December, 1996
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Buying a personal computer
Four Do's, Two Don'ts and a Commercial.
If you are among the many getting ready for the holiday exchange of greenbacks for gigabytes, this tip is for you.
- Buy a major brand.
- Acer, Compaq, Dell, Gateway, Hitachi, IBM, NEC/Packard Bell, and Toshiba are the major brands. They account for 96% of all IBM-compatible personal computers sold. These brands have some likelihood of being around to usher in the millenium, have the best support departments (not that any are good), and don't cost any more than brands with no market share.
- Buy any major brand.
- There is no "quality" computer, no Rolls Royce, and among major brands, there are no Hyundais. Under the hood, they all use pretty much the same set of parts. If the specifications are the same, it's safe to buy by price.
- If money is no object,
- buy the newest, fastest, most powerful computer with the most memory and hard disk capacity you can find. It really will be obsolete within a few days anyway.
- If you still work for a living,
- buy the best-priced of the current "main-stream" models. This week's main-stream PC has a 200 mHz Pentium processor with 16 mB of RAM (active memory), a 2 gigabyte or better hard drive, an 8X CD-ROM, a 16-bit sound card and speakers, a 28.8 kHz voice/fax/data modem, a 15" Super VGA monitor, and a 600 dpi resolution inkjet color printer. It will come with Windows 95, productivity, entertainment, and reference software, none of which should be allowed to influence your purchasing decision.
Avoid like the plague computers that are
- Small. They can't dissipate the heat they generate and literally burn themselves out before their time.
- All-in-one. Didn't we learn our lesson when we bought that impossible-to-fix combination stereo or that VCR-TV combo with no features that became a TV avec paperweight?
- Unusual in color or configuration. If it's new and nobody else makes one like it, no one else but the manfacturer can provide technical support, parts, repair service, etc.
Always remember and never forget...
- A surge suppressor that will protect your new PC from power line and telephone line spikes up to about 450 joules.
- Paper and a connecting cable for the printer. All the other cables come with your PC; neither printers nor PCs come with the cable to connect a printer. Go figure.
- A mouse pad.
- Set up the new computer the day before you need to have it working, at least.
And now the commercial!
Of course, you can make the whole process a lot easier by calling on the professionals at Installations Plus+.
After an initial personal consultation,
- we recommend the right computer for your needs;
- buy, bench-test and configure it for you, installing our automated daily maintenance sequence at no additional charge;
- deliver and set up the computer when and where you want it;
- and, some say best of all, introduce and demonstrate your new computer in a 2-hr mini-course that will leave you in control.
(The November, 1996 PC Tips on Laser Printers are still available.)
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