This Guide will tell you in brief how to go about buying your first ever Computer.

It wont mention jargon and if it does i will break it down rather simple so that you will clearly understand what i mean.

First of all what do you need one for thats what salespeople like Currys, ask people what are you going to use it for, ie do you want one for just graphics and playing games on,for writting financial reports/accounting ie for business or work purposes.

For the Kids to help them for their school work,or assignments and so forth.

The Computers of these days can tackle everything from helping children with their spelling and sats,helping with the coursework and so forth

The Processor(speed of the system ie measured in GHZ)

Which stands for Gigaherz i think,what it really means is the actual speed your new computer runs at

First it has to have a decent processor ie the speed it goes at(Most new computers start at between 2GHZ to 3GHZ of course they is much faster processors but you need a average processor size)

The Average Processor size in todays modern Computers is between 2 or 3 GHZ

 

 

Second Memory and Hard Drive-

Here they need to be reasonable you need at the very least 512mb memory ,i will explain why later on and hard drive at least 150 GIG-

What does Gig stand for it means Gigabyte which means it can stored over 1,0000 gigabytes worth of storage which means that you could store over 300 music files on your pc and still have enough storage space to store computer games on for example

The Memory is also important as it can open and do a lot of tasks all at the same time

 

I would recomend 512 which is a decent memory size and the usual average size of most modern computers

Some Desktop PC that are sold through PC Retailers like Dell Computers which is a online and well known PC Manufactory sell brand new PC that have memory of 1024MB which is a lot these days

If again money is no option i recommend going for 1024mb instead of 512mb

Sound Card and Graphics Card

If you are going to be playing Games besides doing work on it like assignments and coursework, then you will need at the very least a decent graphics card and sound card

Sound cards and graphics cards are sometimes on the Motherboard so which means they are not separate and you are restricted by the onboard graphics and sound on your computer.

IT all depends upon how much you are prepared to pay and also least we forget what u are going to use it for mainly as its not essential

Most less expensive computers of today wont come with a seperate sound card or graphics card inside the Computer and on the Motherboard.

It will most likely be onboard sound and intergrated Graphics etc

However if money is no object and you want to play games as well you need to look for the actual make of the graphics and sound card

Sound card it is most usually a Soundblaster Alive Card which is the average sound card that most modern computers come with as standard

Graphics Card are a little different as they is loads of different companies who actually make

I would recomend the Graphics card that had at the bare minium a 128 memory on the card in that way you would have a decent size memory on the graphics card that would be able to handle the gaming games of today

What else you need to know we have already mention memory,processor,hard drive(storage)sound and graphics so far

Does it have a DVD RW etc

These are where your games and programs are installed into the computer and most modern computers have a DVD RW at least so what does this mean to me as i dont understand computers or not PC Literate.

Dont worry i will now explain about what is a Digital Versatile Disc Re Writeable and what it means is

Its a modern equivalent of what use to be called a CD drive on a old Computer

 

A DVD can load quicker and of course one of the main advantages is it can also Play Music which the CD Drive did with one slight advantage it can also play Movies DVD(Films)

But in order to do this it has to have special software that most new computers come with when you buy a computer from Dell Computers or PC World for example

This Special Software is sometimes called Power DVD which when installed on your new DVD drive can play movies such as Region 2(which is the european movies and even Region 1 which is the USA Movies

So what is a Dvd Rw then?

well what it means in simple terms is its a combination drive its a DVD and a also a CDRW (Compact Disc Re Writer)which also means you can write and burn music CDS ie

You can Copy Audio CDS onto your hard drive and then Copy your audio tracks onto a Blank CDRW disk and most modern computers have these

 

Floppy Drive:

 

New computers dont have the usually floppy drive which we know its a storage capacity it stores all your files onto a floppy as there is now no need for a Floppy Drive as the in-thing these days are Flash Drives which are USB Storage drives

 

What is a Flash Drive

A Flash drive is a portable storage device that is equivalent to a Floppy Drive and can store a lot more than a floppy.It usually comes in a USB format that just fits in a spare USB port on your Desktop Computer or USB Port on your Laptop

They come in a range of storage capacities like

128 mb

256mb

512mb

1Gig

They can be picked up for around £14.00 for 128mb from stores such as Argos,Partners and even from e-bay.

256mb would cost you about £15.00-£19.00

512mb from £20.00

USB Ports

 

USB Ports on new computers you most usually have 2-4USB Ports at the back of the computers and two at the front.

 

I should mention here that the USB,Memory,Hard Drive,DVD,Processor all fit into a Tower which is the Brains of the System and everything else like Monitors,Keyboard,Speakers plugs into it

Monitors

They are usually 15 inch Flat Panel Monitors(which means that you get a 13 inch viewable area size) or better still 17inch Flat Panel which is better still

Keyboard

well this is where you type and think of it like a Typewriter has it has similar layout then we have the

Mouse

which is like additional extension of the keyboard and it lets you point to things and is a great tool

Speakers

Of course we need them for sound,Music and listening to Films that are playing on your DVD/RW

Modem

this device enable you to go on and dial up to the internet and the usually dial up speed or connection as its know is 56 bps or it might be 56kpbs or something like that.

But with Broadband most people go for that so dont use the modem that is already inside the computer as they find it too slow

Leads

I wont go into any details here as most Computer Systems come with all the leads you need to connect and also come with a Instructions Manual which explains step by step how to connect up and boot up etc

Software

This section will tell you what is usually installed on most PCs

Operating system

This means that your computer cant do tasks run or cant detect software with a Operating system like Windows XP home edition or Windows Professional edition,most new computer come with one of these already pre-installed on it so you dont need to go out and buy it for example

 

If you brought a old computer or second hand computers then you wouldn t need Windows XP most probably because the Computer specifications like the Processor,hard drive,memory wouldnt be high enough to run it and work comfortably for instance

 

Other Software

When you buy a new computer from the likes of wholesalers like PC World,Currys and Dell they most always come with other software pre-installed like a trial version of Norton Anti Virus or MacFree Security Centre, that usually comes with a 90 day trial after this time you are then expected to purchase the full retail version at sometimes discounted price rates especially if you brought the new Desktop Pc from Dell for instance.

 

MICROSOFT OFFICE-which of course costs more but if you intend to use it for work purposes or using to write assignments its worth the extra money

My advice is shop around the PC Stores and Wholesales also have a look on e-bay but before you buy do ask questions thats what these PC stores are they for like

what is the processor speed,what memory does it have and how much storage does it come with and so on

I hope this Guide to buying your first computer has helped you in someway to understand what is a Hard Drive or Processor do etc