How to Buy a Desktop Computer

Desktop Computer Buying Secrets Revealed!

Being an Information Technology (I.T.) Consultant - or a "Computer Guy" as I prefer to be called - can be a dangerous profession. Sometimes when people find out what I do for a living, I practically get tackled! "Hey, I'm about to buy a new computer...what should I get?" After being a computer guy for nearly twenty years, I'm a good person to ask. In this article, I will answer the question of how to buy a new computer.

There is nothing more frustrating than spending your hard-earned money on a new computer and ending up being frustrated because you didn't get what you wanted. By following a few simple guidelines, you can buy the perfect computer for your needs without spending an arm and a leg.

If you are considering buying a laptop, please read my article "Should I Buy a Desktop or Laptop computer?" (available at my website) to help you make up your mind. If you are already set on a laptop, you're reading the wrong article...check out “How to Buy a Laptop Computer” instead. However, if you are certain that a desktop is the right choice for you, then here is my advice on how to pick the perfect new computer to suit your needs.

What Kind of Computer?

As my regular readers know, I am an unabashed fan of Dell Computers. I have recommended Dell desktop, laptop, and server computers to my friends, family, and clients for many years and continue to be impressed with their quality, value, and performance. Each Thursday I check out the latest Dell deals as they come out, and post the deal of the week on my website.

I specifically do NOT recommend that you buy your new computer at a big retail outlet, discount club, or office supply store for the following reasons:

-- Windows XP Professional is not available on retail store computers. Most of the time you will be getting Windows Vista Home Basic or Windows Vista Home Premium. These operating systems are missing important features, do not come with Windows XP downgrade rights, and, well...they have Vista.

-- The Office suite is often a "Trial", requiring you to pay more money in 60 days to keep using it.

-- Technical support is often expensive, outsourced overseas, and poor quality.

– If you require repair, you are at the mercy of the store's inhouse technical department. Let's just be charitable and say these guys get mixed reviews on cost and competency.

What Operating System?

I strongly recommend Windows XP Professional for your operating system. Earlier versions of this article used this space to argue that you should pay for the upgrade from Windows XP Home edition. Instead, I now strongly recommend you pay for the “downgrade” (usually around $100) so Dell will load Windows XP Pro on your machine rather than Vista Business. You receive the license to Vista but it comes with downgrade rights to XP Pro, and Dell loads XP Pro for you.

Reasons why you want XP Pro rather than Vista Home:

-- Advanced networking features which are required for any office environment where you will be attached to a server.

-- Better networking and security features

-- Fax capabilities

-- Enhanced backup/system recovery options

-- Remote Desktop, which allows you to take over your computer from anywhere in the world! (Forget paying $20/mo for GoToMyPC or LogMeIn...just buy WinXP Professional and the functionality is built in!)

What about WinXP Media Center edition? I'm not a fan. WinXP Media Center turns your computer into a jukebox, Tivo, and DVD player. If you are a college student with limited space in your dorm room, this might be ok. But my experience is, people invest in a WinXP Media Center computer, and after the newness wears off, they go back to using their TV to watch TV again. I don't believe in clogging up your computer with software that you aren't using on a regular basis.

What about Microsoft Vista?

The jury was out for a long time on Vista, and the people have now spoken. I have wrien an entire article on this called “The Case Against Vista”. Executive Summary: The people don't like it, corporations didn't buy it, Microsoft has finally admitted it, and Windows 7 will be out by early 2010.

How Much RAM?

Ram is so cheap these days! Get a minimum of Two Gigabytes (2056 Megabytes) of RAM. The single most important thing you can do to speed up your computer is to make sure it has plenty of RAM. Invest in two Gigs now and you'll never regret it. Your computer may run fast when you first pull it out of the box, but once you start installing software, surfing the Internet, downloading music, or doing whatever it is you do...trust me, things are going to start to slow down.

One Gig is the bare minimum for a Windows XP computer with Service Pack 3 installed (my rule, not Microsoft's). Two Gigs are better and three are optimal. If you are into video editing, CAD/CAM, or Photoshop, you might want to invest in more than a Gigabyte. Windows XP can use as much as 3 Gigs without tweaking it, and if you plan to upgrade to Windows 7 when it comes out, go ahead and get 4 Gigs now – you'll need it for Windows 7.

Here is a quick tip: the market for RAM fluctuates. When buying a new computer, check out the price with the minimum RAM (probably 1 Gig) and then see how much the upgrades are to two, three, and four Gigs. Now head over to Crucial.com and compare their upgrade pricing. Often a better deal can be found by getting your RAM upgrade seperately. (And they are really easy to install, just snap the new modules in.)

What kind of Processor?

Here is where you can save some money! Make sure you have a processor in the fastest “family” of processors (currently Intel Core Duo), and then within that family, the "slowest" processor offered is probably more than adequate. Faster processers are often available for $50-$500 more, but I think you're wasting your money if you are like most users and just want to surf the web, read email, do some word processing etc. Spend that extra money on more RAM or an external hard disk for backups instead!

Note: Stay away from Celeron or older processor lines. You want a Core Duo (or faster), then get the cheapest one they've got. A little faster clock speed or bigger cache won't make a noticeable difference in most cases.

How big of a Hard Disk?

Similarly, unless you really plan on downloading tons of music and movies or take LOTS of big digital photos, the "smallest" hard drive available is probably adequate. As an example, Windows XP and Microsoft Office combined take up less than 4 Gigs. Most of the hard drives I see have less than 30 Gigs used. Just go for the minimum drive (it's probably 160-250 Gigs) and, if you run out of space you can always invest in second internal or external hard drive later.

An exception to this rule is that lately I have noticed Dell charging only $10 to upgrade from an 160Gig hard drive to a 250Gig hard drive. Obviously, it is worth a mere $10 to almost double your hard drive space.

Summary

Seriously consider Windows XP Pro, get at least TWO Gigs of RAM, and go with the minimum Core Duo processor and the smallest hard drive.  If you have additional money in your budget, spend it on maxxing out your RAM or a bigger flat-screen monitor.