To a buy a computer we have to look for certain things according to our need, necessity and budget. These are: – processor speed random access memory (RAM) storage capacity of hard disk, graphics capability etc.
First of all decide that whether you want to buy a laptop or a desktop. According to your budget and hardware decide the store or local computer builder. Then you have to look for the features according to the work that you will do on it. Like if you need a computer for creating graphics then you require a good amount of RAM and processor speed because this is a heavy task else for light tasks less RAM is also sufficient. Now choose the brand keeping cost, quality and technical support in your mind. Next is to go for the additional drives like DVD-ROM, CD ROM etc. and select other hardware devices according to your necessity like modem, speakers, sound and video cards. At least get the operating system, such as windows, antivirus, word processing program, spreadsheet, databases.
SPEED
When you buy a computer look for the speed of processor. Fastest models can have the speed of four gigahertz. It starts from 1.5 gigahertz and is enough for word processing and web surfing. The heavier the task the faster is the speed required. If a processor has speed in megahertz then this shows that it is an older model.
RAM AND HARD DRIVE
Some people confuse hard drive with RAM. Hard drive is the permanent storage space for the data, software packages and operating system while RAM is the temporary of the computer used to do manipulations and calculations. For e.g.:- when you open a file it gets copied to the RAM from the hard disk of computer. You add some data or make changes on the file. All this will remain in the RAM till you save that file. After that the saved file will return back to the hard disk. For good performance we must have at least 512 megabytes (MB) of RAM. It can also be increased according to your need whereas hard drive should be of at least 40 gigabytes. It can also be increased to the requirement.
MONITOR
Try to have 17 inch or 19 inch monitor as they will not cause as much eye strain as the small ones. So you can go for the large one if your budget allows.
SOFTWARE
Some software that are widely used are pre-installed like Microsoft Excel, openoffice etc. if these are not pre-installed while buying a computer then you can purchase it separately. You can buy many more software according to your work and requirement.
Software has the list of system requirements. One is the recommended system requirement and other is minimum system requirement. This means that your system must have those things for the proper working of software. If your system has the minimum system requirement then the software will work with certain limitations but with recommended system requirement software will work at its best. So try to fulfill recommended requirements. It is better to decide the software you need before buying a computer so that you can buy it accordingly.
Do not buy anything that is not required. Sometimes computer is a part of package deal that can have the hardware and software which are not required. So always check for the things you need.
