Looking for a PC ?. Review on Buying a Computer

We all have got used to working with this machine - Computer at work or school/college. Many of us may want to buy a computer at home too.

I thought I will pen down my list of things to remember when buying a computer for home.

The first thing to remember while thinking of a computer is the fact that whatever you buy now will become close to redundant in 3 years time.

Think about this… I purchased a Pentium III computer for 30, 000 Rs in 2002. It is worth next to nothing now. Even if I had purchased what was latest at that time(a Pentium IV 1.0 GHz), the result would be the same

So I would recommend NOT buying the latest and greatest available in the market(as it will any way degrade within months of buying). Instead buy the second best thing available in the market

i.e. if Pentium IV 3.0 GHz is the latest available, do not buy it. Instead try the older version(may be Pentium 2.7 GHz or the lower Pentium 2.4 GHz) that has been available for the past few months(it anyway does not matter after a year!)

If you have money and want to spend more, I suggest spending on good accessories.

There are two distinct ways to buy a computer(as known to many of us).

1. Buy a branded PC it from a reputed manufacturer like HP, Compaq, HCL or Wipro or LG

   
   




2. Buy a PC from the grey market of assembled PC’s

   
   

The general trend in India was to go to the grey market as there was a big cost difference between the branded and grey market PC. But the difference is negligible now as the branded PC prices have come down significantly. It is a better option to buy from a manufacturer with good warranty instead of going to a grey market and struggle later.

Be reminded that not all branded PC's come at prices comparable to assembled. HP and Compaq are way above the prices of the Assembled PC's. But HCL and recently LG offer very competitive prices to that of assembled PC's.

Monitor:*

Please be ready to pay a few thousand more to get 17” monitor. It is certainly worth compared to standard 14” or 15” models.

Ensure two things. A resolution of 1024 X 768 and a dot pitch of 0.28 mm or less

If you have the money, go for a flat screen CRT(not the LCD).

The Processor:

This is the heart of the computer. Choose Intel Pentium series processor only.

An LG myPC Pentium IV 2.4 GHz machine costs around 23000 Rs now(with bare minimum configuration) and higher with additional accessories.

Please ensure the following:

1. The mother board should be having at least 2 slots for future expansion.

   
   




2. The machine needs to have at least 2 USB ports(version 2)

   
   




3. The RAM should be a minimum of 128 Mb. Would recommend to throw a little more to get256 Mb RAM.

   
   




4. The hard disk is the primary storage device. So go for a minimum capacity of 40 GB hard disk drive(HDD)

   
   




5. If you are looking for graphics / CAD / designing using the computer, then it is better to go for the original mother board, else you can go for a chipset alone from Intel.

   
   

Disk Drives:

Recommend to have floppy drive and a CD drive.*

Do not accept anything other than a CD/DVD/R/RW combo(i.e. a writer that can play CD, DVD and can read and rewrite CD’s). The speed of this device should be 52X or more

Mouse and Keyboard:*

Choose the standard Logitech mouse(either optical or wireless depending on budget) and a standard Logitech keyboard.

Accessories:*

1. Ensure you have a good graphics card installed if you are keen on graphical games. This is one item in the computer which you should ensure to be latest available. Try ATI Radeon 9800 series or later

   
   




2. The computer should also be coming with a good sound card(Creative labs is good but costly)

   
   




3. Get a wireless web cam from Logitech

   
   




4. Speakers – I am not sure about rest of India. Mercury is very good speakers in Chennai. They even have the option of home theater.

   
   




5. Modem – 52 K or more speed

   
   




6. Would always recommend buying HP printers. They are sturdy and usually trouble free.

   
   

There is a catch generally used in the printer industry. If the price of the printer is lower, then it goes without saying that the cartridges(printing inks) refill cost is going to be higher. So you would have to decide upon the correct amount of upfront money you can afford(the printer price) and how much of ongoing cost you want to spend on the cartridges(depending on your use)

Warranty:*

When buying a branded PC, confirm yourself whether you have an on site warranty(so that they do not later ask you to carry the PC to their office) and also remember to negotiate an extended warranty(2 or 3 years), even if it means paying a few hundred more. This will save a lot of trouble.

Grey market?*

If you are choosing to go ahead for a Grey market PC; have checklist and ask your PC supplier to show you each item that you had asked for including the version of the processor, the graphics card model, the size of your hard disk and basic parts including the working of the cooling fan.

Price:

Any good PC(either assembled or lower end of Branded manufacturers)should not cost you more than 30, 000 Rs.** This price would not include the graphics card, the sound card and the wireless mouse. If you include these things you may want to add up to 10000 easily.

As I write this review, a LG myPC in Pune costs 28000 Rs for Pentium IV 2.4 GHz with 3 year warranty(w/o sound and graphics card).

If you are not willing to spend a lot of money, but want a branded PC; try Zenith( http://www.zenith-india.com). These folks have the manufacturing facility for almost all computer parts and many other manufacturers buy a lot of sub assemblies from Zenith. So their product is usually the cheapest branded PC available in the market. But their reputation for service is not good.

Let me know your liking of this review and thoughts.*