What Are Desktops, Durable Goods, Or Non-Durable Goods?
Aug 19 '01 (Updated Aug 21 '01)
The Bottom Line Compare desktops with notebooks first. Then consider if the desktops are the durable goods or the non-durable goods for you.
Today, the computers are well considered as the necessity. All the people who are in the highly developed technological world have the access to the computers. Until a few years ago, it was completely okay to have computers only at the workplace. But these days, together with the development of the internet, a lot of people feel it's necessary to own computers at home.
Desktops or Notebooks?
When it comes to purchasing computers, the first question is if desktops are the better choice over the notebooks. The essential points to consider here are the monetary costs, the physical space, and the ease of use.
In general, the desktops are better, in terms of the monetary costs, and the ease of use. Due to the high price tags of the liquid crystal displays, the notebooks are much more expensive. The expandability of notebooks is far less than that of desktops. Moreover, from the ergonomic point of view, the desktops are nicer.
However, on the other hand, notebooks have the advantages over the desktops in some aspects. Notebooks are easy to carry around, and you can place them anywhere you want. When you don't want to create the mess at your home, or if you are a frequent traveler, notebooks might be better for you.
Things To Consider In Buying Desktops
Since this section is titled, "What's the Best Time to Buy a Desktop," let's assume you decided to buy a desktop. Here are some things you should consider.
To start with, let's face the extremely high speed of computer technology development. Empirically, the CPU speed doubles every 18 months. The prices of the machine with the old technology drop when the new technology comes to the market. And certain newly implemented infrastructure doesn't accept the computers with the dated technologies.
Thus, on one hand, if you are in need of getting touch with the latest technological environment, you need to be equipped with the best, state-of-the-art computer. You want to go with the best CPU speed and the storage tools. Also, you want to expand the RAM as much as possible.
The problem here is the cost. The best computer, even if it's a desktop, costs more than $3000 if you customize it for the best performance. Quite frankly, this is a lot of money. Not many people can afford this for many times.
On the other hand, the regular computer users don't need the state-of-the-art technology. The most frequent reason for purchasing a computer is the communication. Since the internet has developed very well, and has become very popular, people want to use the internet for the communication, which requires a computer.
When the computer is the simple email/web communication tool for you, it doesn't seem the best idea to spend a lot of money on one computer. Even the lowest class technology today is more than enough to cover the internet communication. Some people might recommend buying the high-end computers. But it doesn't reward you much. Nobody can type faster than the computer displays the characters on the screen.
Buy whatever satisfies the minimum requirement as the communication tool. The expandability is not the question to come first. You might not be able to stay with your low-tech computer when the newly developed technology is required to the communication. But since your investment is not large, you will be able to buy another desktop that meets the requirement at the time.
Now, let me rephrase my points.
Desktop As the Durable Goods
If you have the good reason to spend a lot of money on one desktop, the desktop is the durable goods for you. You don't want to replace it within a couple years. Keeping adding/replacing some components, you want to use your desktop for at least a few years. (Hopefully more than 5 years.) In this case, the computer should have the good expandability to prepare for the later-coming tools.
In terms of the timing, the best time is when you can afford the best computer at the highest cost like $3000 or more.
Moreover, the best time is right when the renovating technology comes to the market.
For example, the best time in the past was when the Pentium 2 processor came to the market. Pentium 2 processors were very expensive compared to (regular) Pentium and Pentium MMX processors, but those who bought Pentium 2 machine a few years ago are still able to use their machine without serious problems.
Another example is when the USB ports were standardized. The serial ports are still okay, but less and less peripheral devices are supporting serial ports today. The extra money son the machine with USB ports was very wisely spent.
Desktop As the Non-Durable Goods
On the contrary, if the desktop is the simple communication tool, it should be considered as the non-durable goods. You should buy the cheapest one, as long as it satisfies the minimum requirements for the communication such as dial-up/cable/Ethernet modems.
Since the desktop is the non-durable goods for you, you are not expected to use the same machine for more than a few years, though you might be able to, if you are lucky.
When you start frustrated from the slow processing speed or the small storage space, the better decision is not replacing the components but to replace the computer itself. This is because the monetary costs for replacing the computers are not very high.
The best time to buy the desktop, as is just stated, is when the frustration accumulates.
Of course, another good timing is when the environment provider, such as ISP, switches the technologies. You will be able to buy the new component to meet the new technological requirement. But upgrading the entire system with the small extra money ensures you the highly comfortable environment.
Notice that even in this case, the time at which the new technology comes to the market is the very good time. This is because the lower-ranked computers might experience the huge price drop. Check out the factory-refurbished ones sold at the computer makes or at auctions. The sellers might be very generous to wipe out their storage.
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