When selecting a computer, it is important to consider what it will be used for. Most people these days spend time on the internet, reading emails, working with documents, and doing basic photo or video editing. If you are going to be doing more intensive work, or if gaming will play a major part in your computer usage, then you may want to check out our Gaming, Media Editing, and Workstation Computers.
Since extremely high performance isn't needed for the tasks most people do, it it more important to focus on price/performance ratio, features, and aesthetics. Here is some more detailed information on each of these categories:
- Price/Performance Ratio: Even though top-notch performance isn't needed in an everyday computer, you still want to get the best value you can. This can be hard to judge sometimes on CPUs and video cards, but it is easy to check on memory (RAM) and hard drives.
- Features: Most computer users don't need exotic hardware like a physics card or TV tuner, but there are items that almost everyone can use. You want to make sure you don't leave out any features which might want or need, but avoid ones that you don't plan to use (so that you aren't wasting money).
- Aesthetics: When buying a custom desktop, you have the opportunity to design a system that meets your needs for size, form factor (shape), noise level, and visual appearance.
- Portability: When you are constantly on the go, and your computer is too, then a portable computer is what you should be considering. With the price, popularity, and variety of laptops, netbooks, and tablet computers available today. It is almost impossible not to find the right one for you.
When purchasing a laptop, there are many things you need to consider. In addition to the questions of performance and budget that you have with a desktop computer, there are other factors to consider. Such as 1) Unit-specific features, 2) Size and portability, and 3) Battery life.
For general office applications, you can easily get away with a low performance laptop, with which you will have good portability and long battery life. For more intense tasks like video editing or gaming, you may need a much more high performance laptop, which will be larger, heavier, and will have a shorter battery life.
- All-in-One: computers are really just a style of desktop computer system. They still have the same requirements in terms of features and function. The only difference is the number of components. All-in-ones have a single box that is the display and computer versus the desktop that is comprised of the computer case plus a separate monitor. This gives the all-in-one computer system a smaller overall profile than a desktop computer system.
Because all-in-one PCs use all the same components as a notebook computer, the performance levels are pretty much identical between the two types of computers. The only really compelling advantage that an all-in-one PC might hold is the size of the screen.. While an all-in-one PC generally comes with a screen size between 17 and 20 inches, what makes them stand out is the multitouch screen found on many of the new all-in-one PCs. Contact us to Learn more...
Find out in our next post, setting up a new Windows or Apple computer for the first time.
