Buying a new Computer (PC Desktop)

Some of you will be buying a new computer over the summer. It's always new and exciting, kind of like a new car. But if you're like me, you'll spend much more time on your computer than in your car each day, and accomplish more.

Speed: What does your computer currently have? Here's how you find out; Right Click on "My Computer", and go to Properties. This lists your Processor speed, and amount of RAM. You'll find the average WSD computer has about 2.4 GHz (giga hertz) and about 512 MB of RAM. The brand new computers will have about 2 GB (4X more) of RAM.

Storage: Hard Drive space here at school probably averages about 40 GB. The average home computer will have about 200 GB, and even up to 500 GB on a lot of models. This is the amount of storage you have on your computer, and has almost nothing to do with the speed.

Monitor: You know, the screen, or the "TV" as some of you call it. 19" is probably the average/smallest here. A lot of people prefer the widescreens now. And yes, they're all flat screens now. If you want to get technical and have specific demands for your monitor, we could go into that, but you probably know exactly what you want.

Here are my recommendations:

• Processor - There is a wide array of "up to date" processors out there, but basically you're looking for one with at least 2.0 GHz and of course, the higher the number, the faster.


• RAM - Get at least 2 GB, or gigabytes. If there is a special for 3 GB, take it. That's 6X as much as here at school.


• Hard Drive - I'd say at least 200 GB, but many models come with 500 GB now. That's rougly 12.5 X as big as here at school.


• DVD Writer - This is usually standard nowadays. You can choose to have an additional drive though.


• Firewire Port - This is similar to a USB port, but you can import video from your camcorder. I'm a video fanatic, so I'm using mine all the time. If this is not standard, it may cost only around $40 to include it, or $15 to install one yourself.

That's about it! If you're really into PC gaming, you'll want to upgrade your video card, and if you do audio editing, you'll want a better sound card.... But for you and I? The specs above will really cover our needs. They'll all be fine for video editing, putting your photos on, playing music, internet, and all that good stuff.

Where to buy? Sure, you could have your nephew's roomate's brother build you a very fast computer, but I would just go to Dell, or HP. www.dell.com or www.hp.com You're probably looking around $500.

Here's a tip. If you decide to call in your order? Skip this line: "I want the best computer for the best price"... Like they'll respond "Oh, you want the best? Oh, well, let me save this slow computer for somebody else then...." Computer salesmen get so tired of that line. Of course they're going to give you the best computer for your money.

Any questions, feel free to post them here and we can discuss it. Thanks.