So…you want to buy a computer for your business or home. If you’ve started your search, you’ve found yourself faced with a bewildering number of options: RAM, kbps, megabytes, dot pitch. What does it all mean, and more importantly, do you need it? Before letting some slick salesman sell you what could become a $2000.00 paperweight, it’s a good idea to ask yourself a few questions.

There are many good reasons for owning a computer, and it’s a good idea to identify the ones important to you. Here are some examples of what you might use a PC for:

Here are the main components of your PC and what you should look for in each:

Processor - The processor is the "brains" of your computer-the bigger and faster it is the better the performance. There are two manufacturers of processor chips, Intel and AMD.  Each manufacturer has two families of processors Intel makes the Celeron for home computers and the Pentium for high performance business computers.  AMD makes the Duron processor for home computers and the Athlon for business computer.  The new industry standard is the Pentium III family of processors. The rate at which the processor processes information is known as the clock speed and is measured in megahertz (MHz). Most PC’s now have a rate of 800 MHz or higher.

Hard Disk Drive - The hard drive is where you store your data. A 20 gigabyte drive is ample for home or small business use. (enough to store the equivalent of 20,000 books). This sounds like a lot, but a 30 gigabyte hard drive is not that unusual these days.

RAM - RAM (Random Access Memory) is where programs temporarily store commands and data. RAM is measured in Megabytes (Mb). You’ll need a minimum of 64MB of RAM. Most computers let you upgrade RAM if you need to later.

Floppy Disk Drive - This one is easy - a 3.5" floppy drive is standard on almost every computer, and they’re all pretty much the same. Some computers are now coming with high capacity floppy drives that can store over 100MB of information on a single disk. Not all high capacity floppies are compatible with each other. The two most popular high capacity disks are Zip and Super Disks

CD-ROM Drive - Many software applications are now sold on CD-ROM, so this is an important device if you want to run them! CD-ROM drives are described by their speed: 40X, 50X, 52X, 56X. Most PC’s now come with a 50X or faster CD-ROM Drive.

CD/RW Drive - The CD/RW Drive is a CD Drive that can both read from and write to CD disks.  There are to kinds of write able CD disks CD-R and CD-RW.  CD-R disks are also called one shots because you can only write to them one time.  CD-RW disks on the other hand can be written to many times.  The drawback to CD-RW disks is that most audio-only CD players and older computer CD-ROM drivers cannot read the CD-RW disk.  CD-RW Drives have 3 speed ratings (12X10X40) - the first one is the write speed, the second one is the rewrite speed, the last one is the read speed.

DVD Drive - DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) technology is gaining acceptance as a new way to read and store information. A DVD can hold more than seven times the amount of information a CD-ROM can and DVD-ROM drives can read CD-ROMs and DVDs you might want to watch for this technology as it becomes more affordable.

Sound Card - The sound card lets you play sounds. It’s especially important if you’ll be using your computer for games and multimedia training. Sound cards come in 8, 16, 32, 64, and 128 bit varieties - the more bits, the higher the quality of sound. A 16 bit sound card is standard on most computers today.

Video RAM - Video RAM is the additional memory you computer uses for video display, like RAM it’s measured in Megabytes. The standard is now 8MB. The more video RAM a computer has enable a computer to display more colors and high video resolutions, a must for multimedia editing and gaming.

Modem - A modem let your computer transfer data over phone lines. This is a necessity for Internet access, e-mail and faxing. The speed of your modem, measured in thousand bits per second (kbps), determines how fast data is transferred. Anything less than 56k bps is too slow for efficient net-surfing and all computers now come with a 56k modem.

Network Adapter – A network adapter or Ethernet adapter allow multiple computers to talk to each other in a local area network (LAN). Network Adapters are also used for connecting your computer to high speed Internet connections such as DSL or cable.  The speed on network adapters is rated in megabits per second (Mbps). Ethernet adapters are available in either 10 or 100 Mbps. A hubs must be used to route data between computers on a LAN, and its speed must match the speed on the network adapter.

Monitor - Depending on how much you use your PC, you may be spending a lot of time looking at a screen. A 15 inch screen is the minimum you want for home or typical business use. As prices fall, consider a 17 inch or larger monitor-your eyes will thank you! Another important consideration is the dot pitch which indicates the vertical distance between each dot on the screen. The lower the dot pitch, the crisper the image. A basic rule: A monitor with a dot pitch higher than .28 mm is too blurry.

Scanner or Digital Camera - As prices drop, these devices are becoming very popular. Digital cameras work just like their film counterparts but store images as computer files to be used in advertisements, web sites, or e-mail. Scanners are capable of scanning page sizes up to letter or legal as well as photographs. Most low cost scanners connect between your printer and computer which can cause conflicts with some printers - check before buying. The resolution of scanners and camera is measured in dots per inch (DPI). The higher the DPI the better the image quality will be.

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