Points to know when buying your first computer

The first question you need to ask yourself is why you need a computer and for what purpose you will use it:

* Surfing the Internet

* Sending and receiving e-mail

* Word Processing

* Spreadsheet and Money management

* Listening and recording music

* Storing and manipulating images

* Playing games

When you are certain that you really need a computer then you need to consider what computer to purchase.

The most common type of computer is the PC. Fewer and fewer people these days use Macintoshes and while Apple still makes them they are used primarily for graphics work at the high end multimedia level.

For home or office use you may be far better purchasing a desktop PC with pre-installed software. And PC prices are on the way down.

Of course notebook computers are really great if you want to take advantage of the portability that they offer, although you really need to weigh this against the cost — as laptops are still much more expensive than your average PC with the same functionality.

You need to determine what capabilities you want your computer to have – the size of the hard drive, the memory and the types of cards – video and audio – that it comes with.

For a standard home or basic office use you should be adequately served by 256Mb of RAM memory with a 80Gb hard drive for storage.

Two other things to consider are that you will need a monitor and software.

For a monitor, try for a 17 inch so that you don’t have to squint to see what is on your screen. Flat panel displays are great for saving space too and the clarity of the displays now are quite impressive.

Most computers will come installed with software. Find what software the PC will come with and work out if this is all you need.

The most common type of computer is the PC. Fewer and fewer people these days use Macintoshes and while Apple still makes them they are used primarily for graphics work at the high end multimedia level.

For home or office use you may be far better purchasing a desktop PC with pre-installed software. And PC prices are on the way down.

Of course notebook computers are really great if you want to take advantage of the portability that they offer, although you really need to weigh this against the cost — as laptops are still much more expensive than your average PC with the same functionality.

Basic word processing, spreadsheet and email/organizer software is adequate for most people and the ability to access the internet will require a modem installed as well.

If you are worried about learning to use your computer, don’t be. There are tutorials within Windows XP to help get you started, and “wizards” are easy to use, step by step programs built into Windows that will help you learn a lot too.

Plus, once you get hooked up and online with your own computer, you will have access to millions of sites ready and willing to help you learn all about your new desktop PC, the software you have, and even learn how to do things you never imagined.

RAM is the acronym for Random Access Memory, if we look closely at the name we can quickly understand is a type of memory, but same time we will wonder, why random?

The explanation is simple, it means that every single byte of this memory can be accessed without passing through the previous bytes without reducing speed, and the computer use it as a “notepad” where it holds programs and data for quick access.

This kind of memory is volatile, which means it only holds data while the computer is on, and it’s changing constantly as the operative system is working.

Due to the fast advancement that the technology is experiencing, especially in the CPU field, there are more and more requirements in terms of amount of RAM in order to enjoy a good performance in the latest machines and Operative Systems.

But this doesn’t mean that we should aim for more RAM than we need for our purposes.

 We must consider first what Operative System we want to use. If we aim for a 32bit version of Windows XP or Vista, doesn’t matter if we get 4 or 8Gb of RAM, the system will use 3.5Gb of RAM at max, and the rest will be wasted, but if our Operative System is a 64bit version, things are different since the maximum amount of RAM we can use on those OSs is just way higher than the RAM we can mount on our computer nowadays*.

* Please consider that all the comments included on this guide are based on the posting time, more concretely in June 2008. As the technology advances, this assumptions might get outdated.

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