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Why not just upgrade?
If you don’t play games or edit videos then maybe you just need to buy a new monitor to replace your old CRT model. A good quality monitor will outlast your computer and improve your PC experience for years to come, especially one of those nice 20” or 22” widescreen jobs! Adding some additional memory (RAM) might speed up your PC and together with a PC tune-up, could result in noticeable performance improvements. Or you could just buy a new optical mouse to replace that old ball-mouse.
Vista
Microsoft has finally produced a stable and thoroughly sorted Operating System for the home user. It’s called Windows XP! Unlike its flawed predecessors Windows 95 and Windows ME, there really isn’t anything wrong with XP. However, Mic rosoft needs a new revenue stream, so that’s why we have Vista and Office 2007 and a huge marketing push to convince buyers that the new is better than the old. However, new doesn’t necessarily mean better. Are Oasis better than the Beatles? Was the Peugeot 307 really better than a 306? Were the early LCD TVs better than CRTs? Is Vista better than XP? Well, err, no, in my opinion.
Potentially Vista had promised to deliver real improvements to the world of computing. However, even after five years of development precious few real improvements have made it to the production line and instead we have a misguided attempt at making the Windows interface look more Apple-like. Even the new ultra-realistic graphics promised by DirectX 10 has failed to deliver any real benefits. There are still problems with 3rd party manufacturers not issuing new Vista drivers for old hardware – they want you to buy the new stuff too. Vista also needs twice as much memory as XP. So overall, I’d recommend avoiding Vista as long as you can still buy Windows XP, currently until June 2009.
Internet or Retail?
From Acer to Viglen, the internet is crammed full of potential suppliers. On the high street, unfortunately there isn’t enough competition for PCWorld. There are a few independent computer suppliers locally such as Eclipse Computers in Coventry, and a few department stores with good ranges of PCs, such as John Lewis in Solihull and then there’s Currys and Comet. Overall though the choice isn’t great and personally, if I wanted to buy a PC from a retailer I’d want to choose one that didn’t have a queue of people returning faulty goods and offered excellent customer service. That would have to be John Lewis then.
I’ve ordered many business PCs in my time and rarely had too many difficulties even when ordering over the internet. The problems mostly arose from the transport of the equipment and the return of faulty goods so it is difficult to recommend one supplier. The courier company has been more influential in these cases.
Mac or PC?
As a long-term UNIX user I’m glad that this now forms the basis of the Mac Operating System. UNIX is stable and powerful, but no  more secure that XP or Vista. It’s a little disconcerting to see so many people buy a Mac just because of their looks, as they are excellent computers that are integrated very well with the software - digital photo and video editing is especially easy with a Mac. However, support and spares are expensive and in 12 months you’ll be using last season’s MacBook! You can have a stylish PC for a lot less money with everything just the way you want, but it does require a bit more effort.
Laptop or Desktop?
Pound for pound, compared to a laptop, a desktop will always be quicker, more reliable, have a larger, clearer screen, be more comfortable to use with a proper keyboard and mouse and be easier to upgrade. Replacement parts are also much easier and cheaper to fit than those for laptops.
Unless you really need the portability of a laptop, then my advice is to buy a desktop. After all, a laptop is probably only going to sit in one place for most of its life.
If your heart is set on a laptop, then make sure it is strongly built to withstand wear and tear. Check the strength of the hinges and make sure than the screen doesn’t flex too much when put under load. There will also be a lot of heat generated in a small, tightly packed space. This means that some laptops can become very hot, too hot in-fact to rest on your lap! Pay attention to the air vents. If you are right-handed and want to use a mouse with your laptop, an air exhaust vent on the right-hand side of the PC will continually blow very hot air over your hand which can be very uncomfortable. And just because the manufacturer says the laptop has a graphics card suitable for gaming don’t expect to be playing the latest PC games on it. For that you’ll need a graphics card that will use over 100 Watts of power and in a laptop that’ll burn a hole right through the case.
There is a high chance that the laptop battery will fail within 3 years. Certainly, the capacity of the battery will only be a fraction of that when new, especially if the laptop has spent most of its life plugged into the mains. Some manufacturers recommend that Lithium-Ion batteries are fully discharged and recharged at least once a month. Plan to buy a spare battery after two years or so. Try to buy an original battery if possible and only consider a 3rd party battery if the original ones are no longer available
PC Reliability
On average, a desktop PC is two times more reliable than a laptop. There is a 1 in 3 chance of a laptop developing a fault within 3 years, 1 in 6 for a desktop (These statistics are my own based on a sample of 500 laptops and 1200 desktops in 2004). Laptops are also more likely to be damaged by an accident, such as being dropped, closing the case with a pen on the keyboard and cracking the screen, pulling the laptop off a desk when your foot tangles in the power lead and that old favourite, spilling coffee down the keyboard. Incidentally, PCWorld will charge you twice as much (typically) to repair your laptop compared to a desktop PC once it’s out of warranty.
Things to avoid?
• Celeron Processors (just a bit too slow nowadays).
• 512MB RAM (definitely not enough, go for 2GB instead).
• Windows Vista Home Basic (If you must have Vista, make sure it’s Vista Premium).
• 1 year warranty on a laptop (it’ll either breakdown in the first month or the 13th month and remember to read the warranty small print - batteries are usually exempt).
• So definitely avoid a £299 Celeron Laptop with 512MB RAM, Vista Home Basic and a 1 year warranty. You might regret buying one.
Price points
Less of a problem nowadays, but some companies were notorious for this only a few years ago. They would target a price point and then fill a PC with various components to achieve that price, usually with severe compromises. Nowadays, I’m still surprised at how little memory (RAM) manufacturers put in their PCs as standard, instead focusing their attention on the processor. Speaking of memory, lots of cheaper PCs have graphics systems that share the main system memory, but they should really use the word steal instead of share.
Building your own
No longer the cheap option it once was, this will generally work out about £50 to £100 more expensive that buying a pre-built PC (say from Dell) but you get to choose precisely which components you want to achieve the PC you’re after – small, fast or quiet, or all three. It’s a bit like buying a car with a BMW engine, Ferrari suspension and a Volvo bodyshell, well, whatever takes your fancy! A custom built PC starts to make sense if you choose components that can be over clocked (speeded-up) which can give you extra performance virtually free of charge. Typically, the best advice is to spend more money on the motherboard and memory and less on the processor, giving you the option of improving the processor in the future. Most pre-built PCs are usually configured in the opposite manner, giving priority to the headline processor speed. With this approach there is very little chance of improving the performance of the PC in future – it is already at its limits. With building your own, you’ll also be free to choose a graphics card that suits your needs. You might chose not to have one at all and use on-board graphics (integrated on the motherboard) or buy one at a later date. If you buy two disks for your PC your could setup a RAID disk which can give you extra speed or reliability and in some cases both. Choosing your own components also lets you buy the best quality, which is especially true for cases and power supplies. The latter are extremely important for a stable and quiet system. You won’t need to purchase an extended warranty as most individual components will be covered by their manufacturer’s warranty, typically 3 years, all for free. Importantly, you can choose to install Windows XP (or Linux) rather than suffer Windows Vista during its early maturing years.
Finally, one point about Inkjet Printers
You may actually get one of these thrown in free with your PC. Don’t be fooled. We all know how expensive the ink refills can be on these but do you know that some printers are designed for only a few years of normal use and will stop working when the cleaning reservoir is full. Also, the ink refills supplied with a printer will only contain about half the ink of a normal refill. Have you considered a more economical Laser Printer instead?
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