Computer purchasing: Accessories…

Accessories are all the other doodads hanging off your computer that for the most part aren’t necessary for the regular operation of your system. These include speakers, mouse, keyboard, monitor, television tuner, and thousands of other things that you could possibly attach to your computer. We’ll hit them in the order of importance and touch on a couple of helpful add-ons that you might look into getting.

Seeing is believing

You might be tempted to just get the standard 15 or 17 inch monitor that comes free with your desktop computer, but I would advise you to not do that. A decent 22″ widescreen monitor with a digital video input (DVI), which can be had for less than $200, will provide you with plenty of screen real estate to browse the internet, chat on instant messenger and see your music playlist. One better would be to invest in a graphics card as talked about in the previous post in this series and set up dual monitors side by side. This allows you tons of space to have as many programs open as you’d like: instant messenger, television, pictures, music, and this blog.

Input

Keyboards and mice are pretty standard. About the only option is wired vs wireless for both. Wired will keep you tied to the computer, but will be reliable. Wireless is much more convenient, but may have troubles with reception and the batteries can run down quickly. Additionally, keyboards can be backlit and have keys for controlling media playback. Mice can have additional buttons for fast scrolling, program switching, and moving forward and back through webpages. Most of the extras you get on the mouse and keyboard is going to be dependent on your needs and wants.

The rest

TV tuners are great if you want to record shows and watch them later. Bluetooth is great if you would like to make phone calls via a service like Skype to talk to family and friends as you can add a hands-free headset. A wireless card may be convenient if your internet connection is in a different room than your computer and running wires is impractical. Speakers will allow you to listen to music, hear television, and other sounds from your computer. A thumb drive or flash drive will allow you to easily transfer files and programs between computers. Printers and scanners (or a combo of the two) are necessary if you want to print out documents or scan old photos into your computer.

To get an idea of what works and what doesn’t, Newegg is an excellent site with reviews on computer hardware. Also, The Digitante has some favorites in terms of accessories and can help you figure out which accessories fit your needs. To discuss The Digitante’s favorites or any other subjects, feel free to head to the About page and send me an email or give me a phone call.

Computer Purchasing: Drives and graphics cards.

Continuing on with some of the specifications you are going to find when shopping for a computer: hard disk drives, optical drives, and graphics cards are going to be some of the other big deals.

Its a hard drives night and I’m workin’ like a dog…

First for the details. If your head swims here, sit down, drink a cool glass of water and head to the next paragraph. While RAM is the short-term memory for your PC, the Hard Disk Drive (HDD) in it for the long haul. Also, while you generally have 2-4Gb of RAM, your HDD is going to be much, much bigger. 500Gb drives and even 1 terabyte (Tb) drives are fairly commonplace and can be found for under $100. Most drives have magnetic platters that spin at various speeds. Typically, you should look for a 7200 RPM drive. This will give you optimal performance when copying programs, data, and files around your HDD without excessive noise or heat. Some newer HDD are called Solid State Drives. They have no moving parts. Theoretically, they should be faster and more energy efficient, however, they are still a very immature and very expensive technology, so you are better off holding off on a Solid State Drive. Desktops accept 3.5″ drives, while laptops accept 2.5″ drives. Netbooks usually take 1.8″ drives.

The basics assuming a desktop: Get a 500Gb drive that spins at 7200 RPMs. You can very easily start off with a smaller drive and add additional drives if you find that you are storing lots of music, movies, or photos. The Digitante can help you install your additional drives, if needed. Hard disk drive space is cheap, so don’t be bashful.

The basics assuming a laptop: Get a 160-320Gb drive that spins at either 5400 or (preferably) 7200 RPMs. If you need additional space, there are various external hard drives that can be attached to your laptop. Many external drives are extremely portable.

The optical illusion…

The details which can be skipped by heading to the next paragraph if you get sleepy: Optical drives include CD-ROM (Read Only Memory), CD-R (Recordable), CD-RW (Re-writable), DVD-ROM, DVD-R, DVD-RW, and Bluray. Each of these is pretty basic in its task. They store data that can be moved around easily in a disc format. A DVD drive is basically a commodity at this point and I was tempted not to even include it here. Regardless, CDs hold 700 megabytes (Mb), DVDs hold 4.7Gb, and Bluray holds 50Gb. Don’t think too hard about which drive to get; either a Samsung or a Pioneer are going to be good drives and hold up well over time.

The basics: Get whichever Pioneer or Samsung is cheapest. Laptops will come with a drive built in. Netbooks will have no drive, but a future post will show you how you can still use a CD or DVD with your netbook.

Graphic violence…

Since explaining and choosing a graphics card causes The Digitante to break into a cold sweat, we’ll leave the heavy lifting to Gizmodo’s Giz Explains feature.

If you want the quick overview: Choose a graphics card in the mid-range at about $100-200. If you don’t do more than surf the internet and listen to music, you probably don’t need a graphics card and can use integrated (built-in) graphics processing instead. However, if you plan on having multiple monitors, running your computer on a HDTV, or playing new PC games, you will need a graphics card.

Some decisions that come with buying or building a computer are easy (DVD drive), but some make even the most knowledgeable of us get overwhelmed (graphics cards). In either case, it is always nice to have backup plan to help us make wise decisions. Get The Digitante in your corner by heading over to the About page and emailing or calling The Digitante.

Computer purchasing: Processor and RAM…

When you go to buy a computer, two of the first specifications you usually see on the description have to do with the processor and the Random Access Memory (RAM). I’ll cover some of the quick details (which you can safely skip over if you feel like Charlie Brown listening to his teacher) and then the basics you need to know.

So the processor, um, processes things?

Yes, it is like a tiny, fast calculator. Even though you see icons and pictures, hear music, and fiddle with documents and the internet, all of the behind the scenes action is math. Be prepared to skip to the rest of this paragraph if you feel nausea set in. Everything in your computer is made up of ones and zeros. As the commands and instructions are issued by the programs, they go to the processor as a string that might look like this: 100010110101110101. You don’t know what that means, but the processor does. Most processors speak more or less the same language with these ones and zeros. So what makes one processor better than another? How fast it can pump these digits through and if it pound through multiple sets of them simultaneously. It does these things through clock speed and multiple cores. Clock speed is going to be rated in a modern computer in gigahertz or GHz. Typically, you will see laptops with speeds of around 2 GHz or more. Cores refer to how many microprocessors are in a processor (this is a drastic simplification). If you have a dual core processor, you could have two programs running and one would run on each core. They would never get in each others’ way. An additional way to get more performance is to move up from an Intel Core2Duo processor to the new i7 processor. The i7 has a new layout and memory controller that bumps performance noticeably. However, they are still pretty expensive. Now let’s look at what you need to know.

The basics assuming a laptop purchase: If you want longer battery life and don’t care about crunching huge amounts of data, you should actually choose a lower speed processor. Lower speeds mean less energy is used, longer battery life, and your programs should still be fairly snappy when starting up and running. If you plan on doing more than one task at a time, you should look at getting a dual core processor as it will relieve a bit of the bottleneck of having multiple programs running.

The basics assuming a desktop purchase: Speed is good, but be warned that usually a large cost increase may be associated with only a small bump in performance. If you plan on ripping DVDs, playing a game, watching HDTV, and playing poker on your computer at once, you might look into a quad core processor to multitask even further.

Car Ramrod, say Car Ramrod…

Once again, skip to the next paragraph if you get the spins: Random Access Memory (RAM) is like your computer’s short term memory. The RAM is where programs live while they are being used. If you have more programs running than you have room for in RAM, they will get temporarily moved back to the hard disk drive. Hard disk drives are slow because they have to spin. RAM has no moving parts so it is blazingly fast. As you can imagine, more RAM means better performance because less transferring is done to the hard disk drive. Modern RAM is calculated in gigabytes or Gb. The minimum you would want to have is 2 Gb, but a great amount would be 4 Gb. If you have a 64-bit operating system, you could go far beyond 4 Gb (32 Gb anyone?) and almost never use your hard disk drive. That wasn’t so hard; now the really easy stuff.

The basics assuming a laptop or a desktop purchase: get more RAM. However, don’t necessarily buy it stock with the computer. It is extremely simple to add more RAM and it is cost effective. You might even find a buddy who is good with computers to install it for you (like your buddy, The Digitante).

#1 and #2

Processor and RAM are going to be the two most important considerations after you have decided whether you want a laptop or a desktop computer. All the GHz and Gb can be overwhelming, so if you need someone to be at your side helping you through your computer purchasing process, remember that The Digitante can always be contacted through the About page. Feel free to give him a call or send him an email.

Computer purchasing: The Form Factor…

When boiled down, computers come in two form factors: laptops and desktops. Although Gizmodo has already sounded the death knell for the PC, desktop computers will be around for awhile. For most users, the laptop is where its at and the newer form factor known as the netbook is even more up most people’s alley. We will also look at some niche items like MIDs, phones, and All-in-ones. Clicking the links in each section will take you to just one example of each form factor.

Vroom, Vroom!

As I mentioned, people have been saying that the desktop personal computer (PC) is dead for years, yet it keeps on chugging along. It used to dominate due to PC gaming, however, that has been on the decline for years due to powerful consoles such as the xBox360 and PlayStation3. In addition to the power of these consoles, the addition of an online, internet experience on them has cemented their dominance in the gaming market. PCs will still be around in the form of Home Theater PCs (rendering high definition video is pretty intense), public terminals (its tough to walk away with a big box locked in a desk), and office workstations (you sit at a desk, you get a desktop).

From the above linked Gizmodo article, they mention the new purchases of laptops vs desktops. One thing you need to remember is that desktops have a much longer life than laptops. A desktop can have new components added over time: a new processor, more RAM, a new CD drive if your old one gets worn out, additional hard drives when you need more space, thereby extending its effective life. Laptops can add some of these items as well, but regardless, your laptop is going to get dropped, passed around, over heated, turned off and on, all of which wreak havoc on your system.

Desktops are going to certainly appeal to the power user who has stuff to get done and won’t wait around.

Let’s go!

Laptops have increased in popularity because the difference in price and performance between it and a desktop has shrunk immensely. Most people need something to check their email, listen to music, view photos, and play DVDs on a flight. For them, a laptop is the way to go.

Laptops can range from the barely portable 17 and 20″ beasts that weigh in at over 10lbs to tiny little netbooks that slip in under 3lbs and as small as 7″. As you can imagine, it is hard to take the former anywhere and it is hard to get much meaningful work done on the latter. For this reason, the sweet spot has been the 13-15″ range. Personally, I use a 13″ laptop because the screen is easy to ready, the keyboard is full-sized, and it weights a manageable 4.5lbs. If I need more screen, a full-size keyboard, or a more precise mouse, I can add all those accessories to my laptop.

Mid-sized laptops are going to appeal to those who use the laptop around the house, but not necessarily in the same room all the time. They might check some email before bed, look up recipes in the kitchen, and take some reading material to the throne room. Occasionally, the laptop might come on a road trip or a cross-country flight.

Netbooks are going to be for those on the go. Their light weight, long battery life, and svelte, handbag-sized frames make them great for stashing in a bag or pocket and taking along wherever you go.

The middle ground

All-in-ones have made a jump into the limelight as a cross between the laptop and the desktop. They have the large screens, separate keyboard, and mouse of a traditional desktop, but it is in a nice compact package that looks nice sitting on any desk.

All-in-ones are going to appeal to those that use their computer in the same spot all the time but aren’t interested in a huge box with a bunch of cords. The All-in-one is going to have one cord to the outlet and one cord each to the mouse and keyboard. You could even cut more cords by grabbing a wireless mouse and keyboard.

Everything else…

With Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), computing has gotten even more mobile. People can check their email, use all types of applications, view pictures, and listen to music wherever they are. Cellphones are another popular way to have access to a computing device wherever you are. These definitely have their drawbacks: small screens, numerical or cramped keyboards, slower internet, and less powerful applications will always plague MIDs.

MIDs are going to appeal most to those who are out and about and don’t have access to a desktop or those who don’t want to start up the laptop to look up tidbits of information such as the weather or movie showtimes.

What’s right for me?

There is no litmus test to determine which form factor fits your lifestyle, home, or usage best. For most people a combination of a couple of form factors might be logical (desktop HTPC in the TV room, laptop around the house, MID in the pocket). You need to ask yourself what are the main uses going to be and how do they mesh with your budget. If you think you might be on the border between two of the above mentioned form factors, you might need an expert to help you determine where your final landing place is. The Digitante has helped many people with their computer purchasing process. You can feel free to email or call The Digitante from the About page, and I can help you determine what will fit your lifestyle.