What is one BEST TIP you would give to person buying their 1st computer?

Question

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Please give your best tip and add info that will make it more understandable for a newcomer to the world of personal computers!

Thanks!

Best wishes,
pup
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Answer 1

For your first computer I suggest you get at least 2GB of RAM, Vista, DVD burner and an ethernet port for broadband or a network. Don't spend a lot for massive hard drivers and such but upgrade to a 19 inch LCD monitor higher quality speakers, keyboard and mouse. As you go along you will find out more about computers and have a better idea of what type would serve you. You may get into gaming or video editing or something that you dont care about now. As you go along you will come to know what the ideal computer would be for YOUR use. Then, after the warranty expires and you have experience in using a PC find a builder and have him or her build you a tower with all the stuff you need. Since you upgraded your monitor and speakers the tower is all you will have to get. Last thing you would probably want to do is get talked into a spendy system full of things you paid for and never use and void of those you would use if you had them and if it turns out you hate computing you aren't out an arm and a leg.

Answer 2

OK, the brains of the computer is the processor. The processor processes or sorts information like your own brain does.

The processor sits on top of the motherbaord and communicates to the rest of the computer and the user, (you).

The proceessor can be a single prossessor a dual (or double) processor or even a quad processor! Dual and quad are best. Intel or AMD? Some use one or the other or both. I've used both but tend to prefer AMD. Although the Intel quad processor has my interest too! Great for gaming!

The keyboard and mouse are Human interface devices, (HID) and let you tell the computer what you want and want it to do.

The monitor is for you to see what the computer is doing, like a translator for pictures, words, and video or graphics; (video games). A flat panel monitor means that it is thin (like about and inch or two thick).

Between the monitor and the computer is a video card which should have memory on it. 256 MB, (Mega Bytes or millions bits of information) is now standard.

A byte is a 7 letter "word" with an 8th letter of either "0" or "1" at the end of it. 0 tells it to turn off a transistor after doing the task and 1 tells it to turn on the transistor. (Never mind but it is nice to know and to understand).

So, often the case and power supply, (PS), include the motherboard and processor already and may include an additional video card.

It could have "on board video" if it is a less expensive system. But I suggest getting a system with a video card that has its own memory and does not borrow from the computer itself or will slow it down.

Basically you have to ask yourself what you want the computer to do. Is it for school? To play games on? Do you need it portable or will you be using it at home only; (Called a desktop computer). A laptop is portable.

The cheapest upgrade that you can add to improve a computer is memory and make it faster. There are many types of memory : DDR2 is probably the more current memory to date. It's just a name to classify the type of memory. There are different types for desk tops and laptops.

Hard drives are multiple disk drives, (like a stack of re-writeable cd's but better and faster!) that store files, music, pictures, information, and video or games on. A Serial ATA drive or SATA is faster and
more reliable than a standard 100/133 IDE drive. IDE drives are ok but SATA rocks!
By the way the higher the hard drive space, (250 GB on up to 1TB) GigaByte billion bits of info and Terabyte or trillion bits of information; The higher the Hard drive specs the more expensive and more that it can store.

Let's see, Processor, motherboard, keyboard & mouse, monitor & video (vid) card, memory and hard drive(s).

Yup that should help you to get started. A basic system should cost between $475.00-$675.00, whereas a nicer system should cost even more, like $800.00 - $1200.00.

Oh I almost forgot, the operating sytem! This tells the computer what it is supposed to do on start-up. (Get out of bed, brush your teeth and comb your hair) as an example.

Currently Microsoft is pushing it's newest software the Vista operating system. I have heard good and bad about it. I understand it just takes some getting use to and is suppose to be intuitive to your wants and needs.

Good luck hope this helps!

Answer 3

Buy a machine that will suit your needs now and will be painless to upgrade later.

- a 400W-600W power supply
- a 2Ghz Dual Core with 4MB L2 Cache should keep you for several years.
- 2GB of RAM is preferable.
- Hard drive speed at least 5400rpms
- Video Card optional (if you're into gaming, ask about Crossfire or SLi for dual-card Graphics)
- Motherboard should support PCI-Express 16 speed.

also: Bus Speeds; how fast data travels from component to component, is important. Bus speed will be as fast as the slowest component: I reccomend getting a Motherboard with a high bus speed (800Mhz - 1600Mhz) and everything else around 667Mhz-800Mhz; because anything faster at the moment is still too expensive, really. Ask for Bus speeds on the RAM, the video card and the processor and motherboard. The motherboard and processor should be at least as fast as Ive mentioned.

Heat and Noise: Always look under the hood before buying - are the wires tied down and tidy? Is there a good airflow through the system? How loud are the fans? How loud is the Hard Drive? How loud is the Power Supply Fan? Ask to see the temperature readings: they are available in all computers from the BIOS view at startup. Any reading pushing 60oC I would be wary of.

Very Important: Is it genuine Windows? I purchased a machine from a custom shop and when I got it I discovered they had given me a pirated copy - so I am not eligible for many of Microsoft updates and technical support.

Dont get new technologies like DX10 graphics cards and Blu Ray/HD-DVD players juuuuust yet - in fact I'd go so far as to tell you to get a cheap $30 PCI video card and hold out a year for the DX10 cards to get cheaper by $100 or so. DX10 is a new hardware modification that will be standard in all new games by the end of 2008.
In short, you wanna buy this:
http://www.amazon.com/PNY-Geforce-FX5200-256MB-Graphics/dp/B000F5IE9Y/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-9484135-1557201?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1186879930&sr=8-1
so you can wait to afford THIS:
http://www.amazon.com/PNY-GeForce-8800-640MB-Graphics/dp/B000K28GXG/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-9484135-1557201?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1186879979&sr=1-1

=D

Also make sure you are given all of your CDs - office files, boot disk, etc. etc. etcc. because one day you will need them.

And get a can of air for dusting: keeping your machine clean can add a couple years to its lifespan.

Oh, and when you get your machine, consider hese pieces of free software before you go do something silly like pay $300 for Microsoft office:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=231147

Hope this helps. E-mail me from my profile page if you have extra queries/issues.

If you want to read more this is a good article:
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055031560

Answer 4

expandable. What does it have in it and what can I put in it.

Example. If it comes with a 80 gig hard drive, can I put a 150 hard drive in it?

If it has 256 MB RAM, how much more RAM can I put in it?

How many slots are free? How many USB ports are there and, if it's a laptop, do I need a wireless card to go on the internet or is there one built in?

CD-R, DVD/RW can be added. A CD-R records CDs, A DVD player, you can watch a movie and a DVD-R lets you record on DVDs.

Hope that helps.

Answer 5

If you buy from a Mom and Pop store only buy from one thats reccomended to you. Take your local geek with you. If you are buying from Dell, gateway, hp compaq, etc. Make sure you get a minimum of 1 Gigabyte of RAM and always always always upgrade the video card. Do not settle for integrated graphics.

Answer 6

Make sure that it has atleast 512 MB or ram so that it can run good and not freeze. Make sure its a brand new pc with atleast a 80 gb hard drive.

You can buy one just like that for about 500 bucks.

Answer 7

Read lots of magazines, including Consumer Reports, before you buy. Then buy what you need, but not the top of the line. You will find that whatever you buy it will soon be outdated by a bigger, faster machine, so don't try to outdo your friends or neighbors. Just buy a good machine that does what you need done.

Answer 8

Get one with a high-quality power supply and a high maximum RAM (I'd recommend upgradability to at least four gigabytes, but one gig pre-installed should get you started easily).

And if Smart Computing magazine seems like an arbitrary recommendation, consider that it used to be called PC Novice. Their website is at

http://www.smartcomputing.com/

Good luck.

Answer 9

Buy from a reputed company which offers atleast one year's onsite warranty. From http://fixit.in

Answer 10

examine ur Audio supervisor. Open it, decide on 6 channel speaker (5.a million) & click on the speaker u see there on the utility. whilst u click a single speaker each and every will provide a valid seperately.