CHOOSING COMPUTER HARDWARE

In the last issue of the newsletter, I discussed some of the important concepts you should understand when purchasing a home computer, in this issue I’m going to discuss the basic components of a computer that you should understand before you make your decision.

Let’s first talk about the three major functions of a computer. They are storage, processing and the user interface. That last one isn’t exactly a function but it’s important enough that we’ll need to include it.

1. Storage – When you get your new computer the first thing you’ll want to do is load a bunch of great stuff onto it. You’ll need lots of storage for this. The more storage the better. 
There are two kinds of storage and they are equally important. The first kind is the storage on your system that stays put even after you turn the computer off. The main device for “long-term” storage is your “hard-drive” or “hard-disk”. 
The next type of storage is RAM or Random Access Memory. RAM is erased when the computer is turned off. You may be wondering what good that is. Well, the problem with large, long-term storage like hard-drives is that they are slow to access. It takes a while to access information and this can slow things down. The answer is to load the information your working on into FAST Random Access Memory. Now the computer can very quickly access the information it’s working with and when it’s through it can simply erase the RAM and put something else there. You can think of it as a scratch pad for your computer, and the more memory you’ve got the more data it can keep in memory and the faster it can work because it doesn’t have to access the slower hard drive as often.
The amount of space for data in a computer is expressed in bytes, kilobytes, megabytes, and gigabytes. To give you an idea of what this means, lets say that the character “A” requires one “byte” of storage in a text file on your computer. The word “Internet” would require 8 bytes. You can see that it would take a lot of bytes to hold all the data in a computer. When you deal with large amounts of data it’s common to express it in kilobytes or megabytes for convenience. Here’s how it works: about 1000 bytes make up a kilobyte (kb), About 1000 kilobytes make up a megabyte (Mb), and about 1000 megabytes make up a gigabyte (gb). The sizes of the storage components on your computer are expressed this way. It’s common to see a computer advertised with a 30 gigabyte hard drivc or 128 megabytes of RAM.

2. Processing – Now we’re talking about the heart of the matter! The heart of your computer is aptly named the “processor”. This is the “brain” of your computer and is the largest single factor in the over-all speed of your computer. The speed of the processor is expressed in megahertz and more recently gigahertz. A processor works on a constantly repeating cycle. During each cycle the processor can perform a given command or series of commands that we’ve instructed it to do. The more cycles per second the more commands that can be performed in a shorter period of time. A 900 megahertz processor gets roughly 900,000 cycles per second, and a 1.5 gigahertz processor would run about 1,500,000 cycles per second! That’s a lot of work! 

3. User Interface – These are the components that allow the computer to get information to you and information and commands from you. This includes the monitor, printer, sound and video cards, mouse and keyboard, etc. I’m not particularly picky about these. There are all kinds of shapes and sizes and functions, but before you choose a computer make sure that your these devices fit your style and your home. After all, this is the “face” of your computer and your going to interacting with all of these things day in and day out. It pays to get the right stuff.

Ok, I’ve outlined the major components of the computer, but what should YOU look for? Remember the golden rule to buy as much as you can afford but not the top of the line. What you actually decide to buy is going to depend mostly on your budget but here are some guidelines:

For storage choose the largest hard-drive and the largest amount of RAM you can afford. You’ve probably heard the expression “You can never be too rich or too thin.” Well, you can never have too much hard-drive or too much RAM. Go for the gusto here.
The processor issue is a little more complicated, there are a few manufacturers and you’ll want to shop around a bit, but if you’re budget isn’t too tight you can’t go wrong with a Intel processor. Companies like AMD however are producing excellent chips as well. If I were buying a computer today I’d consider a low to mid range Pentium 4 processor or a comparable model from AMD or other competitors. Remember, the higher the speed rating the faster the chip.
Finally, for the user interface (or peripherals): Buy quality. This doesn’t necessarily mean the most expensive, but spend some time getting to know the equipment and look for names you know. This is good time to ask questions.

Buying a computer can be a bit overwhelming, if you’re in the market and have some questions, please feel free to drop me an e-mail. I’ll answer whatever questions I can, and if I can’t I’ll try to put you in touch with someone who can. Happy Surfing!

-Chris McPherson 
[email protected]

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