Things You Need to Know (When Buying a New PC):
Part 1: Size Matters, Speed Doesn't
Synopsis:
When buying a new computer for your family, many factors need to be looked at besides cost. This series of articles will show you what's good to have component-wise in a 2004-2005 model PC, as well as what additional gadgets you may want to purchase and why.
Since the Christmas shopping season is almost over, many people are either sitting on brand new PCs to be given as Christmas presents, or waiting for the first of the year to take advantage of post-holiday sales. I've been seeing reports from manufacturers saying they are planning for record computer sales this holiday season, as many businesses and individuals have been stretching the use of their older machines to the brink of hardware failures. Prices on decent systems are at an all-time low, and the software that's available has never been easier to use. It's truly a good time to upgrade.
If you're planning to purchase a new system soon, your choices may seem staggeringly unlimited. With a little help, though, you'll be able to hone in on the best machine for your family's needs, and get a few extras to make it all more interesting, fun and hopefully safe and secure.
The next few articles in this series will give you a set of minimum technical specifications for a new computer, explaining why along the way. We'll look beyond the computer at some of the hardware and software you'll want to pick up, as well. This article starts out with a look at the type of computer you'll be looking to buy.
The biggest choice you'll need to make is the physical form factor of your new machine (pardon the bad pun). Many families will be introduced to their first notebook PC this year, as the prices have plummeted; good ones can easily be had for under $700 now, with nice 15" LCD screens, good sized hard drives, a decent amount of RAM, Windows XP, maybe even some useful software. The size is the key to the growing popularity of these PCs: super small footprint, quiet operation, and portability make notebooks the want of almost every family member.
There are a few tradeoffs over full-sized PCs, though. If the PC is going to be used for any gaming (3D sims, shooters, online MMORPGs), you'll need to get well above the $1000 price barrier. The reason is that most games require a decent video chipset, which acts like a helper (or co-processor) to take some load off the main processor. Any 3D polygons being drawn on the screen can be routed through a video chipset, thus freeing the main CPU for more important code work, and speeding the game up tremendously.
Most Intel-based notebooks use a rather wimpy on-board video option which can't come close to rendering 3D graphics fast enough for gaming, and they borrow RAM from the main system RAM to show those graphics. This leaves you with less system RAM available for the operating system and programs running, and it's also slower RAM than that used by good video chipsets/cards. Look for models sporting the nVidia or ATI logos in their specification pages, and stay away from models showing shared RAM.
All notebooks come with TFT Active Matrix LCD (flat panel) displays. The differences in quality aren't easy to figure out in specs pages, which makes it hard to shop based on display. The main differences you'll see are size, form-factor, and manufacturer-created terms for "enhanced" brightness and color. Buying a notebook online solely based on specs, then, is not a very good option. You really need to see the unit's display to understand what you're getting. Plus, the ability to take it back immediately if there's an LCD defect is very important, which is why I still like shopping at local "brick-and-mortar" dealers.
Another limitation of notebooks is the small form factor. Funny that the thing everyone agrees is most appealing about notebook PCs is a downside as well. Small keyboards, small touchpads instead of a mouse, no numeric keypad, tiny (and tinny) speakers, and no upgrade path because of the tiny case design are big reasons tower/desktop PCs are still popular. Because a notebook is so small, designers have to mount everything needed onto the logic board, usually permanently soldered. With the exception of a handful of models, no notebook video chipset upgrades are available. Anything you wish to add, such as a FireWire port for importing digital video from a camcorder or a second hard drive for storing backups, needs to be added externally. If you blow the modem in the notebook, luck will have it that it's out of warranty and you'll need to buy an external one, as the built-in one is usually mounted permanently to the logic board and can't be replaced. Upgrading the CPU to a faster unit is virtually impossible.
All said, there are still more reasons for people to switch to notebooks than not. They take much less power to run (better on the old electric bill), and being able to stow it under the couch instead of having to set aside a twelve-square-foot area of your den or living room is refreshing. The LCD display is very easy on your eyes (less eyestrain), and you can set it on your lap (though it's a bit hot) and surf wirelessly while watching TV. For most of what people use computers for today (web surfing, email, word processing, finances, burning downloaded music and storing and printing digital photos), notebook computers are definitely powerful enough to fit the bill. Oh, and there's that "bling" factor, too.
