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BUYING A
COMPUTER
Q:
WHAT BRAND OF COMPUTER DO YOU RECOMMEND, TOM?
A:
That depends – are you buying a desktop computer or a notebook
computer? See below…
DESKTOP
COMPUTERS
Sometimes you can find great deals
on desktop and notebook computers at local stores – Best Buy, CompUSA. Office
Depot, or
Circuit City. Look in the Sunday
newspaper for advertisements every week. Also consider
extras they offer in store deals - like a free printer, free software, extra
memory...
Generally,
I
recommend Hewlett Packard (HP) for desktop computers.
Dell usually ends up being more expensive, and several people have had
very bad experiences with Dell lately, including Spring International!
If you want a GREAT computer with the best
components, at a very good price, ask Tom to build a custom one for you.
NOTEBOOK COMPUTERS
Which notebook computer or company
is the best? It really depends on
YOU, and on what your needs are. It’s
really important that you choose a notebook/laptop computer that has…
· a keyboard that is
comfortable for YOU
· a screen that you like,
and that’s the size you want (usually 14.1 or 15 inches), plus
regular or widescreen, which is good for watching movies
· a battery that lasts
3 hours or more (some notebooks allow you install a 2nd
battery for longer service - a nice extra feature, but with extra weight
· a weight that you are
comfortable with – they can vary from about 3 to 8 pounds – a big
difference! The lighter, the more
expensive and the fewer features, usually.
Are you going to carry it a lot and use it on airplanes, or keep it in
just one or two places most of the time?
Also, check the warranty, which can be 90
days or a year usually. I DO NOT
recommend buying a computer with only a 90-day warranty – it means they
don’t trust their own quality! I bought
a Toshiba direct online, and it came with a 3-year warranty; the same computer
at Best Buy had only a 1-year warranty.
You might want to pay extra for a 2- or
3-year warranty (usually $125-200) that covers everything including the screen.
If the screen fails after the warranty ends, you have a useless piece of
junk, and need to buy a new computer! Would you rather spend an extra $150
now, or another $1,000 next year if your computer 'dies'?!
Recommendations
For cheap and medium-priced notebooks, I recommend Acer, Toshiba, Sony Vaio, and Hewlett Packard.
The last three got “A”
grades in a 2008 magazine study. They’re
good quality with lots of features for the money and beautiful screens.
Just make sure the model you buy has a battery that lasts long enough –
some models have lousy batteries, and some models from the same company can have
very good ones. Some Sonys have good keyboards and some have lousy and
noisy ones, so try the computer before you buy it!
If you are rich and want a
top-quality, long-lasting notebook, I recommend Thinkpads –
they’re great but usually expensive. Also, a company in China named
"Lenovo" now owns
the "Thinkpad" name, so they are no longer IBM computers. Still,
they are top-rated.
Remember, if you buy online, you
can’t try the keyboard and see the screen quality – so you won’t know if
you will like it until you have already paid for it!
Apple Note
Apple makes very good computers, both desktop and notebook. They got “A” grades in the recent PC Magazine study.
However, Apple uses a different “operating system”, so you have to
buy special software for Apple, not for Windows.
If you don’t need a computer that’s compatible with Windows, then
Apple is a great choice! Prices are
a little higher for Apple than for similar Windows computers. The Apple
iBook notebook computer is wonderful, and the Apple iMac with the
flat screen is great if you don't need to add features later (it's not possible to
expand much).
COSTS AND
COMPARING PRICES
Q:
HOW MUCH MONEY $$$ SHOULD I SPEND TO GET A GOOD COMPUTER?
A:
How much money CAN you spend? :-)
DESKTOPS
$ 600 – 1,500
You can get a GREAT desktop
computer for $600 to 1,500, including a 17” or 19" flat panel monitor.
For a top-quality state-of-the-art computer, you can pay up to $ 3,000.
NOTEBOOKS
$600 – 3,000
These days, you can buy a "netbook"
- a small light computer with a very small screen, for $200 - $500. Some
of them are quite good and have batteries that last 4-8 hours.For a good, cheap Sony Vaio or
on-sale Toshiba, HP, or Dell, you will pay $ 600 to 1,500.
The price depends on DVD or CD-RW, amount of RAM, screen size, processor
speed, and other features.
For a top-of-the-line notebook, I
recommend a Toshiba or a Thinkpad. To me,
the greatest notebook computer in the world is the Toshiba convertible - it's a
notebook AND a tablet computer. They have a cheap model and a fantastic
expensive model. Just go to Toshiba.com.
Q:
WHERE CAN I FIND THE LOWEST PRICES FOR COMPUTER PRODUCTS?
A:
www.newegg.com, pricegrabber.com
and www.cnet.com
For computer parts, the very
best place to buy (rated #1 on the Internet in 2007) is NewEgg.com. We buy
almost ALL our computer components for Spring International from them.
Reliable, fast, and great prices!
Before you buy any
computer, monitor, printer, or other computer item, you should go online and compare
prices!!! The best places to
compare prices are:
I do not recommend other
sites, such as "mysimon.com" - they have never given me the lowest
prices and they don't usually find as many sellers. Pricegrabber has
consistently given me the best price and seller information, and CNet has the
most reviews and some good price information.
For user opinions from
real people - some smart and some not! - go to www.epinions.com
and search for the computer item you are interested in. NewEgg.com also
has great user reviews - usually from experts and hobbyists who really know
computers.
FEATURES
Q:
WHAT SHOULD I LOOK FOR WHEN I BUY A NEW COMPUTER?
A:
Here is what Tom recommends for a desktop computer, in no particular
order…
·
fast: Buy a
Pentium or AMD processor (both good) that’s at least 2.0 gigahertz.
That’s very fast. Don’t
buy a Celeron processor if you want to do movies, graphics, and games.
·
big hard disk: Buy
at least a 60 gigabyte or 80 gigabyte hard disk, or more.
·
lots of memory: Buy 1 gigabyte of RAM memory or more.
Windows Vista needs at least 1 gig, and 2 gig is better.
·
nice monitor: Buy a 17” or 19" flat panel, but choose one that has a nice screen.
Recently, some good 19-inch flat monitors have come on sale. I
recommend Acer, Viewsonic and Samsung, though many brands are quite good.
·
keyboard and mouse: Get a keyboard you like!
It’s very important. Also,
I recommend an “optical mouse” – it doesn’t need a mouse pad to work
well. If possible, try the keyboard
before you buy. My favorite is
Microsoft keyboards. Microsoft and
Logitech make good mice. Some wireless keyboards are junk.
·
video card: If
you want fast Internet pages, or you use DVD games, or you want to look at
photographs or videos, you have to get a great video card.
Buy one with lots of memory, and get “TV Out” if
you want to attach your computer to your TV to watch DVD movies on your bigger
TV screen.
·
sound card: If
you want a great sound system, you need to buy a computer with a great sound
card, like a Sound Blaster top-of-the-line.
Without it, your great speakers won’t sound great at all!
Some cheap computers have the sound built in to the motherboard – the
quality is not as good as a separate sound card.
·
warranty: Try to buy a computer with a 3-year warranty if
possible.
·
connections: If
you want to connect things like MP3 players, Digital Video Cameras, and Web
Cameras to your computer, make sure it has…
o
USB connectors should be
right on the front of the computer where you can plug in your flash drive easily
o
“Firewire” port, also called IEEE 1394 or iLink port, for very
fast connections to cameras, external CD-RWs, hard disks, etc.
PRINTERS
Q:
WHAT KIND OF PRINTER SHOULD I BUY, AND HOW MUCH DO THEY COST?
A:
Tom recommends HP (Hewlett Packard) printers.
They are almost always
top-rated in reviews and they get high grades from customers too.
Epson makes some good printers, but check on the specific model.
Also, Lexmark makes some good printers, but also makes some bad
ones. Canon got a "C-" for their
printers in a PC Magazine report, and I don't generally recommend them, although some are
okay. They seem to have lots of paper jam problems.
Be sure to check the reviews
and user comments on the specific model you are interested in. You can
check at www.cnet.com and at www.epinions.com.
When you buy a printer, you
have several choices…
·
an INKJET printer that does color and/or black-and-white copies
·
a LASERJET printer that does just black-and-white in perfect quality
(more expensive)
·
a MULTI-FUNCTION machine, usually with a printer-copier-scanner and
sometimes with a fax.
I personally have, and
recommend, an HP multi-function machine - color printer, color scanner, and
copier. Mine
is excellent! If you just want a printer, almost any HP is
very good except the very cheapest ones. Some multi-function printers also
include a fax machine.
Prices
A good color inkjet printer
will usually cost $ 100-150.
The HP multifunction printers
are usually available for $ 100-200 – a great deal!
Printer Cartridge Refills
I recommend that you do
not buy HP or Canon ink refill cartridges – they are way too expensive!
Did you know that HP makes more profit on ink than it does on printers?
It’s true!
A good company on the
Internet is called "fixyourownprinter.com" I've used them for
years for printer repair kits, and they're very reliable. They also sell
excellent cartridges.
REVIEWS
AND USER OPINIONS
Before you buy ANY
computer, monitor, printer, etc., you should go on the Internet and find facts,
reviews, and user opinions, and prices.
For reviews online, go to CNet.com.
WOW! They have great, accurate,
reliable reviews, and they also have their top 5 "Editors' Choice"
lists for many products. Also, be sure to read the User Opinions, both
good and bad. I find the entries by intelligent, computer-literate users
to be very useful!
Another site that is
sometimes useful (and sometimes not) is Epinions.com.
It has user opinions on many computer hardware and electronics items.
Remember, don't buy until you
compare prices and find the best deals at Pricegrabber.com.
You can also check Best Buy, Circuit
City, and CompUSA
(Tigerdirect) online.
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