Buying Guide
Before buying a personal computer or a laptop you need to decide on exactly what you would like it to do and also have a simple understanding of some computer basics. This simple and easy to understand guide is designed to walk you through the jargon and help you spend your money wisely on a computer that suits your needs than your entire budget.
Why should I buy from Computer Xpress?
Without naming any retail stores directly, it is common knowledge that many sales staff will try to sell you the most expensive solution they can talk you into. Commission, sales targets and loading the sale with finance or discounted warranties appear to be more important than the customer’s best interests.
Here at Computer Xpress, we keep our overheads down and pass the savings on to our customers. Our aim is to provide the right help and honest advice to make sure that your computer purchase is all the more satisfying.
Quality, performance, and reliability do not necessarily mean that it’s going to be expensive.
Which computer is right for me?
How powerful a computer you need, is determined by the tasks you intend it for. Obviously the more you expect your PC to do then the more you should expect to pay. However, it is surprising just how versatile and capable today’s most basic PC systems are. There’s no point in buying a top-of-the-range computer with the fastest processor and memory, huge amounts of storage space and a powerful graphics card, if you only want to type some letters, do some basic accounting and use the Internet and email.
So how do I decide on the right PC?
A PC is only as useful as the tasks it can perform for you, so have a very clear picture of what you want and need to do with it first. Start by listing the main things that you intend using your computer for, considering the additional areas you might want to explore. Below are some common computing tasks to help you make your list. Taking a little time over this can help us advise you toward the system that is right for YOU ...
- Browsing the Internet
- Using email
- Online banking
- Accounts and book keeping (domestic or business)
- Word Processing (typing letters, documents or essays)
- Sending and receiving faxes
- Spreadsheets including graphs and charts
- Databases including business contracts / records and home video and music collection lists
- Document and Photo scanning
- Document and Photo printing
- Gaming - CDROM games or online (some games require more graphical processing power and memory others)
- Listening to music & recording your own CDs
- Music editing and creation
- Playing or creating DVD movies
- Home video editing
- Educational encyclopedias and software
- Website making
- Publishing (creating and printing letterheads, business and birthday cards etc.)
- Working with graphics programs and digital photo editing
- Home of Office Networking (connecting two or more computers together)
Having prepared your lists you will then need to decide on the hardware required to perform your tasks - all the megahertz and gigabytes and stuff!!
Unfortunately there’s no getting away from it ... In order to buy the right PC you will have to learn a little about what’s inside a computer, so the simple guides that follow are designed to help ...
How much RAM or Memory do I need?
The amount of memory you need is determined by the software you intend using. All software products list their basic system requirements for good performance so be sure to check the amount of memory your software manufacturer suggests before deciding on the amount of memory for your system.
512MB of DDR memory is usually plenty for users performing basic computing tasks. Obviously the more memory you have the better as this will allow you to run several programs simultaneously, but if you’re not going to be a heavy user then why overspends? Contact us with your intended usage for some free and honest advice.
Which Processor (CPU) do I want?
The processor is the core-computing element of a computer. Speed is measured in megahertz (MHz). The two big companies AMD & Intel constantly battle to out-do one another in the race for more speed and overall processing power. However, in the real world even experienced professionals will find it difficult if not impossible to blindly name which CPU is installed in the computer they are using. For average users producing and sharing documents, creating spreadsheets and presentations or simply performing email and Internet functions, a good choice is the lower priced AMD option. This is NOT lesser quality and will more than satisfy your personal computer needs, whatever the level.
What is the motherboard?
The motherboard is the main printed circuit board at the heart of your PC. All the essential circuitry and components required for a PC to function are either built in or attached to the motherboard. Some motherboards have additional devices built into them and are known as “all-in-one” motherboards. With these you usually do not need to buy a separate sound card or graphics card. This makes an economical, but not always a low performance option. It is important that your motherboard, CPU, memory and hard drive specifications all complement each other to gain stability and overall performance.
What size Hard Drive do I need?
The entry level hard drive today has a storage capacity of 160GB. Graphic designers and people that edit and store video require much more storage space for their larger files. If you are an average user then 160GB may be all you will ever need, remembering you can always add additional drives later if you have space in your system.
Do I need a Sound Card?
The sound cards built-in to most modern PCs are more than ample for the average multimedia user. If you are planning to do much more than simply hear the sounds generated by your computer software, CDs or mp3 files then you will require an additional sound card.
Do I need an additional Graphics Card?
Graphics cards built-in to motherboards (onboard or integrated) today are usually more than adequate for word-processing, spreadsheets, other office applications, email and surfing the web. If you plan on powerful 3D gaming or working with photo and video editing software then an additional, more powerful graphics card is needed.
Graphics cards come in varying price ranges. One card can be five times as expensive as another, and if you don’t have any idea of how much power you really need, confusion and overspending could once again set in. The most important initial requirement is a card’s memory capacity. The more memory, the greater the performance