Buying a New Computer
After reading my monthly APC mag which i must say i enjoy, i felt compelled to write a little about how people are constantly being told a computer will do what they want it to do and sold to them as what they need by people who have absolutely no idea themselves! What a lot of people don’t understand is that without first doing some homework on buying your computer, you are food for the box pusher. The larger chains will sell you anything they can and their only concern is the bottom dollar!
The customer will sometimes just buy what is cheapest at the time and for those people, you get what you pay for. Those who set out to buy a computer to do a specific job and are prepared to pay for that but are sold an inferior product by a salesperson that is only concerned by their sales record or commission are being cheated out of a good experience. Those who have been in this position will know just how unscrupulous and ruthless some people can be.
The best advice for people wishing to buy a computer is to ask someone reliable about what you need. This can be a task in its self as 5 different people will give you 5 different answers. If you look at recommendations made by computer retailers though, you will find some consistency in the recommendations.
Do some research yourself. This is usually what happens when people get bitten once. Ask questions and if you have a particular use for a computer, find out what hardware you need to run it and then slightly up spec the computer so it doesn’t struggle to achieve its intended use. With the release of Windows Vista, i am amused to see companies advertising on the television stating they are building computers that are Vista ready. On checking i found they were only offering half the recommended ram amount needed to run it! If you read the requirements to run a piece of software and then go slightly higher in your specifications, you will be on target to getting what you need.
Another issue i have seen and hear a lot of is the purchase of name brand computers over clone systems. If you buy a name brand computer, you run the risk of needing to purchase genuine parts to either upgrade or repair it if required. This you will find in most cases is far more expensive than the same replacement parts for your average clone PC. You can take a gamble and see if your aftermarket parts will run in your name brand PC but don’t be surprised if they don’t.
I was told once, the order for buying a computer should always be “Quality, Performance and then Price” and if you stray from this formula, you take your chances. All in all, i feel it’s better to have a computer built for you and what you require rather than buy a box of the shelf and hope it does the trick.
I guess at the end of the day, it would be nice to get honest advice from someone who has your happiness and return business in mind rather than the money they can make from you now. Not all retailers are bad; there are some honest ones out there, all you have to do is find them.
If you want to buy a computer and want honest answers to your questions, you can ring us here and you will get honest reliable advice.
JPAC Computers