The Chronicle of Buying a New Computer, Part 1
Some time earlier this year, I decided to start a project: I wanted to buy my own PC. I had already bought my laptop a year ago. It can pretty much run any game from circa 2006 and before. But I was becoming envious of my friends being able to run the latest games while I was stuck with Red Alert 2 and Warcraft 3 (the latter had to be at the lowest setting as possible).
Unlike a PC where you could pretty much remove and install new and better components whenever you had the budget for it, laptops aren't as flexible. The only thing you could really improve is the RAM. And although it made my laptop run faster than before, it still isn't enough for me.
We have an old computer, a Pentium 4 that we bought 5 years ago. It's still faster than some computers I've used at the office which are dual core PCs. But I wanted MY own computer, bought with MY own money and has all the features I want. It's pretty much the same reason I bought my laptop. Because I didn't want anyone else using it but me.
See, our old computer - let's call her Sally (it was the first name that popped in my mind) - was a wreck. We don't know what happened but she just wouldn't turn on. Before she stopped working, she made this weird clicking and whirring sound that I hadn't heard before before she finally gave up and...died.
Well, she didn't really die. She just needed a transplant. Turns out, her motherboard got fried. So we bought her a new one that caused one major incident - it stopped working. Good thing the store replaced it, no questions asked.
It took almost 6 months for that to happen because all the computer stores we went to told us they didn't have a compatible motherboard for a Pentium 4, LGA 775 socket.
It turns out they didn't know shit. It turns out that almost ANY motherboard that has a LGA 775 socket can run our processor if they had bothered to read the manual that came along with it. It turns out I know more about computers than they do.
See, I had actually done some research. I acutally read up on processors, motherboards and GPUs. I actually looked up what chipsets do and who makes them. I bothered to read articles on what teraflops, clockspeeds and die-size were and how they affected performance.
And that, my dear reader, is one of the most important lesson in buying anything:
Do your research. Find out what you want and look for the product that has it. Make comparisons so you know which is more value for your money. Finally, ask questions and find out who knows more than you do.
Because you're the one who is going to end up paying for it. Literally.
Unlike a PC where you could pretty much remove and install new and better components whenever you had the budget for it, laptops aren't as flexible. The only thing you could really improve is the RAM. And although it made my laptop run faster than before, it still isn't enough for me.
We have an old computer, a Pentium 4 that we bought 5 years ago. It's still faster than some computers I've used at the office which are dual core PCs. But I wanted MY own computer, bought with MY own money and has all the features I want. It's pretty much the same reason I bought my laptop. Because I didn't want anyone else using it but me.
See, our old computer - let's call her Sally (it was the first name that popped in my mind) - was a wreck. We don't know what happened but she just wouldn't turn on. Before she stopped working, she made this weird clicking and whirring sound that I hadn't heard before before she finally gave up and...died.
Well, she didn't really die. She just needed a transplant. Turns out, her motherboard got fried. So we bought her a new one that caused one major incident - it stopped working. Good thing the store replaced it, no questions asked.
It took almost 6 months for that to happen because all the computer stores we went to told us they didn't have a compatible motherboard for a Pentium 4, LGA 775 socket.
It turns out they didn't know shit. It turns out that almost ANY motherboard that has a LGA 775 socket can run our processor if they had bothered to read the manual that came along with it. It turns out I know more about computers than they do.
See, I had actually done some research. I acutally read up on processors, motherboards and GPUs. I actually looked up what chipsets do and who makes them. I bothered to read articles on what teraflops, clockspeeds and die-size were and how they affected performance.
And that, my dear reader, is one of the most important lesson in buying anything:
Do your research. Find out what you want and look for the product that has it. Make comparisons so you know which is more value for your money. Finally, ask questions and find out who knows more than you do.
Because you're the one who is going to end up paying for it. Literally.
posted by Aldwin Christopher at 8:27 PM
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