Step 1: Analyze Your
RequirementsThe initial step in buying a PC is to
analyze your personal requirements
and determine what you need your PC system to be able to do.
This essential first task helps ensure that you buy a system
that will do what you need it to do. If you skip it, there's a
good chance you will end up dissatisfied with your purchase.
Here's how to analyze your requirements, step
by step:
-
Determine Your Needs and Wants:
Considering all the various uses for PCs, determine what you
will use your machine for. Make a list of the software you
plan to run, and decide what your priorities are. This will
help guide you to the right type of PC.
- Be Sure That You Really Need A
PC:
There are alternatives to buying a PC; they aren't for
everyone. Make sure you really need one before spending a good
chunk of money and time.
-
Prioritize Requirements Factors: There are a number of different factors to take into
account, that represent different requirements PC buyers have
for their machines. The most important ones are cost,
performance, expandability,
blue; background-color: transparent">
reliability, warranty and
service, ergonomics and aesthetics. Decide which of these are
important to you, and which ones are not.
-
Decide On A Desktop Or Notebook:
Notebook
PCs let you take your
computer with you or work while you travel. However, compared
to
desktops, they are worse in
almost every way but portability: more expensive, lower in
performance and capacity, and worse in terms of reliability,
expandability, selection, configurability and upgradeability.
Decide if you really need the portability enough to justify
these drawbacks; if you do, plan on a
notebook, but otherwise get a
desktop.
Decide On Building Or Buying:
Most people
buy a pre-made PC because it
is simpler and faster than building your own, and less
knowledge is required. However,
building your own PC teaches
you about PCs and gives you the ultimate power and control to
create a system that does exactly what you need, and is easy
to upgrade and expand. Assuming you are going with a desktop
unit, decide which way you want to go (you can't build a
notebook).
Determine Your Budget:
Decide how much money you want to spend on your PC. This isn't
easy to determine; you will need to decide for yourself if you
want to start with a hard budget limit and buy whatever fits
into it, or remain "flexible" until you figure out how much it
will cost to get enough system to meet your needs. Bear in
mind the following general points about budget:
|
|
Tips of Day |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
