Buying PCs
how to break even
No matter how new, or large, or powerful, or expensive your new PC will be,
software manufacturers will design programs for it that will make it run like
wading through treacle. This is sometimes called "bloatware".
The trick is to decide on which programs you want on your machine and how and
when they run. This is not simple for they each tend to take over your machine
because “they know you would want them to”. It is helpful to check through for
all programs loaded at startup and decide whether you want them to or not - use
Windows Defender Software Explorer for this. Mobile phone synchronisation
programs are a major culprit for autostarting, especially those for phones you
replaced years ago but forgot to uninstall.
Notebook choice is a compromise between weight, battery life, size, processing
power, and price. Ideally we would like a light cheap fast machine that fits in
the pocket or briefcase and runs for a day or more without charging.
Unfortunately they don't make them. The simplest way to choose is to look
through the major suppliers' online catalogues and find what is new and out of
stock. Reject those that are in stock. The guideline is never buy laptops in a
hurry.
Home or office PCs are called desktops though they usually sit on the floor.
Choice here is wider because just about any built in the last couple of years
will do for business purposes (unless you are running a database application).
This is because top end specification (and price) desktop machines are aimed at
the home rather than the business market: games software is far more demanding
than business software so it needs to be run on more powerful machines.
Windows 7 has now replaced Vista, and is generally thought to be "a good
thing" and what Vista ought to have been. It needs some getting used to, as
unlike Vista it cannot be configured to work like XP but it is worth the change
- provided you are not on a Windows Server Domain, in which case it is better to
stay with XP.
13.3" ultraportable by Fabergé for Czar Nicholas II