Making decisions about computer peripherals is indeed a very tough job.u have so many brands n options that making a sound n a firm decision.iz a real nightmare.
it’s a well known fact that:’a computer is outdated the day u purchase it n bring it home’ .that might be a lil exaggeration.but reality bites u see.bcoz u have so many new technologies coming up every day.
just as an example.earlier there was a problem of buffer underrun in many CD writers.now they have introduced seamless link technology which makes your writer buffer under run proof.n yr CD’s dont get spoilt. nywayz .from my own experience n mistakes.i m telling u a few pointz which possibly might help u:
1) decide on type of computer u want?
simple n basic office computer(around Rs. 20, 000)
A typical home PC.(thiz iz the most popular segment) with more weightage to multimedia(Rs 30, 000)
A power PC.if u r a game or music addict.in this case u will have to invest more on motherboard, RAM, graphics card, sound card, and speakers)(ard Rs. 35 K - 45 K) the prices are rough estimates.n type of PC is solely determined by your budget.n it always makes sense to spend a few bucks more n buy a good PC rather than repenting n crying afterwards.Buy as costly a PC as u can afford!
2) Branded v/s unbranded . It depends on your technical background. n your buddet
Branded PC’s:
No frequent crashes.All components of your computer are fine tuned to work with each other.
generally they are trouble free.a good computer wil give u real peace of mind.while a bad computer will eat away every piece of mind.So if u dont have anyone technical in your family.who can troubleshoot computers.then its really wise to go for a branded computer.
If u r purchasing a branded computer.u have to be dependent on sales n service provided by the company.When the warranty is over, they might persuade u to avail of their maintainence contracts.n charges for such a contract are not very cheap.Also.u cannot get your comp serviced from a local vendor.u have to necessarily depend on the company people(in most cases).many a times, these people quote very high’visit charges’.n they tend to extract money under one pretext or the other.After sales services can sometimes be very erratic.
all the components of a paricular brand may not be the best.also they are costlier around 5000 to 10, 000 bucks.!
Unbranded / assembled:
1) U have the flexibility of choosing your own components from the best brands available in the market.(Eg: creative sound card, GE force graphics card, D link modem.n so on)u can get an ideal combination of components best suited to your needs.they r lighter on pockets also.!
2) Components may not match with each other.this might lead to frequent crashes n breakdowns.u must have heard people saying’mera hard disk crash ho gaya’.n stuff like that.
3) be careful of fake components.look out for hologram, box pack, date of manufacture, driver Cd’s whenever u buy a product .see the details on website n compare it with what u have purchased.if u r buying componenets separately n assembling on your own.purchase from authorised dealers only.
4) preferaly get it assembled from a person.who iz your close fren or relative.n whom u know ell.so that u will b ensured of good after sales support. there r still few more points .but I guess I have to cut it short.
5) Even after installing comp.a lil time is needed.ard 3-4 months to perfectly set up the computer, optimize bios settings etc.
Technical Aspects:
1) Do not compromise on motherboard.many people( in india especially) dont give importance to motherboard.n that’s where they screw up the entire thing.
If u r a normal home / power user.look out for features like.memory bandwidth, FSB supported, AGP 2X, 4X mode, no of PCI slots, SMPS ouput.(thiz iz necessary if u want to put additional componenets later on .lik extra hard disk, extra fans.), TYPE of memory suported, No of ports, n overall performance rating.(motherboards from MSI r pretty decent with nice features.for P 4)
2) If u r a music addict consider investing more in a good sound card n set of speakers.u can also connest your comp to your deck/music system.
3) if you r a game addict see to it that u take a very hi end motherbard with good bandwidth, DDR/RD ram, n a hi end graphics CARd, like Ge force 4. n a pentium 4 CPU of course.
anywayz. my review is turning into a page of newspaper.i will stop here.lol any more advice if required.feel free to contact me.