Shall I buying the latest and most expensive computer ?

How to choosing the best computer:

First and foremost who is the computer user? When buying a computer, it is important to identify who will be using it, the main user... Kids, school student, college student, university student, professional executive, businessman, housewife or office worker, etc. as the usage vary by users.

Are we looking for a laptop or desktop computer?

Where are we placing the computer?

Where will the laptop be used?

For mobile users such as professionals, salesman, businessman and college students, should use laptop instead of desktop as the battery life, weight, size are very important to them. On the other hand kids, housewife or so called non-mobile users should use a desktop as they need a computer workstation more than a laptop. So for these users, the factors listed above may not be as critical.

Heavy uses like graphics designer, data mining programmer, game designer, video audio editors definitely need a better video/audio display adapter and a faster processor to speed up the data processing time. Normal user or computer beginner such as small kids or housewife a standard specification should be able to meet their requirement.

Should I buy an after sales service or maintenance contract for my computer?

The answer is YES unless you can provide DIY service for yourself, for a brand new computer the price of a typical service contract is not expensive at all so its worth it to for you peace of mind.

Should we save 2 to 3 hundred dollars to buy an obsolete model or get the latest model?

The answer is NO unless you know how to upgrade it when needed. Bear in mind when we buy a computer it is not for 1 to 2 years but at least for the next four to five years.

What about the system spec. such as motherboard, processor speed, memory speed, hard drives size, DVD burners, video camera, etc? How do we know which one suite our requirement when we go shopping?

Do some homework at http://www.dell.com/ or http://www.hp.com/ 　to have an idea of the standard package, make a comparison and ask the shopkeeper what is the different between the high end and low end computers? I.e. How to make its work faster? What is the minimum memory requirement for Windows XP/Vista? And make a final decision base on your own expectation and budget.

Note: Computer speed depends on its motherboard speed, processor speed, memory speed and hard-disk speed. Hence when buying a computer please ensure you have enough memory i.e.: at least 2GB for Windows Vista and 1GB for Windows XP.

Happy shopping...