Wednesday, March 17, 2010

When is the best time to purchase a new computer or laptop?

The answer to this is easy...after the new models are introduced and after the December holiday season is over, the prior models will take a price drop for the sake of clearance. So, from January until the end of the summer is probably a good time to buy. Feel free to contact me if you need assistance with purchasing or would like to have your next machine custom built or configured.

What brand of computer or laptop should I buy?

As we are nearing the end of winter I am reflecting on some of the frequently asked questions I get from my clients and associates.

The number one question I get is "What brand of computer (or laptop) should I buy?" My answer is usually "none". This may seem disappointing, but the truth is that it does not matter much what brand label is on the outside...it is the parts inside that matter and also how they are arranged and connected.

That being said, there are some brands that are notoriously poor in quality, one being HP consumer grade (low end) PCs and laptops. To be fair to HP, I must also say that they make excellent printers and excellent enterprise (business) level computers and servers. Furthermore, my opinion is based on the percentage of HPs presented to me that are not repairable for a reasonable cost. I have also compared my data with that of other consultants and technicians in order to determine that my opinion is valid.

The problem that most consumers face when purchasing is the lack of complete and meaningful specifications provided by the manufacturers, and even if provided, the ability to understand them. You may be looking at a machine that boasts oodles of RAM memory and Hard drive space, but what you won't see is that the power supply is inadequate, the onboard video is poor, or the speed (RPMs and cache) of the hard drive is lower than average.

This is why I always recommend a custom configured or custom built computer where you will have control over the quality of the parts inside. (Unfortunately, it is not practical to custom build a laptop, but it can be custom configured in some cases.)

Another argument for a custom build has to do with warranty. When you purchase a system it generally comes with a 1-year parts warranty, even if the individual parts would normally have a longer warranty. For example, when memory is purchased separately, it usually has a lifetime warranty, for hard drives it can be as long as 5 years, for power supplies up to 5 years, for video cards up to 3 years or more, and for LCD monitors it is also usually 3 years. Its almost criminal that you get cheated out of the parts manufacturer's true warranty because you bought a system with a name brand on it and did not elect to extend the basic warranty by spending considerably more money.

If you have a general question that you would like to have addressed in a subsequent post, please feel free to submit it to me here.

Stay tuned for tips about what to do with your old machine, working or not.