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A Writer At Heart |
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Aureo P. Castro's Written Works |
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Other Web Sites By The Author
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How did you buy your last computer? Did you buy the most expensive one thinking that it is so expensive, it must be the best? How is your computer now? Are you suffering from acute lack of storage space or sluggish performance when using data intensive applications? Looking back, do you think you made the right decision when you bought it? If not, what lesson did you learn from the past mistake? Have you started upgrading and at what point will you stop upgrading and buy a new one?
Buying a computer for the home can be a tricky undertaking if you don’t know what you’re doing. A home computer represents a fairly large investment especially if you’re a multi-computer family so it pays to be able to execute this unavoidable undertaking in the best possible way. You don’t need to have a Ph. D. in computer science to be able to pull this through painlessly. It will take some time and effort though and probably a small investment on getting literate on computers as well as patience while learning important stuff that can be useful in making your purchase decisions. The first thing that you probably need to do is to take a look at your old computer and see why it is no longer responsive to your needs. Make a note of the different resources your old computer has that now fail to satisfy your needs and keep them at the back of your head so you can use those information in your next computer purchase. Do you have a basic understanding of the different measurements of speed and capacities of the components that your future computer must have? If not, go and search the Internet for guidance on such issues as microprocessor speed, size and speed of random access memory, hard disc metric like capacity, speed and interface as well as video memory size and type. You can also buy some computer magazines that explain in layman terms what those measurements mean and how to determine what you need based on what applications you want to run in your computer. Another topic that you want to familiarize yourself with is in the trends in computer technology. You will want to make sure that your next computer will not contain any component that may become obsolete in the next two years. Changes in computer technology happen very fast and before you know it, a few components in your computer will no longer be upgradeable because it has become obsolete. Take the case of the AGP technology for computer video cards. If you’re still using this technology in your computer now, I’m sorry to say that manufacturer do not produce this type of computer video cards anymore so you have come to the dead end in your upgrade path. If you want larger capacity video memory cards, you have to buy the new PCI-E cards that will not fit into the AGP nor the old PCI slots. The main point is to spot technologies that are being tossed out and ensure that the computer system you are planning to buy does not rely on such technologies. Pretend you want to upgrade your existing computer at home. Choose three components that you want to upgrade on that old computer. Then make a comparison shopping on about five computer stores and determine the two stores that give you the lowest acquisition and ownership cost of the components you are considering. Make sure that you are talking about the same component when comparing. One store may call the component one way and another store another way. When estimating the capacity requirements of your components, make sure that you project your future requirements one or two years ahead. A rule of thumb that you can use in accurately projecting your capacity requirements is this: If you plan to use the computer over a period of one year, double the capacity requirement that you are thinking of now. For a two-year use projection, triple or quadruple the capacity requirement you are thinking of right now. It is easy to fall into the trap of scrimping on capacity to bring the total cost down. Stop, don’t do it. The most painless way of upgrading computer hardware is not to need to upgrade later. This is my maxim and I want to preach it all over the world. Upgrading is almost always a losing proposition. It means that you did not do your original purchasing correctly. It means you underestimated your capacity requirements. It means that you did not buy the computer that will be able to satisfy your requirements for the useful life of the equipment. Pretend you want to buy a new computer system right now. Write down what you think your capacity requirements are and use my rule of thumb in coming up with the final requirements. Then make a comparison shopping on at least five computer stores for the computer packages that most approximate your requirements. Come up with two computer stores where you find the least acquisition and ownership cost. What you should be coming up with are two stores where you find the least acquisition cost for both the components and the ready-made computer packages. Now, try calling the two stores that remain and try to gauge the customer service on both stores. You can prepare some questions and analyze how they handle customers. I leave it to you to determine what metrics to use to evaluate the customer service on the two stores. But there is one foolproof way of finding the better store for you. Make an effort to talk to at least two people in the two stores and ask them questions about warranty and maintenance services like what should you do if you buy the computer and something breaks down. Ask them if they can help you if you have some questions on using the computer later. Now, look back on you experience at the two stores and ask yourself in what establishment you feel you were at ease and where you were treated respectfully, honestly and truthfully. Choose the store where you feel you are given importance and buy your next computer from that store. The scheme I teach
you does not apply only to buying your home computer. You can also use it
for buying expensive items like home appliances and even your car. You
need only to adjust the metrics based on the useful life of the equipment.
For computer systems, a two-year useful life is reasonable enough given
the past face of technological development in computer technology. For
other equipments, use your best judgment. |
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Three Trends To Consider When Buying A New Computer. Three trends that can make or break your next computer purchase. A Few Ideas On Solving Computer Problems. It pays to have enough know-how to solve simple computer failures. Savvy Home Computer Buying. A better way of buying your next home computer. A Cheap CD Player For Your Kid's Room. Useful concepts, tools and commands for effectively using the Red Hat Linux operating system. |
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Copyright 2008 Aureo P. Castro Email: [email protected] |
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