Monday, November 1, 2010

Which Computer Suits Me? Part One

Around this time of year many of you will be pondering if it’s time to consider replacing your aging or ailing pc. With that in mind the next couple of articles will provides a brief overview of the current crop of technology offers in the marketplace.

Traditional Desktop Computers
Without doubt the best value for money is your standard desktop computer. I seldom see a laptop older than 5 years but desktops seem to go on for ever. Desktop computers outperform and outlive even the highest end laptops and the icing on the cake is that the cost of repair or upgrade is significantly less than their portable cousins. For families the desktop offers the best bang for the buck and reduces the amount of parental monitoring you have to do as the machine can be located in a common area. I do not endorse or recommend laptop computers for teenagers.(I’m not too popular with them as a result!) as they are difficult to monitor, easily broken and oft times abused.

Portable Computers
This group can be divided in three class: Full Laptops, Notebooks, Netbooks, and last but by no means least the Apple IPAD.

Laptops/Notebooks
The range now available is staggering and offer an ever increasing myriad of features. Having said that I’m still not a fan but if you must have one then consider the choices carefully before you shell out your hard earned cash. I regularly see broken laptops and notebooks less than three years old and many have simply failed due to poor manufacture or over use. The most common problems in this range are :Broken or Failed Screens, Broken power connectors/power supplies, and Damaged Hard disks.

Laptops were never intended as a replacement for desktop computers yet most people believe they can be used in the same way. By default they tend to be used more often and suffer significant amounts of wear and tear due to their portability. Prices in this category range from around 300 Euro and up. For a decent laptop with a 15 inch screen you can expect to pay at least 600 Euro. Ensure you purchase a solid Anti-Virus and external backup drive with your laptop and backup regularly. I’ve seen more than my share of tears over lost baby photos


In Next months article I’ll expand further on this topic. Happy Computing!