What You Need To Know When Buying A Computer.

BUY A COMPUTER – WHAT YOU NEED TO CONSIDER

In this article, I am giving out the important information needed to help you buy a laptop or desktop computer. 

 

Before ordering for a PC, there are some things you need to know about so as to put you through. What is important is the PC Specifications and peripheral parts you will be needing in order to satisfy your wants. Desktops are highly customizable, so it is better to learn about the main parts and then visit the manufacturer or the retailer shop or site, instead of just looking at some specific model directly.

 

Popular laptop/desktop brands are Dell, Lenovo, HP and Apple. Always compare the PCs based on their specifications and base price.

MONITOR FOR DESKTOP

Size − It is the diagonal size of the LCD screen. Larger the area, bigger the picture screen. A bigger picture is preferable for movie watching and gaming. It will increase the productivity as well.

Resolution − This is the number of pixels on the screen. For example, 24inch display is 1920x1200 (width by length) and 22-inch display is 1680x1050. High resolution provides better picture quality and a nice gaming experience.

Inputs − Now-a-days monitors can accept inputs from cable as well apart from the computer. They can also have USB ports.

Connectors – Today's monitors comes with the standard VGA connector supported by DVI and HDMI connectors which is an added advantage to the monitor.

Stand − Some monitors come with adjustable stands while some may not.

SCREEN FOR LAPTOP

Size – This varies pending on your choice of screen size: 10.1 inches, 13 inches, 14 inches, 15.3/15.6 inches, 17 inches, 21 inches.

Technology – You can choose between LCD (fiber) and LED (glossy)

Graphics – You can choose between Intel Graphics (good) or AMD Radeons (ATI) (better) or Nvidia (far better). Nvidia is in lead.

OPERATING SYSTEM FOR DESKTOP / LAPTOP

Operating System is the main software of the computer as everything will run on it in one form or other.
There are primarily three choices: Windows, Linux, Apple OS X.
- Linux is free, however people generally do not use it for

home purpose.
- Apple OS X works only on Apple desktops.
- Windows is popular among desktop / laptop users. Most of the computers today come pre-equipped with the latest version of Windows (Windows 10) which comes in multiple versions from home basic, home premium, professional, education, and enterprise editions. As the edition version increases, their features list and price increases. Though there are other versions of Windows such as Windows 7, 8, 8.1 etc.

OPTICAL DRIVE (CD / DVD / BLU-RAY) FOR DESKTOP / TRADITIONAL LAPTOP

Optical drive is the drive on a computer, which is responsible for using

CD, DVD, and Blu-ray discs. Now-a-days, DVD burners are industry standards. DVD Burner can burn CD, DVD and play them. DVD Burner is cheaper than Blu-ray drives. Blu-ray drives can play HD movies but are costlier component. Some Laptops don’t come with Optical Drive such as UltraBooks

MEMORY FOR DESKTOP / LAPTOP

RAM is considered as Computer Memory as the performance of a

computer is directly proportional to its memory and processor. Today's software and operating system require high memory. Today commonly used RAM is DDR3, DDR3L (L means Low Voltage), now DDR4 which operates at different speed. The amount of RAM needed may be the Operating System requirement or as desired. You can choose from 4GB – 64GB pending.

STORAGE DRIVE FOR DESKTOP / LAPTOP

Storage drive is used for storage purpose. The higher the capacity, more data you can save in it.

Now-a-days computers are equipped with 500GB storage drive, which can be extended to 2TB. The storage drive can either be HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or SSD (Solid State Drive).

Most HDD in desktop/laptop operate at the standard performance speed

of 7200RPM. Laptops have an advantage of using SSD (better performance) and HDD (good performance). Desktops may be able to use SSD with SATA-III connector.

Click Here to learn more about SSD and HDD

CPU FOR DESKTOP / LAPTOP

Frequency (GHz) − This determines the speed of the processor. The more the speed, better the CPU. A better speed can be between 2.50GHz – 3.50GHz

Cores − Now-a-days CPUs come with more than one core, which is like having more than one CPU in the computer. Programs which can take advantage of multi-core environment will run faster on such machines. We have 2 cores, 4 cores and 8 cores CPU. 

Brand − Intel or AMD. Both are equivalent. Intel is in lead.

Cache − Higher the L1, L2 cache, better the CPU performance.

SEE SAMPLES OF GOOD CONFIGURATION FOR LAPTOPS

 

Model: HP Spectre x360

CPU: Intel Core i5 – 2.40GHz (8^th Generation)

Screen: 13.3 inches

Graphics : Intel UHD Graphics

RAM: 8GB

Storage: 500Gb or 1TB HDD or 512GB SSD

 

Model: Huawei Matebook 13

CPU: Intel Core i7 – 3.20GHz (8^th Generation)

Screen: 13.3 inches

Graphics: Nvidia GeForce MX150

RAM: 8GB

Storage: 512GB SSD

 

Model: Asus Zephyrus G14

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 – 3.2GHz

Screen: 14 inches

Graphics: Nvidia GeForce RTX 2060

RAM: 32GB

Storage: 1TB SSD

GOOD CONFIGURATION FOR DESKTOPS

 

Monitor: 24 inches with HDMI

CPU: Intel Core i5 – 3.0GHz (7^th Generation)

RAM: 4GB – 8GB

Storage: 500Gb – 1TB HDD

Optical Drive: DVD Burner

Click Here to check the top gaming laptops

Click Here to check the best ultrabook laptops

 

 

Cheers!!!

 

Edited by AdeDanCompTech