THE Y2K HULLABALOO is over now so you may be thinking of : - Buying That Millennium Computer
The thrilling yet unnerving reality about the personal computer industry is its breakneck pace of development. Yesterday's top-of-the-line model is today's average buy and tomorrow's relic. It is often mind numbing trying to keep pace with the very latest innovations. Software programming languages and standards come into prominence and then become obsolescent in the blink of an eye: XML challenges HTML, DVD is elbowing aside CD ROM, EDO RAM is supplanted by SDRAM...and the rush forward never ends. Unlike your contented grandpa who can claim that his 1975 Ford runs just as strong (if not better) than your 1999 Honda-Civic, a four-year-old PC doesn't have half the raw computing power of the latest model. So, what's the long and short of it all? Depending on your needs, keeping a system for more than six years may just leave you too far behind the technology curve.
So, just what should you look for? What is the right' computer for you'?
Well, the answer to that question is.... Just who are you and what are
your needs? Always remember that buying a computer is very much like buying
any other product, individual needs vary greatly. A graphic artist, for
example, needs much more memory capacity than the average user while the
on-the-road Insurance executive may find a notebook computer preferable
to a desktop system. All of these variations notwithstanding, there are
a few absolutes which apply to anyone purchasing a PC system in the first
quarter of 2000: -
First and foremost, buy a system that is year 2000 compliant! Yes, the
century date change may have occurred however; there are computers that
still may not be able to recognize the dates of year 2000 and beyond.
If you are purchasing a new system, avoiding the 2000 bug problem is rather
easy: along with providing the standard 12-month parts warranty, the computer
vendor should also give a written guarantee that your computer's hardware
along with the software (programs) installed is year 2000 compliant. In
that way, if there are any millennium bugbites, you can go and bug him!
Furthermore, be sure to acquaint yourself with the precise terms of the
warranty. Some manufacturers and retailers will consider the warranty
contract void if the purchaser attempts to install hardware which was
not sold with the system. It is not uncommon that some agents will insist
that any software installed after purchase, which causes a system malfunction,
is not their responsibility in the least.
Purchase a USB (Universal Serial Bus) multimedia system. USB technology
enables several peripheral devices - such as scanners, digital cameras
and portable hard drives to be connected through one USB port without
having to install specialist circuit boards (commonly referred to as expansion
cards). At the time of writing (January 11, 2000), the minimum hardware
specifications expected on a brand new PC system are: -
A 450Megahertz Pentium III processor or its equivalent, 128 megabytes
of RAM, a 13-Gigabyte hard drive, 40 speed CD-ROM and a 56.6 KBPS fax
modem. (Remember that minimum standards in PC market are constantly being
upgraded and, by the time you read this article, 45 or 50-speed CD-ROMs,
550MHZ processors may probably be considered standard.)
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