By Suzana Looking for Some Pointers on Desktops? Here Is a General Buying Guide
If you’re finally in the market to get rid of that old PC you have been hanging on to for eons you’re not alone. So now that you’ve made the decision how do you know what to look for? There are some great simple guidelines to follow to ensure you get the most optimal unit for the money.
The general purpose user could be defined as someone who simply needs a unit to provide a good experience with web browsing, checking and sending email as well as an occasional streaming clip or two. The good news is you should be able to find a decent computer for the $400 to $600 dollar range that will provide hours of enjoyment.
What you should really be considered when shopping is revisiting the idea of refurbished desktop computers as an option. There was some recent major leaps in technology which allows for greater testing capabilities than ever before. All the major manufacturers are now backing refurbished units with incredible warranties as they now are that confident in them. For the general purpose user you can easily find a unit in the $200 to $300 dollar price range that will perform as good as any other brand new unit.
If you’re looking for a computer to work well for a gaming situation then targeting a high end graphics card is going to be your best bang for the buck. Again I suggest looking at refurbished units as price can quickly get crazy when you’re looking at high end gaming systems. You can get much more for your money with a solid warranty to back you up. At minimum you want a dual core chipset with at least 6 gigs of RAM. You may find you want to upgrade later but this would be ideal to start if you are looking at a gaming system.
Finding yourself gravitating toward digital design? Apple still continues to dominate this category. It’s the choice of the large majority of design firms and art based companies for a variety of reasons. They tend to have great resale value and aren’t susceptible to virus’s which is a plus but you typically will pay nearly twice as much for this aspect. However if your into gaming apple would not be your best choice as it’s not considered their forte.
If you’re a digital media enthusiast then splurging on a unit with a high end processor and large hard drive will serve you well. When dealing with movies and music you are going to need a lot of space on the computer for storage. The good news is storage is relatively inexpensive. Some extra RAM is also a requirement as when dealing with large files it can really bog your computer down.
As noted in the beginning you should be sure to visit all the major manufacturers online to view their refurbished desktop computer deals. The warranties they are now offering are simply amazing and never before have been this robust in their coverage. You can often get twice the computer for the money leaving this once considered taboo now a viable option.
