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Thursday, December 14, 2000 By David Radin
Q: I'm getting ready to buy a new computer. Any buying tips?
A:Whether you're planning on buying your new computer online or at your local retailer, you want to get the best system to meet your needs -- and to make sure that it doesn't become inadequate too soon. This year, the parameters have changed. So making your buying decision is different than in the past.
The first noticeable difference is that in previous years, it was acceptable -- maybe even appropriate -- to hand your office computer down to a personal level.
That's because office computers needed to be more powerful to handle those power-hungry business applications.
However, as processor speed has grown, those business applications no longer seem power-hungry. Instead, the power-hungry applications are often multimedia based.
And those are the applications that you're likely to want for your home.
So now, you often need more computing horsepower at home than you do in your office.
Start by setting your budget. Then buy as much computer as you can buy for that budget. Two important places not to skimp: your monitor and your connection.
Monitor technology turns over less often than the technology in computers themselves.
While a typical computer might be current technology for a year and a half, your monitor might last 3 to 4 years.
Flat panel monitors are the rage -- and probably the future.
They're built with liquid crystal displays (LCD) instead of traditional cathode ray tubes (CRT), so they take up less desktop space, use less power and often have better pictures.
But flat panels also are much more expensive, perhaps double the price of a similar CRT based monitor.
Because flat panels offer high resolutions and better use of screen space, the industry suggests that someone who would normally want a 17-inch monitor would get a similar result from a 15-inch flat panel monitor.
I don't buy that argument. But you'll have to make that call yourself, because there is usually a big difference in price between 15-inch and 17-inch flat panel monitors.
Your connection to the Internet is also important, and will increase in importance with each passing year. So try to budget for a broadband connection -- either Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) or cable modem.
These will be much faster than a standard dialup connection and will free up your telephone line for voice communications.
Whether you choose DSL or cable will be determined by where you live because each respective service depends on whether your local telephone company or cable system can support it.
In many cases, you'll be tempted to buy a prepackaged system.
That's fine if it meets your needs. However, you may need to customize your configuration.
Don't buy an off-the-shelf system if it is missing something you know you need -- a fast disk, more memory, the right monitor, a network connection or a CD recorder, if those are requirements for you.
There are many vendors who allow you to custom-configure your system to your own taste, and can ship it in 5 to 10 days. That's often easier than adding components yourself.
If you don't see it, ask the salesperson.
Memory: Today's applications need lots of memory. I suggest that you have 128 Megabytes -- more if you open lots of applications at one time.
Disk drives: Unfortunately, many preconfigured systems don't tell you how fast the disk drives are, just how big they are. Yet disks are often the part of the system that slows everything down.
While there are several ways to measure speed, including "seek time" and "spin time," you'll usually have better access to the spin information. 5400 rpm is a standard, mediocre drive. 7200 rpm will get you faster performance on many applications.
Power users can opt for fast 10,000 rpm disks.
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