How to buy a computer

Level of difficulty: EASY

In today’s world, a computer is an absolute essentiality. It is a multi-performing device that can seamlessly integrate exceptional multimedia experience, awesome gaming and home entertainment, research and even official work. To facilitate all these together and also offer exceptional quality and reliability, a computer has to have extremely good running specifications while still being ‘Value-for-Money’. A computer is used by students, casual users, movie buffs, researchers, scientists, software technicians and a host of other people. So it is always a good idea to have a clear idea of the particular nature of computers that would best suit the interests of an individual user.

Materials Needed:
- Purchase
Step 1
Depending on the economy and intended usage, one must make certain compromises, stressing some installations and forgoing certain others within a setup. Generally, serious gamers, computer engineers, software professionals and animators need the latest kinds of computers. These users go for high-end graphics cards that use large amounts of video RAM (VRAM of 512 MB and up), extremely fast processors (with larger number of cores) and lots of RAM. However, before going for these specialized set-ups, one must take the motherboard capacity, PSU (power supply unit) capacity and OS (operating system) limits into account. Newer graphics cards and processors generate a lot of heat that might cause system freezes, erratic shutdowns and system overheating. To prevent these, users must go for high-wattage Power Supply Units and cooling units/ fans while buying or planning their machines.
Step 2
While getting a compact, inclusively-manufactured computer from brands like Hp, Dell, Sony or Gateway might be surer, yet it doesn’t allow the user the freedom to plan his/her components. Properly studying one’s specific requirements and individually assembling these computer components gives the user the best combination with minimal compromises on functionality. This also helps the person economize on his purchases, as he is getting these components straight from the market where the prices don’t involve continuous overheads. Also, the buyer could avail of separate discounts and best-price offers applicable on each individual component unit.
Step 3
After one has finalized a list of components (like monitor sizes, speaker wattage, controllers and input devices), one must carefully consider the merits of their individual manufacturers. After considering the facilities, features and most importantly, warranty coverage, the buyer could shop for these component parts online or source them physically from computer markets. Hardware and software installations could initially be done by any computer professional working on a contract basis. Following these few steps, buying a computer becomes really easy.