Technology Blog

When buying a computer, you have to look for alot of things, such as quality, brand name, warranty, reliability etc. I have a Dell Dimension XPS Gen 4 and I have it for 2 years now. When buying a computer, you should look at the following:

1. What is the main purpose of buying a new computer? (playing games, design, making movies or just surfing and typing). You don’t have to buy Dell XPS system if you just plan to type or surf with your new computer. Dell has many models and they can cofuse you when you are ordering. Key things that i do think that are important for new computers is processor and RAM. Today many application require alot of cpu processing and they do take up alot of space. So make sure you atleast get around 2.8 Ghz Pentium 4 with 1 GB of RAM. Also, you don’t have to buy 200 GB hard drive if you are not going to save any video files or mp3 on your desktop. Yeah most teenagers love play videos games that take up alot of space, save mp3, videos etc but 80 GB should be enough if you are buying a new computer for basic needs.

I bought my computer for gaming and basic work and I have Pentium 4 3.4 GHz, 1 GB of RAM, 256 Nvidia GeForce 6800, 74 GB 10,000 RPM western digital raptor, 20 inch dell widescreen LCD display, wireless keyboard with mouse, sound blaster audigy 2 ZS. So, as you can see its clearly a computer for gaming but like I said its not worth it if you are planning to just use a computer for basic computing. Most companies will try to sell you things that you truly don’t need, so always make sure to do your research before you buy anything.

2. You should have a budget set before you start shopping for your computer. Having a set amount helped me because i knew my limit because I know if i want I can end up spending $3000 for a computer or more.

3. Always search for coupons online if you are planning to buy your computer online. When i bought my Dell, I went to google and typed in “dell coupons” and i found a 30% off coupon for my Dell. I didn’t even know they had coupons for Dell. So always search for coupons before you buy anything online.

4. Always check for warranty or extended warranty for your computer. I did encounter some problems with my dell but since i was under warranty, i didn’t have to worry about anything. After my 1 year warrantly expired, I decided to call dell and extended it for another 3 years. I paid around $200 and i think it was worth it because I do use my computer alot and everyone in my family uses it too. Also, this is my first LCD and things happen when you leave your computer on for long time.

I highly recommend going with big companies like Dell or HP because it will make your life easier when you do encounter some problems. Whenever I had a problem, I called Dell support and all my problems were solved either right on the phone or over the next few days. I can understand that mechanical things break and I really appreciate Dell trying their best to replace broken parts without charging me extra. I have hard horrible stories about customer support from sony costumers. Yeah Sony makes really beautiful desktops but customer support is very important especially when you are paying $1000 or more for a product.