Are you planning to get you first computer? Maybe you don't know much in the computer domain and you are a bit hesitating or maybe you are like me - in short of money- and you hate to waste an extra cent. This article is intended for those purposes.
Planning to get a computer? There are many options.
- A desktop computer
- A laptop or a notebook
In both cases, you can get it old or new. But, when you plan to buy a desktop computer you can either buy it already assembled or you can build it by yourself.
Now, before you even check how much money there is in your pockets, ask yourself those simple questions: What am I going to do with this computer? What kind of tasks will it perform for me? Why am I buying it anyway?
As you may already know, the computer itself - meaning the hardware alone is nothing-. You need an operating system running and softwares to surf the net, to chat, to write, to listen to your favorite MP3s, watch videos and do more. A software runs if its requirements are fulfilled. It needs somewhere to be installed in - some space-, a minimum amount of RAM and a minimum microprocessor clock speed. For the moment, I think you have finished listing the tasks you are willing to perform. It is time to start looking for the proprietary softwares. When you are done, check each software's hardware requirements at Google for instance, i.e : “Mozilla Firefox system requirements” or “Mozilla Firefox hardware requirements”. You may also go to the software's official home page and look for that information while reading its documentation.
When you finish going through all that work, you will have a first impression of the computer that fits your needs, that is to say that the amount of RAM and the microprocessor's clock speed of the computer you shall buy should be the same as or greater than the hardware requirements of the software that has the greatest hardware requirements among the collections softwares you intend to use. One more thing to be mentioned is the Hard disk capacity, which depends on what kind of users you are: Do you store plenty of music and videos, do you run your games from the hard disk or you use CDs or DVDs? To be brief: How huge are the files are you going to keep in your hard disk? You should have some free space, the less free space you have the slower your computer is -Remember that!!!. If you are willing to have Windows XP installed, you need an additional 2 GB of space and the necessary space for the intended-to-be-installed softwares. Calculate and you will have a clear image of what computer to buy.
Some pieces of advice:
- Get a console game machine if you want to play video games. It will save you money, effort, plenty of time and headaches while trying to make those game running on your computer.
- If you will be using your computer for business I recommend to try a Linux operating system. There are plenty of that at DistroWatch. You may also check PenDriveLinux. You can have MS-Windows in your HD to mess up with and Linux in a USB Flash drive installed in and that you can use anywhere!!! Go to Slax to have an idea about that. Give it a try.
- In case you do not want to struggle with Linux configuration, installation and softwares' installation and benefit from its advantages such as being virus free, reliable, extendable and fast you can install a collection of PortableApps in it. It is what I am doing now!!! I strongly recommend trying that even if loading files is a bit slow, yet you can have all the important data, softwares' settings, passwords and bookmarks there in your thumb drive. It is like having your own computer with you wherever you go: at school, at work, anywhere!!!. 1 GB is more than enough. Don't forget to backup and upload that to keep it “somewhere safe”. To me, the net is the safest place, safer than my HD, than my CDs and than my thumb drive. Get an FTP account at DriveHeadquarters or web storage account at Box.
- I recommend a minimum of 20 GB of Hard disk capacity and 256 MB of RAM. I have a Sony VAIO PCG-F801 notebook with 128 MB of RAM, 6 GB of HD with Windows XP SP3 installed. Although it works great, I am planning to get a desktop computer ( since they are very cheap) instead because I want to start building a website. Building a website demands a fast machine or more exactly a fast HD -Faster than the one I have!!!-.
- Do not bother going through all that if you have plenty of money!!! Getting a good computer is the best option of course!!!
N.B: Do not waste money buying a computer with extra devices that you never use. You will end up looking for how to make them work instead of being productive or educate yourself for instance. Computers and Internet were made to make life easier and to save time. Now you have the time invest it in something reasonable reasonably.
