What to look for?

 Consider whether you should purchase a new or used computer.  Many people who sell computers before they are out of date allow you to purchase a relatively decent computer at a big discount.  Be careful when purchasing a used computer

 No physical damage  Ensure what you are getting what you pay for.  Is the warranty transferable  Many manufacturers will not transfer the computer warranty.

 Because of advancements in both the Mac and the PC, both are a good option.  What are you familiar with?  What do you use at school or at work?

 Your decision should be based primarily on how you plan to use your computer and the size of your budget  Do you need your PC to be portable or are you just going to use it at home.

 Price  PC desktops are approximately 1/2 the price of a comparable laptop  Do some research before you make a decision

 What type of case is needed?  Do you want a desktop or tower case?  Will the case fit on top of or below your desk?  Will the drives be accessible or will they be positioned awkwardly?

 Is it a standard CD-Rom drive?  Or is it a DVD / CD-R / CD-RW drive?  DVD/CD-RW  If the drive is a R or RW drive, does it include software?

 CD = Compact disc  CD-Rom = Read on Memory  CD-R = Recordable  CD-RW = Rewritable  DVD = Digital Video Disc  DVD-R = Recordable  DVD-RW = Rewritable

 The hard drive will be the destination of all your files and information  If the hard drive gets full, it will need to be replaced or another drive will need to be added to the computer

 Byte  One unit of memory  Kilobyte  1,000 units of memory  Megabyte  1,000,000 units of memory  Gigabyte  1,000,000,000 units of memory

 In addition to size of the hard drive, it is also important to look at the transfer rates of the hard disk drive  long transfer rates slow down your computer when transferring larger files.  RPM = Rotations per minute

 ?????????  In 1980 if you had a 10 mb drive it was huge  350 to 500 gigabyte  1 gig is around 65,000 MS Word pages  4, ,400 – 7,200 – 10,000 RPM

 How much memory does the computer have  Can it be upgraded in the future  The more memory in the computer, the more efficient the computer will run  Measured in RAM (random access memory)

 One of the best methods of determining how much RAM you should have is to look at the system requirements of the programs you're running on your computer and double whatever the memory requirements are for the programs you use most.

 Minimum: 2 GB  Recommended: 4+GB  Excellent: 6+GB or greater.

 The CPU, or the Central Processing Unit, is the “brains of the computer” and the single most important chip in the computer  The CPU performs the system's calculating and processing.  Major processors Intel, Cyrix, AMD

 CPU speed is measure in megahertz. A 1MHz CPU can accomplish one million CPU cycles in one second.  Dual core processor  Dual processors

 Sound Card  Video Card  Software  Screen / Monitor Size

 Assignment Assignment