IT Maintenance for Users. Buying a new PC Hints and Tips

Transcription

1 Buying a new PC Hints and Tips This activity looks at what you should consider when looking to purchase a new PC. Other resources in this section are: Maintenance for Users Level 2 How to upgrade a PC

2

3 What do you need your computer to do? Before you buy a new PC you need to consider what your computer will be used for. Then you can start to think about which hardware and software you require for your system. Here I will detail a few different scenarios and detail which components would be required for that facility. Here are a few examples of the reasons that you would want to buy a new computer: Browsing the Internet You may want to consider buying an additional ADSL modem and connect to a broadband service provider for faster Internet connection speeds. When connecting to the Internet frequently it is best also to consider security. It would be wise to buy a virus protection software package such as Norton or McAfee anti virus software. Working with Databases You may require a fast processor of 1ghz or higher to deal with the processing of your data. Also a large hard drive may be required if the database data will be placed on the computer and not on a network server. Working with Office Applications A low specification machine can handle the demands of the Microsoft office suite. You will need to buy an office suite such as Microsoft Office as these usually do not come with a new computer package. Student packages or educational discounts are available at a special rate so you may be applicable to purchase this at a discounted rate. Running CD Rom media You would usually require a fast speed DVD drive to run different kinds of course materials for students. Also a decent graphics card would be advisable so that software media can be viewed in the best quality available. A sound card is standard in PC bundle packages however, you may require better quality speakers if when performing presentations. Student training You may want to consider purchasing a laptop, which can be taken easily to training rooms and external locations. This can be used to good affect with Microsoft applications such as PowerPoint. Combined with the purchase of a projector a laptop can be a powerful presenting tool. Archiving Student materials The purchase of a CD Rewriter would be required here. With a CD rewriter you can back up all required data to a compact disc and store this away in a cabinet. Also students can copy materials to disks, which are too large to fit on a floppy disk and additionally take home if required for coursework. Where to Purchase your PC? When purchasing a PC it is important to consider a few key areas. These are: Brand of the PC Warranty Pricing Components fitted within the system Who to buy from? ITQ Resource Pack Page 104

4 The best and cost effective way to buy computers is to buy a bundled package. These packages will consist of a computer, monitor, keyboard, mouse, software and usually a printer. By buying this together in a package price you can save a considerable amount of money. Which PC? When purchasing a new PC look at computer review magazines, which will have reviews of PC packages currently available on the market. One magazine, Computeractive has a fortnightly run down of the best computer packages available according to how much you have to spend. Also the Internet is a wealth of information just type PC reviews into a search engine such as to return back a wealth of PC review sites. The important thing to remember is that the above reviewers have done the research so you do not have to. Warranty When purchasing a new package it is important to consider the level of warranty support you require. If there is a problem with your computer you can ring the manufacturer up within your warranty period and ask them questions. They will fix it for you at no extra charge if you are within your warranty period. With all types of electrical purchases you are entitled to 1 years free warranty. However many retailers will offer a three year warranty package to cover the item. There are two different types of service, return to base where you pay for the delivery of the item to the maintenance store to be repaired or on site fix where an engineer will visit your home. Obviously different brands will deliver different level of service. Check with consumer agencies through magazine publications or on Internet sites as to which PC supplier is keeping their customer service promise to their customers. Price Price is important to consider. When looking at a PC bundle don t get attracted by shops offering 100 Software programmes free when the hardware is less than adequate for your needs. Also if they are offering extra equipment often this is because the actual PC does not have the best hardware available for example offering 128mb of Ram with a scanner when 512 ram without the scanner would be a better hardware set up. Look for the actual components that will be in the PC. The core areas being a decent Intel Pentium 1.5 GHz processor, 256 or higher memory and a 40gb drive should be sufficient for any computer buyer at the moment. Which Software to include? Most bundle packages do not come with an office suite and this needs to be bought separately. Microsoft does have a student package, which is less expensive, than the standard edition however it only contains the core applications such as Word, ITQ Resource Pack Page 105

5 Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. Microsoft Office is a must when buying an office suite. Most standard software installations should include the following programs: Adobe Acrobat Reader This is a document reader similar to Microsoft Word, which is becoming widely used especially in the education sector. It has a professional appearance. This software is free to download at however the full edition, which enables you to compose and edit adobe documents, can be bought for a one of fee. Adobe Acrobat documents are identified with the.pdf extension at the end of the filename WinZip WinZip is a tool, which enables you to condense large files to enable you to save them to floppy disk or e mail them to other people. Documents that are of a large size can be condensed and saved with ease. However the person who receives the e mail must also have this program installed to extract the document. WinZip is available free to download on the website WinZip files are identified with the.zip extension. Anti Virus Software This is essential in preventing viruses from harming your system. In the worst case scenario without virus software any viruses created can affect and possibly erase all files on your system. There are many software brands who provide support for this mainly Symantec Norton and McAfee VirusScan. It is essential to update your virus software with the latest software, which is released by these providers on their web sites to download. This is because new viruses are created on a daily basis. You can download a free trial of both these types of software from their respective websites. Try them out to find out which one works the best for you. Apple Quick Time Will allow you to view media files with extensions.jpeg etc. Without this you may not be able to view or play different types of media. This is available to download at for free. Macromedia Flash This is a type of viewer to enable you to view websites, which have been designed using Flash. Flash is a design tool used to create graphic images and is now widely used on web sites. Without this tool installed you will not be able to view these pages, as the computer will not be able to recognise the format. This download is available to download from the site for free. ITQ Resource Pack Page 106

6 Which Hardware to include? It is important to be aware of what the Hardware you are buying is. The following is a description of the major components of a computer describing what the standard is at the moment as well as considerations as to why you should want a higher quality piece of hardware compared to the standard that is available. Processor A decent 1ghz processor is enough to support Microsoft office applications. Consider a faster processor if you are going to be working with Databases graphics or applications which perform calculations. There are different kinds of motherboards on the market Socket A motherboards are compatible with AMD Processors while Socket 370 motherboards are used for Intel Processors. AMD Processor in the Motherboard Memory A 256mb memory card is the standard for new computers at the time of writing. Consider more memory if you would like to work with a lot of applications simultaneously, work with high level graphic programs or generally increase the speed of applications. ITQ Resource Pack Page 107

7 Hard Drive Expressed in Gigabytes (1000 Megabytes) this is the amount of storage you are allowed to store on your machine. The higher the number of Megabytes the more storage you will have. A 40GB hard drive is the standard at the moment. Consider a larger hard drive if you are going to archive large amounts of student data or install many applications on your computer. ITQ Resource Pack Page 108

8 Graphics Card Used to display graphical images on your PC Monitor. The strength of Graphics cards is displayed in megabytes. The higher the number of megabytes the better the images will be displayed on your monitor. A 32mb Graphic card is fine for working with standard applications. However if you will be working with high level graphical applications or dealing with photo images then a 64mb Graphic card could be worth a purchase. External CD Rewriter Some new PC s may already have an internal CD Rewriter. You may also be able to request this if you need one for an extra charge with your supplier. External CD Writers are useful when working with laptops and desktop PC s as it can be easily transported between your home and your work. Consider buying one if this would be advantageous to you and also if you would like to back up your data to disk in case of hard drive failure. An external CD Rewriter is also good for students to take course work CD s home with them. ITQ Resource Pack Page 109

9 Scanner Useful for creating an archive of newspaper articles or scanning in digital photographs for media presentations or student coursework. Consider buying a higher spec scanner if you will be primarily working with digital photographs. The more dots per inch the scanner has the better the image will be. A standard scanner will display a 1200 X 1200 dots per inch output on your monitor. Digital Camera Useful for Media projects or for example a college magazine as this can be uploaded with ease on to your computer and work hand in hand with desktop publishing programmes such as Adobe Photoshop. Look for the mega pixel resolution when purchasing a digital Camera. The standard at the moment is around 2 million mega pixels. The higher the mega pixels the better the clarity will be of the picture taken. ITQ Resource Pack Page 110