How to seek advice if buying a PC/Laptop

callmelinda

If you're going to post a message asking for advice on buying a new PC or Laptop, I think the following two points are essential to mention in your query in order to get more accurate advice from the people trying to help:


*** BUDGET ***
Since PC towers can start from around £200 new and can go through to over £4000, it's incredibly hard to give good advice without knowing your budget. If you want to spend £500 then do say - no-one will then point out systems costing £2000. Mention if your budget is just for the tower or is for the tower, monitor, accesories etc.


*** USES ***
If you're a musician and want a home studio setup, then your needs will be totally different from someone who only wants to do more basic operations such as e-mail/surfing/word processing etc. By stating what you want to use the computer for, it will help people to suggest things which will be right for you and help avoid you getting something absolutely unable to run what you want to do, or the extreme opposite, something far too advanced for your needs.




If you don't understand the following, it doesn't really matter as others will help you well enough I'm sure (as long as the budget/uses are mentioned).

In my opinion, when considering buying a new PC, it's most important to get the best core components you can - namely getting the best Processor, Motherboard and Power Supply for your money. I say this because if you spend wisely on these, it will normally mean that you can go on to add more RAM (to increase speed) at a later date should you need to, and by then the RAM may well have come down in price. Other things such as upgrading your sound and graphics will more likely be possible if you've spent wisely on the better core components I mentioned.

A simple example would be that if I had a £600 budget for the tower, I would rather spend more towards a good quality Motherboard and Processor and only have the 1GB of RAM I will need (for now), than to spend the money towards an extra 1GB of RAM but have a lower quality Processor and Motherboard at the heart of the PC. The motherboard I bought can take up to 8GB of RAM. One day I might need to increase my current 1GB of RAM to 2GB or 4GB or even 8GB, but I don't need that amount of RAM now. If I had unneedingly spent the money on the extra RAM, then the lower quality Motherboard I would have had to get as a result may have only been able to take a max of 4GB - which is less futureproof.

And don't be fooled by numbers - an old processor of 3.4Ghz with 2GB of an older form of RAM might well perform less well than a more modern processor running at 2.6Ghz with 1GB of RAM. (I've made those numbers up as an example only to show how confusing it can be!)

* I'm no expert - I have an interest in PCs, that's all. Therefore if anyone else wants to add to this or would suggest the people needing advice let us know other things which would be useful in order to be given help, please do say *

Zagu

The Great 'Cheapest Decent Laptop' Hunt.

Good place to start if you are looking for a laptop.