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And
Why?
Okay, Lets set some criteria for comparison.
What does a brand name mean? First off never believe what you see in a commercial. Number 1. We will assume you are like the 90% of people who want to buy a computer. You know what one is and are familiar with its day to day use. You are probably getting this to browse the web, send Email, store pictures and make cool stuff like your own music CDs or backups. Maybe you will do light bookkeeping and use it for work you have brought home. Oh... and lets not forget that you got hooked playing solitaire at work. :)
Number 2. "I heard that the new Windows is going to be for a certain processor or something, is that true?" While it has been reported that Vista will be released in a 64 bit configuration there is also a 32 bit release. "How important is that whole 64 vs. 32 stuff anyway?" Well that depends again on your answer to criteria number 1. What do you Plan to do with it. If you are looking for a system that will last you several years and keep up with the software and hardware releases then you need to think about getting a dual core 64 bit AMD machine with at least a 4 gigabyte RAM capacity. (or Single core if you don't want to spend as much) Most new software will be written to take advantage of this capability. Now as I stated above a 4 gig Ram capacity means that you will be able to upgrade that machine to 4 gig maximum of RAM. Here we come to the meat of the compatibility issue. Make sure the system you purchase uses standard Commercially available RAM. If you can't buy it at the same store you got your computer then you are going to be sorry when you go to upgrade. Some manufacturers use specific components proprietary (only for) their systems. meaning when you go to upgrade you have to pay them at what ever price they want for the part because they are the only ones who have it. There are several reputable computer manufacturers with machines that will accept "generic", for want of a better word, components. This is a very important question to ask the salesman when you purchase a new system.
Number 3. Service, Service, Service... when you run into a problem (note I said when and not if) what kind of commitment are you going to have to make monetarily, time wise and how much patience will be needed to resolve the problem? Dell made their reputation on customer service a few years back. Try to get help now from Dell and you are taking to a script reading telemarketer in Bangladesh who while speaking quite good English is completely baffled by what we Americans have done to it. If your problem does not conform to what is in his script book he can no more help you than you could help a brain surgeon. After you spend 4 hours battling culture shock and floundering trying to explain that your computer is acting funny to a person who has no idea how it is supposed to act in the first place you are then transferred to the next line of offense. If you are lucky this is an actual Technical person with some knowledge of how to think beyond the script. Meanwhile you realize you are paying $40.00 and hour to do this and could probably go buy a new computer by the time you're done. While we have to accept that outsourcing is happening we do not have to support it or suffer through it if we ask the right questions. Now you will run into that "first line of defense" telemarketer with most corporations and yes they will try to fix you by using scripts. understandably this is to weed out the easy ones so that the high paid techie can take care of the real issues. But without the language barrier this process takes considerable less time and money.
Number 4. Cost! Bang for your buck! Show me the money! While everybody loves to have that shiny new car to show off a computer is more about what is inside than outside. Several big corporations like Gateway, Hewlett Packard and Acer make some very solid machines with out all the bells and whistles. Thereby saving you money and still giving you a quality computer with the dependability of warrantees, service and upgradeability.
Okay, so now what? Ranked 1-5 for each criteria (1=Bad 5=Good) here are my recommendations by manufacturer.
I also put together really inexpensive used systems for that Email / Web browser group. Email me to see what I have available
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What
Computer should I buy?