an AGP graphics card of at least 8MB memory. If
you have decided to go with a system with a DVD drive, you
might want to consider requesting that your graphics card
has TV_OUT capability as this would allow you to connect your
computer to your TV and use it as a DVD player.
Next time, We hope to discuss the choice of the perfect monitor
and printer for your computer. In the meantime, below are
some links to two of the best computer manufacturers that
allow you to configure your own system!
