• Laptop Buying Guide
• Desktop buying guide
• Mac vs Pc
• Research Tips
• Building at Home
• PC Maintenance

• CPU
• Memory
• Hard Drive
• Graphics Card
• Motherboard

Finding the best desktop computer

The first question you should be asking yourself is whether you need a desktop computer or laptop. These days laptops have become fast enough and cheap enough to replace most desktops, with the added benefit of being mobile. There are some drawbacks to laptops though - they are far more difficult and expensive to maintain, upgrade and repair.

If you tend to purchase a new computer every three years regardless of whether you need to or not, you might as well get a laptop. However, a well maintained desktop could last for many years. The desktop I am using right now I built in 2002, but have upgraded various components a couple of times. Although it is not as fast as most modern computers it still plays most of the latest games, and handles everyday tasks with ease.

This guide is not going to go into depth about individual components, rather, it will explain how to recognize a good deal, where to find good deals, and how to know when you're getting a PC that's going to last a year. If you follow this guide you will find the best desktop computer suitable for you.

Index

Avoiding budget computers

Where to purchase a computer

How to get a good deal

How to custom build a computer online

There is more than just the hardware

How to buy a computer on a budget

Final Words

How to buy a computer on a budget

How to buy a Desktop Computer

Budget computers are like a fake Rolex, they look pretty good on the outside but give them a few months and they slowly stop keeping time or just crash and die. I hate to list actual companies but E-Machines consistently show up again and again as selling budget computers that are not any good. This is not to say larger manufacturers like Dell and HP are not to blame, but I think E-Machines can be found at places like Best Buy and other common electronic stores for people to walk in and buy.

These machines can be recognized by price, name (do your research), location in the store and how they are sold. These computers won't go for more than $300. If you do your research you should find out online that they have terrible performance and reliability. If you ask directly the sales associates aren't going to lie to you. For the most part, they know which computers are the best and which are low performers.

There are a number of reasons why these machines are terrible: cheap parts, too little ram, budget processors, slow small hard drives, and components that are difficult to upgrade. If you already own one of these computers and can't return it, then the best thing to do is try and upgrade the amount of RAM to at least 1gb.

Bottom Line - Avoid budget computers, if you don't have much money there are other options.

Online is not necessarily always the correct answer. Many big electronic stores may offer their own sales and rebates on computers that they want to clear their stock of. Although it is getting better, making returns to online stores is not as easy as going back to a physical location. Finally, stores like Best Buy offer to maintain and repair computers purchased from them (for a fee).

There are benefits to buying online. There is a wider selection and a greater variety of electronics resellers. There are also many places that will let you select a variety of options for building a computer suited just for you. In the end it depends on how much effort you spend initially while you figure out what you want because if you buy the right computer the first time its likely you won't want or need to return it.

Bottom Line -  Both online and offline stores have their perks, but either way take the time to find the best deal for you.

Whenever I walk into a Frys Electronics I cringe when I see the prices for CPU's and computers. These large electronic stores know that the majority of the people that shop do not have any idea of what they are buying and will generally trust whatever the salesman tells them. The truth of the matter is that many of the components being sold are months out of date but are being sold at the same price as when they were first released.

There are a few basic rules of computer hardware purchasing

1. As soon as you buy something, a better version will come out that is the faster and better for the same price.
2. As soon as a new model comes out for any type of hardware, all other models decrease in value significantly.
3. Computer hardware is always getting better and cheaper over time.

What you should get out of these rules is that the best deal is to purchase yesterdays hardware at a discounted rate and be able to sleep easy at night because you're not going to be able to keep up with the latest technology anyway (or nor do you need it!).

The most important thing is if you are in an electronic store don't make impulsive purchases. Use the time to do some research and see what they have, then go home and look online and see if you can find it cheaper. It's not to say you can't find good deals at large electronic stores like Frys Electronics but you have to take the time to look.

Important : When you buy a computer you can get the detailed listing of the components from the store. Go home and look them up and see if the value is worth it. For many computers sold by large manufacturers like HP and Dell they get discounts on bulk orders of expensive computer parts like CPU's and Memory which in turn mean they can often sell you a good deal. Make sure you are getting the good deal and not the old computer for a fraction of what it is worth.

Bottom Line - Research the components of what you are buying and make sure total deal is better than purchasing them separately. Make those big computer manufacturers work for you by getting good deals!

There are a few websites like Dell's where you can select a base model and pick out which components you want to upgrade or downgrade. While you should be double checking whether or not the models of the different components are priced correctly, if you have the money and you want to improve your computer from the base model it can be difficult to know what is the best value for your money.

To answer this, it depends on what you plan on using the computer for. Generally the basic model is good to go for users who primarily spend their time online and answering emails. If you plan to play video games, use multiple monitors, or do a lot of video editing you might want to look at getting a dedicated graphics card or getting a better than budget graphics card. If you tend to have a lot of applications open or browse the internet with a large number of windows/tabs you might want to increase the amount of RAM.If you have a large movie or music collection, you might want to add an additional hard drive.

It might be tempting to increase the processor speed, but generally that will give you the lowest performance increase. Do your research and if you find the next CPU option provides a 10% boost in performance, but costs an extra $50 it probably isn't worth it.

Bottom line - Plan for what you need, make sure to do your research and know the performance differences between computer components.

Computers right now still come with XP as an option, which is probably what most people will get. Windows 7 is coming but this will still be relevant if that finally eclipses XP as the operating system to own. When you purchase a computer you will get some kind of license for Windows XP, based on business, home etc.. However, this doesn't necessarily mean you will get a complete Windows XP installation disc. You more likely will get some sort of manufacturer generic recovery disc. If this is the case you should try your hardest to ask for a full Windows XP disc with a license. Recovery discs will attempt to fix a Windows installation but they don't always alow you to reformat your computer and reinstall a fresh copy.

Computers may come with many things you do or don't want that are pre-installed on the operating system. Computer manufacturers will attempt to sneak in their own software, or custom brand you computer with thier own logos. Sometimes these programs can increase the value of a computer if the manufacturer has licensed with another software company to package their software with your new computer. Most of the time though these programs take up space and make your computer run less optimal. If you don't want anything special on the computer you can try and request from the manufacturer that they give you a PC without the added content (this doesn't always work - be firm).

A computer may come with a mouse, keyboard, web cam, etc ... but it might not. A lot of times a computer manufacturer will throw in these components for free if they don't come with the computer if you ask. You might get a cheap dell branded mouse and keyboard, but it's better than not having anything at all.

Computers may include a monitor, this can sometimes make buying a package deal worth it. However, monitors vary in quality and performance.


Bottom Line - Try and get a real copy of Windows, see if you can get a mouse and keyboard as well. If a monitor is part of the deal make sure it is worth it.

If you only have a few hundred dollars you can still get a great computer that does the basics and more! Not having money doesn't mean you don't have choices but that you might have to take a few risks to get what you want. Your first option is to make your own computer (covered in building at home) which will allow you to buy old computer parts for a fraction of the price. A computer of five years ago can do the basic tasks that a computer purchased today can do with absolutely no difference in performance.

If you don't want to build a computer, you could try and find a cheap budget computer that you can easily upgrade, but I would not recommend this. Budget computer components are inferiour, and often the computers are made to be very difficult to get inside of and upgrade. If you do go this route, these computers usually have enough CPU power to do most things but are lacking in memory, hard drive space and while they have a network card (built into the motherboard) it won't be capable of wireless.

Another option is to buy a refurbished, returned, or used computer. Many online retailers will resell guaranteed working returned computers at a discount. They can't sell the computer new, but it works fine, someone just didn't want it. These same places may refurbish computers, which basically means they put it through a battery of tests and make sure all of the components are functional. Both of these types of computers are typically going to work, though maybe less reliable as a brand new computer, it is possible to get a great computer at a very low cost.

The last option is to look for used computers off of Ebay or Craigslist. Use these services at your own risk, but there are many people out there who upgrade too a new computer every couple of years and have nothing to do with their perfectly good old machine. A lot of times these computers might have gotten some spyware or viruses and after a simple reformat and reinstallation of Windows, will be as good as new. If you're okay buying from random people I would recommend Craigslist over Ebay to avoid shipping costs, and you can talk to the person about their use of the computer and see it working before you buy it.


Bottom Line - No money? There's hope, look for returned/refurbished computers online. Check Ebay/Craigslist you might find a deal.

When you are purchasing a computer from a computer manufacturer, a computer reseller, or even the random guy down the street, remember that you are the one who has the upper hand. Computer manufacturers are desperate to sell their computers and will go through hoops to get you to buy them. This means you can get free stuff (mouse,keyboard), exactly what you want (real Windows XP discs), and a great deal.

The most important thing is to bother to ask, if there's something not quite right with your computer its very likely that if you call the help line, or as a sales associate they will do everything they can to sell you that computer.

Bottom Line - You as the consumer have the upper hand. If you want something it cannot hurt to ask.

Who am I to be telling you what to buy with your hard earned money? Check out the about page to decide for yourself.

Bottom Line - Check it out; I even talk about my own computer buying experience!