Buying a New PC? A Few Things You Might Consider.

So you're ready to purchase a new computer for your home or small business and you've seen individual PCs for rock bottom prices (say 300+ dollars) at your local Walmart or Office Depot.  You might be thinking PCs have been around awhile and so that's why their so much cheaper.  Well you'd be wrong.  Like all technology, PCs are getting faster and do more all the time and tomorrow's PC is going to cost every bit as much as yesterday's PC and more because it can do so much more than yesterday's PC.  So, before you run on down to your local retail outlet store with the intent of getting yourself a bargain PC that you may be telling yourself "All I need is a basic PC and I don't need all those bells and whistles," you might consider a few of the following details regarding what you're getting when you opt for a PC priced at $500 or less at your local super retail vendor.

Purchasing a PC is an investment.  You wouldn't run to just any car dealer and buy a random car for cheap without wanting to know a bit of information about what you are getting (hopefully you wouldn't).  Unfortunately the biggest problem with most of us is we don't know what to know and what to ask when we are ready to purchase a new PC.  Here are the key items to consider when are purchasing:

-  Operating System (Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, 32 bit and 64 bit)

-  Processor Speed (fast, moderate, and slow)

-  Memory or RAM (How much is enough?)

-  Hard Drive (How much storage do you need?)

-  Antivirus?

-  Microsoft Office (do you want it?)

-  Warranty

Operating System

What is the operating system on a computer?  If you don't know the answer to this question then simply put, the operating system for most PCs is "Windows" the entire software backbone in which you interact with every time you use the computer, whether your browsing the web, installing new programs, or using other programs.  PCs purchased in the last 10 years ran Windows XP and although you can still purchase Windows XP from business line PC models straight from the vendor websites, this priviledge will soon be over.  Vendors like Dell and HP have sold Windows XP for an extended period of time after Microsoft quit selling for the sole reason that there are several older business programs in use that were not compatible with the new versions of Windows Vista and 7.  The manufacturers of these programs needed more time to develop newer versions of their programs that would be compatible with Vista and 7.  If you have any old programs you have used for a long time, you might look into whether those programs are compatible with Windows Vista or 7 and if not then you may need to purchase an upgraded version of that software.

What is the difference between Windows Vista and Windows 7?  Although there are a few differences between the two, the most important difference that you should understand is performance (speed).  From personal experience I have seen Windows Vista and Windows 7 run on the same PC and Windows 7 performs much faster than Windows Vista given that nothing with the PC's hardware changed at all.  So purchasing a computer with Windows 7 is the preferred choice is you a faster PC without buying faster hardware components.

64 bit Operating System versus 32 bit Operating System.  Both Windows Vista and 7 come in 64 bit and 32 bit versions.  These numbers have to do with how the core of the PC "thinks".  What you need to know is just that computers have used the 32 bit version in the past and the world is migrating to the 64 bit version slowly.  If you have old hardware (older than 3 years) that you plan on connecting to your PC then you might consider getting the 32 bit version instead of 64 bit.  This is because most hardware that you plug into your PC and install use software that you install using the CD that came with the hardware or you download that software from the manufacturer's website.  Older hardware that is no longer sold often times does not have 64 bit versions of their software and so you will find your old printer or scanner has become unusable with your new 64 bit Windows 7 PC.  Every retailer I have ever walked into did not sale 32 bit versions of Windows 7 or Vista, so if you want 32 bit then you are much better off buying your computer straight from the manufacturer online.

Processor, RAM, and Hard Drive  

Talking to a fellow technician he gave me an analogy that he himself used when explaining what RAM (memory), processor, and hard drive do inside of a computer so his clients could easily visualize their functions.  Imagine your PC is an office space.  The processor is the "Boss".  The RAM is the "Assistant".  And the hard drive is the "File Cabinet."  The Boss does all the thinking and decision making.  The File Cabinet is where all the information is stored.  And the Assistant assists the Boss with pulling files from the File Cabinet and updating and changing those files before putting them back in the File Cabinet.  I bit more explanation on RAM is, RAM is how many different programs and processors can the computer run at the same time.  So RAM is directly related to speed but to how many things you can be doing simultaneously before the computer slows down.

Analyzing these 3 hardware components could get very detailed if we wanted to get into the "nitty gritty" of how they work and what our options are but to simplify things, we'll only look at the broad strokes. 

Processors:  DON'T BUY A PC WITH A CELERON PROCESSOR!  Most of your discount PCs will come with this type of processor.  If you purchase a PC with a processor you'll probably notice that your PC runs just fine and you don't see any problems, until you have loaded several programs or one high maintenance processor intensive program.  Then the slowness will not ever go away.  If you are not a PC power user and only use your Celeron PC for the most basic uses you will still notice a shorter lifetime of your computer before it begins getting slower after 2 or 3 years most likely.  Simply put, you should look for a PC with an Intel Dual Core processor.  You are actually getting 2 processors instead of just one with this processor so that is twice to speed.  With all processors you will see numbers like "2.2 Ghz" or "3.0 Ghz".  If you can afford a bigger number than get it, but purchasing a Dual Core processor with a lower Ghz number will not kill you unless you plan on running lots of high end gaming or graphics editing.  There are several more processors out their that are both better than Dual Core and worse then Celeron, but right now these two examples are the most commonly purchased so that is why I used these.

RAM (Memory):  Options with RAM today normally run in the 1GB - 16GB range.  32 bit operating systems can only use up to 4GB which should be plenty in most cases, but if you plan on using your computer for gaming or high end graphics processing then getting a 64 bit operating system with 4GB+ RAM may be the way to go.  At the minumum I would recommend having at least 2GB for Windows 7 and 4GB for Windows Vista.

Hard Drive:  Hard drive storage space is cheap and you can buy a computer with lots of storage space for a small increase in computer cost.  Hard drive storage space today typical range from 80GB - 1TB of space.  Here is scale of how these values relate:  1000MB (megabyte) = 1GB (gigabyte), 1000GB = 1TB (terabyte).  One mp3 music file is typically about 5MB, Picture files are usually 1-5MB, and documents are usually below 2MB.  Unless you plan on storing several video files on your computer or several video games, you should be fine with a hard drive from 160-320Gb.

Antivirus

From experience again I would only say that you are better off with protection that is referred to as "Antivirus" and not "Internet Security Suite" or anything with the word "Suite".  A lot of people will tell you having more protection from malicious hackers or viruses is better but Internet Security Suites offer more negative then positive because they eat up your computer's resources and slow it down.  A simple antivirus program works great.  In my experience I like to purchase a computer without antivirus installed and then I go to local vendors and purchase what I decide is best.  BUT YOU DEFINITELY NEED SOME FORM OF PROTECTION INSTALLED.  And discount PCs normally only come with a 30 day evaluation version of antivirus.

Microsoft Office

This power house package includes all of the commonly known software like; Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Publisher, Access, Groove, and others.  PCs you might see on sale at local vendors for low prices probably don't include Microsoft Office but only a 60 day evaluation version that is no longer useable after 60 days.  Be sure you know whether you want Office or not and if you do, check which version of Office comes with the PC.  Versions include Basic, Small Business, Pro.  Each version comes with more or less sub programs (Word, Excel, etc).  Having Office alone on the PC you purchase will likely cause the price to raise at least 100 dollars.

Warranty

Discount PCs typically only come with a 1 year warranty which is not worth much because most PCs don't have any failing parts in the first year.  A much better warranty for a computer is a 3 or 4 year limited warranty.  Warranties for laptops tend to be more important than PCs as well because laptop replacement parts are harder to come by at local vendors.

Final Note

If I were buying myself a PC tomorrow, this is how I would go about it.  Go to a local vendor just to get an idea of what you want exactly and what helps you decision by visibly seeing it.  The monitor size and PC tower size for instance may help you by visibly seeing them.  You may even be able to compare a Windows Vista system to a Windows 7 system.  Then go online and purchase the computer you want from a manufacturer.  Buying a computer this way lets you customize the computer exactly the way you want it and you can easily compare models.  Manufacturer websites even have phone and chat representatives willing to help you build your PC online.  Buying computers at local retailers kind of limits you to a "what you see is what you get" kind of situation and you're likely to miss out on an important feature.