Dont always look for the lowest price
Apr 14 '00 (Updated Jun 10 '00)
When buying your first computer, don't always look for the lowest price. Look for the best value. A lot of times lowest price means you are going to get a computer that is very limited and may not run the software programs you need to run.
Start with choosing a good processor, Intel Pentium II 400-450 Mhz are good starter processor, Intel Celeron processors are a cheaper version of the Pentium processors. The higher end machines (gaming) will include Intel Pentium III 500-800 Mhz processors.AMD makes a comparable processor and It is call the Athelon, and most of the cheaper PC's are built around these processors to make them affordable. I would recommend an Intel Pentium III 550 as a very reliable and affordable processor.
The next thing to consider in the PC is the memory, and this really is going to be dependent on what types of programs you will be running on this PC. The more ram (random access memory) the faster the computer will run your programs. You need to check the software that you plan on running on the computer to see how much memory you really need, the industry standard is 64 MB of ram, that is soon to change to 128 MB before to long. I recommend at least 64 MB.
Next comes the hard drive, the size of the drive will determine how many programs and data you can store on your computer, industry standard seems to be 10-13 GB (gigabyte)and the second thing to consider is the speed of the drive measured in rpm's, there are three speeds available 5400, 7200 and 10000. The faster the drive, the faster the access time of the drive.
Graphic card is next on the list. There are so many graphic cards that are available, and the type of programs you will be running will be a determining factor, gaming and graphic intensive programs require a lot of memory and special processing 32MB of memory are recommended. For just normal use I recommend 8MB.
Sound cards industry standard is a 32bit sound card , I recommend Creative Labs soundblaster Awe128.
CD-rom is necessary now because almost all software comes on CD's (compact disc).There are also other options available now,the re-writable cd's and the DVD's, both drives will play standard cd's and audio cd's, but the re-writable can be written on and written over many times and DVD will play movies on your PC.
Next is the modem, industry standard is the 56k (flex/V.90).That will give you a fast connection to the internet and also other dial up networks like AOL.There are other faster modems available, cable modems from your cable companies which connects to their cable and uses their hardware to connect to the internet. The newest is DSL which is high speed modems using your phone line.
My recommendation is for you first to decide what type of uses you are going to need the PC for and then visit your local computer store and ask about custom built computers and stay away from Gateway, Compaq and Dell because you are going to be stuck with extras you don't really need.
I hope this has helped someone who didn't know much about computers to make a more informed choice for there first computer.
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