| Computer Hardware Buying Advice
There are a lot of issues to consider when buying a computer. The quality of the parts that make up a computer will affect the number of repairs, the upgradability (and therefore the total lifespan), compatibility and the total cost of ownership. The manufacturer of the computer will be a factor because the warranty, speed of service and support will affect the overall use.
I've broken this advice into 3 areas. If you know nothing about a computer you may want to start with the components. If you are somewhat familiar with the components or really just don't want to know then start at Advice. The 3rd area is resources When Microsoft designs soft ware, whether the operating system or some other application, they do their design on Intel motherboards with Intel Pentium processors anything else should be compatible but that is up to the manufacturer to make it compatible. If you use the same hardware as the software was developed on then you get a more reliable computer. This is where Apple has an advantage in that they control the hardware and software and therefore the quality of the final product. So if you want a quality item use the hardware that the software was built with. Warranty -Be careful here. The warranties stated below are for retail or boxed items and are from the manufacturer of the product. The parts are tracked by serial numbers from the manufacturer. OEM (original equipment manufacturer) parts carry the warranty of the company that makes the computer not the parts manufacturer. If the computer maker offers a 1 year warranty that is all you get regardless of who made the part. Also consider whether the computer manufacturer will be around to honour that warranty and how long it takes to get parts replaced Motherboard - As stated above Intel boards are used so use an Intel board for your computer. Intel boards come with a 3 year warranty. A good second choice is Asus with an Intel chipset. CPU- as with the motherboard use an Intel CPU. It was designed to work with the Intel motherboard and the Microsoft software was designed to with it. Hard drive - This is where your data is kept and if it fails your data goes with it. Let me say that again. When your hard drive fails your data goes with it. Seagate offers a 5 year warranty and has been in business since 1980. They also offer an online warranty check so you can find out when your warranty expires.
Hard drive magnetically stores your data. Two major types SATA and IDE. SATA is newer and faster. You should call the actual device a disk, the disk could have more than one drive. Make sure that you are backing up to another disk, not another drive on the same disk. CPU The chip that processes everything. The internal processing speed is measured in GHz. 3.2 GHz is common FSB The speed that the processor communicates with the memory 1000 MHz is common PCI Bus- The speed here affects communication to most items except video, disks, ram Video controls your video i.e what you see on your monitor. Has RAM on it. 32M is fine for office use. 128 M for games Sound controls sound often have 4 and even 6 channels (speakers), microphone, and auxillary input Modem- The telephone on your computer. Windows XP allows faxing directly so this is still a useful device. If your modem has voice capabilities then it can act as an answering machine. Network connect to your wired network (ethernet) at 10/100 Mbps or even 1000 Mbps (gigabit). Your highspeed internet connection might go as fast as 3 Mbps, your modem at 56 kbps USB Universal Serial bus a common way to connect devices. It comes in USB 1 and USB 2. Watch out for USB 1 on cheaper computers as this is very slow. Memory RAM Random Access stores things while the power is on. 256 Meg is common now ROM Read Only Memory stores your BIOS (basic input output system). This stores very basic information to start up and run the computer even if there was no operating system. Operating sytem A program that controls your computer once it is running. Most people have Microsoft XP, 2000 or maybe 98. There are other types such as Linux (free), Mac, Unix. Monitor The part with the screen that you look at, normally separate from the computer TV Tuner allows you to use your computer to record shows Ports (places to connect to)
Mouse PS/2: (green) This port is used to connect a PS/2 style mouse to your computer. Keyboard PS/2: (purple) Connect a PS/2 keyboard.  USB Ports: These ports are a 12Mb link to peripheral devices like scanners, mice, keyboards, webcams, as well as other peripherals.
Audio Ports: These are used to connect speakers (green), audio input devices (blue), and microphones (pink).
VGA: one of the first computer video types to use analog signals. DVI: Digital Visual Interface, a digital interface standard created by the Digital Display Working Group to convert analog signals into digital signals to accommodate both analog and digital monitors. Data is transmitted using the transition minimized differential signaling (TMDS) protocol, providing a digital signal from the PC's graphics subsystem to the display. DVI carries the same type of signal as the DFP connector; however, the connector is not the same physically or in terms of pin out. The DVI connector comes in two forms, a 24-pin version and a 29-pin version. The 29-pin version allows an analog signal to also be carried. TV Out: S-Video connections for output to a television. Consumer Report gives a comprehensive report on computer manufactures and covers topic such as tech support, hardware failures etc. You can check out a copy from your library or your library may also have online databases.
|
Mother Board (Main board)-
