How To Choose Desktop Computer

In this era, computers are almost be our primary needs after eat, house and clothes. As we know,so many brands and specifications of computers, desktop personal computers (desktop pc) or notebook, netbook are available on the market. So when we want to buy new desktop pc, we should think the cost, and what the computer is used for, related to computer's specification.

Here is little guide how to choose new desktop computer:

1. Windows XP or Vista?

Microsoft Windows Vista is here and if we were looking for a new PC that is what I would choose. Unless you want to run software that you know will not run with Vista (check for updates from the software manufacturer) then why go for the older technology? XP will be obsolete sooner rather than later. Vista looks and feels better and has better integrated security.

Vista Home Premium has all the features a home user could want including Media Center, Windows Aero desktop, DVD and Movie Makers. If you do not need those extra facilities then save a few pounds with Vista Business or Basic.

You can go to microsoft webpage to see specifications of Microsoft XP and Vista.

2. How Much Memory Do I Need?

Most PCs are now sold with 1GB of Ram and if using Vista we would not look at anything with less than this, it should be Dual Channel DDR2 SDRAM. Personally we would insist on 2GB for a Vista machine. The minimum for an XP machine should be 512MB, but preferably 1GB.

It staggers us when we see Vista PCs for sale with just 512MB of RAM, it is not enough and in my opinion these laptops are being miss-sold. If you have found yourself in the unfortunate position of owning such a machine then you need to upgrade your memory.

3. Hard Drive Size

Hard drives these days are massive and cheap so 80GB is the minimum you should expect. Preferably Serial ATA (SATA). Some machines come with dual hard drives which may or may not be mirrored in a RAID array. A second hard drive is great for backups and the mirrored raid array means you have two identical hard drives, should one fail.

4. Standard Specifications.

These are the specifications that any modern PC should be supplied with.

• Built in 100MHz Network Card.
• DVD±RW Drive.
• High Speed USB2 Ports.
• Built in Sound Card.