1. Welcome! Computer 101 Session 2 With Laura Crichton

2.  Associate of Applied Science  Baker College  Computer Programming  Computer Enthusiast!!

3. Agenda  Buying a computer  What are your needs?  Answer to last weeks question ‘What do I look for when buying a computer’

4. Buying a Computer  So many options!!  Desktop vs Nettop Vs Laptop vs Netbook vs Tablet  Each person is going to have their own preferences  Maybe even a couple of preference  Choose the one that is right for you  Few common things all computers share  Components  CPU  RAM (Memory)  Storage

5. Desktop Systems  Monitor  Case  Keyboard, Mouse  Extras  Speaker, printers, joysticks

6. Desktop Considerations  Advantages  Easily upgradable components make it the best investment  More USB ports  Disadvantages  Big  Not very portable  Can be noisy  Can use a lot of power

7. Laptops vs Netbooks  Laptop = Notebook  Larger screen size  More powerful hardware  Netbook  Smaller screen size  Smaller keyboard  Slower processor  Limited USB ports

8. Laptop & Netbooks - Considerations  Advantages  Portable  Allow for internet access anywhere there is a Wifi Connection  Disadvantages  Only a few components are upgradable  RAM  Hard drive  Expensive to fix  Prone to being dropped  Might not have DVD player  Might not have a numeric keypad

9. Nettop = MiniPC or MicroPC  Advantages  Low power consumption  Very quiet  Price ($200-400)  (not including monitor)  Great for email  Basic interneting  Disadvantages  Limited processing power means it won’t do a lot of things at once

10. Tablets  Generally operated by touch/finger gestures  5”-10” size  Generally Android operating system  Ipad runs Mac (iOS7)  Windows tablet

11. Tablet Considerations  Advantages  Total portability— under a pound  Very small—fit in any bag  Loads of free apps  Disadvantages  Nearly impossible to upgrade hardware = disposable  Surface subject to scratches  Small amount of storage  There are a lot of poor quality, cheap tablets out there

12. CPU  CPU – Central Processing Unit  AMD vs Intel  Number of Processors/Cores  Parallel processing  Intel i5 has 4 cores 3.6GHz ($180-$220)  AMD Phenom has 6 cores, 4.1GHz ($139)  Intel Xeon, 6 core, 2.6GHz ($649) (specialized for servers)  Intel Xeon has 12 cores (not released yet)  Measured in Hertz – speed  Now measuring in GHz (Gigahertz)  Many sites will show benchmarks, which measures performance.  http://www.tomshardware.com/t/cpus/

13. RAM – Random Access Memory  Largely dictates how fast programs will load & how many programs can be running at the same time before things become very slow.  Measured in Gigabytes (GB) - Capacity  Also measured in speed (MHz)  2x4GB DDR3 1600 ($85)

14. Storage  Hard drive  Capacity  Measured in Gigabytes (GB)  1TB is ~ 1000 GB  3TB Western Digital ($135)

15. Operating System & other Software  Windows 7/8/8.1  Mac  Linux (not very likely)  No operating system  Purchase system separately.  Windows 7 is currently $139-$350  MS Office  Full version currently $500

16. Finding a balance CostValue  CPU (speed, type)  RAM (speed, amount (GB))  Hard Drive (space, GB or TB)  Software & OS  Battery (Laptops/netbooks)  Extended Warranty?  Refurbished?  Often include manufacturers warranty

17. Before Purchasing Research and read reviews!  Research  http://www.tomshardware.com/t/cpus  Newegg.com  http://www.newegg.com/All-Desktop-PCs/SubCategory/ID-10 http://www.newegg.com/All-Desktop-PCs/SubCategory/ID-10  Tigerdirect.com  http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_tlc.asp?CatId=2627&cm_re=D esktops-_-Spot%2001-_-New%20Desktops http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_tlc.asp?CatId=2627&cm_re=D esktops-_-Spot%2001-_-New%20Desktops  Bestbuy.com