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Buying a
PC
If you
decide that you
need to buy a PC or replace an old one (rather than a tablet (see
help39.htm)
or smartphone) there are a number of things to look out for and much
depends on
what you intend to use it for. This page may help you decide
Although
Apple, at over 7%, has made inroads into the Microsoft/Windows area,
the vast
majority
of personal and business computers in the world are still based on
Windows of
one version or another. Because
of
Microsoft’s insistence that Windows 10 and 11 are the mainstay of
their future it may
even be difficult to buy equipment with the popular and stable
previous versions - Windows
7 & 8 -
installed, though they can still be found, especially amongst the
refurbished
purchases. But those operating systems are no longer being updated by Microsoft, apart from occasional security updates.
The peak of PC sales was around 2011 at 350 million purchased per annum. This has fallen back but sales still amount to over 200 million, with desktop sales being substantially lower than the number of laptops and both are overshadowed by 256 million tablets of one kind or another.
One essential component of all computers is the
GPU (Graphics Processing Unit). Whilst sales are now over $40
million per annum, this is expected to rise to as much as $400 million.
Hence the buoancy of companies such as Nvidia, a maker of the chips.
One major
division is
between laptop and desktop hardware. Obviously, if portability is a
major
concern, you will have to get a laptop (or tablet) of some kind.
After
that, price may
be the major consideration. Se below **** regarding the
purchase of refurbished machines
LAPTOPS
It is
possible to buy
a basic laptop that will function perfectly well, for under
£200. People
have preferences for particular
manufacturers. The
market has narrowed
considerably as some have found the business unprofitable. Names such
as
Compaq, IBM, Packard Bell and NEC are hardly ever heard. The main makers
left in
the field are Dell, Lenovo, HP, Acer, and Asus.
There are
a number of
other considerations to be taken into account.
If portability is a major concern then screen size is a
factor. They may
vary from around 9” to 21” and more. Weight may
also be a factor. Obviously the
slimmer and smaller the lighter. But one should also consider battery
life.
Thin, high capacity batteries are expensive.
One should study the claimed battery life.
Most cheap laptops will claim up to 3 hours
but they usually need a recharge after a couple.
Some are now claiming as much as 9 hours.
Another factor is whether it uses a touch screen. Most people are happy
to use
a mouse or the small pad and buttons that almost every laptop has.
Other
advantages of laptops are that they almost inevitably have a camera and
are
wireless. Desktops might these as an add-on
So, what
other aspects
involve price. Apart from the quality of the battery one must consider
the size
(and nature) of the hard disk. A
minimum
these days is 500 gigabyte but with twice that size (a terabyte) being
quite
common. Lately the cost of solid state memory has come down, so despite
the
fact that these ‘hard disks’ are often smaller than the
traditional spinning disk,
they are considerably faster and much less sensitive to hard the knocks
that the older hard disks might get.
All but
the smallest,
lightest laptops have a built in CD/DVD writer/player. Even those can be added with a simple plug-in via a USB port.
A number
of
manufacturers now produce a Chromebook, where the operating system is
Google’s
Chrome rather than Windows. They are likely to use smaller Solid State
(SDD)
drives and so can be sold for as little as £180. Without a
large hard disk one
must be happy to rely on your connection to the internet for storage
and for
synchronising to other equipment you may have e.g
it might look as if your photographs are on
your Chromebook but, in fact they are on another computer or a storage
facility
such as Google Drive, iCloud or other ’Cloud’-based
facility.
Lastly I
should
mention the graphics. Most
laptops will
satisfactory play basic games but the latest games make big demands
upon the
speed of graphics and need quality graphics hardware and dedicated
memory.
Along with a fast processor (such as the Inter i7) and plenty of
on-board
storage laptop prices can rise to as much as £1800 or more.
Many laptops (and tablets) are used in connection with modern TVs,
connected
either wirelessly or by using an HDMI cable.
Desktop computers are out of fashion for home and student use
but are still favourite in many businesses or for people who tend to
use a home
office, where portability is not so important.
Most of
the
descriptions of laptops with regard to capacity and graphics can be
applied to
the desktop. A desktop may have the internal space to enable
‘techy’ people to
change things such as the hard disk, graphics card or memory. Whilst
many
desktop computers are not wireless, some are and, in any case, it is
not
difficult to add wireless capacity by a cheap attachment to a USB
socket. This
has become more important as hardware such as wireless printers have
become the
norm.
Once again, prices can be upwards from £200, to over
£3000 for the fastest
highest graphics specification machines. A compromise between the
laptop and
desktop is the all-in-one PC where the processing hardware is contained
within
the screen – e.g. 19" Lenovo 20 complete with camera,
wireless and built in CD/DVD.
Bargains galore
**** Get a
refurbished one ?
Businesses often clear out masses of desktop computers, which are
perfect for the average computer user. A perfectly usable earlier model
can be found for £60 pluse the screen, keyboard etc. Even an
older one with a solid hard disk (SDD) can be reasonably fast. .
If one is
looking for
a bargain you will find refurbished machines on line for under
£100
complete with keyboard, mouse and LCD monitor.
Reasonable
quality refurbished laptops and a fast
Intel i5
processor can be found for under £150. That is what I use. Mine came
wih a one year warranty and free three month return facility. In fact I
did experience a small problem but the company www.firstclicksolutions.co.uk, replaced it rapidly. I would
recommend them. It is what I am using to update this page.
For
information of
Tablets see Help39.htm
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