What do you need to know before buying a computer?

HINT: If you're not too confident about buying it yourself, post a question about what computer you should buy for what purpose (basic email, lots of pictures, gaming, etc) and we can answer it. Otherwise, read on.

First thing you should ask yourself is what am I going to be using this computer for. I have seen so many people purchase a computer because they saw a good deal on what they thought was a good deal but the computer was already outdated. If you are going to be getting a computer to do just low-end things like check e-mail, surf the internet pay bills, things like that I suggest getting a basic system and DELL, Gateway and HP/COMPAQ have several models that cost $499 and up. If you are going to be using it for high end things like creating web pages, running big applications and things of that nature, seek to purchase a computer that has a minimum of at least 2.4 to 2.8 gigabit hertz processor, this is the part that runs how fast the computer processes things with at least a 80 gigabyte hard drive, think of a hard drive as a house and gigabit bytes as rooms. A 80GB hard drive is like a castle or mansion. Gigabit is like the standard these days, if you get a computer that only has Megabytes then that person is trying to seel you a old system that is already outdated because most applications like Windows XP needs a minimum of 2 to 3 GB just to install. Look to have at least 256MB of RAM(Random Access Memory) this works in conjunction with the processor to help the system to run in a proper manner. Also, make sure you have a good video card, I have seen people go out an purchase nice systems and have a low end video card and then they wonder why they cannot see anything on there screen, what they have done is put them self in a bad situation.

Go to websites like DELL, gateway, compaq, and ibm. Look over the systems they have and make your choice on what you need your system to do for you. Remember, you do not want to purchase a system that is going to be outdated in 1 to 3 years, because they are making computers so fast and with such new technology that a system purchased today can be outdated in a year or two.

For further information, see the page link, further down this page, listed under "Related Questions."

I suggest you read article here . You will understand the different kind of processors available and then see which one is right for you.