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Getting The Right PC
Getting The Right PC - PCSTATS
With hardware prices dropping down every week, and hardware speeds jumping up, you can't help to think about buying or upgrading your computer.
Filed under: Editorial Published:  Author: 
External Mfg. Website: various Apr 16 2001   J. Robbins  
Home > Reviews > Editorial > various

With hardware prices dropping down every week, and hardware speeds jumping up, you can't help to think about buying or upgrading your computer. Technology as always, is moving too fast for our wallets so when looking for a new computer you need something to last for a good amount of time without having to upgrade it weekly. You need the "right" PC.

Having the "right" PC does not mean having the "best" PC; it just means that you have a computer that is attributed to your personal PC lifestyle. Knowing your PC lifestyle is very important. Lots of money could be thrown away if you don't recognize what you are going to be doing with your new computer.

With that in mind we're going to try and guide you towards this goal by breaking down what hardware is best for you based on those three different PC lifestyles. We've randomly chosen several online computer retailers to help give you an idea of where to go should you want to pick up your parts online.

What we hope to accomplish with each of these lifestyles, is just to explain what kind of components we think would be best (based on price primarily) for that setup, and to offer a few online places to purchase them. Obviously, if you're building your own computer you may want to substitute one part for another, but if you've never built a computer before, consider this a jumping off point for what you'll need to get.

The Family Computer:

The first lifestyle is the Family oriented PC. A family PC is one that will be used by everyone in the household. The PC does not need the "top of the line" hardware, but does need parts that will last them a good while, without upgrading too often. Based on the family budget, the PC also needs to be inexpensive, but with sacrificing quality. Below is a guide to each part of what a family PC could look like.

PART NAME PRICE ONLINE SOURCE

COMBO- Pentium III 866/ECS M694/Fan

$231.00

CompuBuzz

3D Blaster 32MB TNT2

$65.00

Alvio

128 MB PC133 SDRAM

$29.00

1st Choice Memory

HP 17" Monitor

$149.00

Global Economy

Ensoniq PCI 32bit/128 voice Sound Card

$24.00

MegaMax

Western Digital 20GB 7200RPM Hard Drive

$100.00

PCProgress

Microsoft Keyboard/Mouse

$29.00

PCProgress

Samsung 52x CD-ROM

$32.00

Ibuyer

NEC 3.5" Floppy Disk

$8.00

PricePC

Yamaha 3-piece Speakers

$42.00

PC Webshopper

Case - ATX/250W

$24.99

Ibuyer

Sony 12x8x32 CD-RW

$104.00

House Of Computers

TOTAL COST

$837.99

Again, you want each piece of a family computer to last a long time, but also to be inexpensive. The Pentium III processor will last a family a good amount of time, especially the 866MHz flavour. More often than not, someone in the family will be playing computer games, and in order to do so, you will need at least a 32MB TNT2 to play the most recent video games. Listening to music is also important to a computer use for a family, so a decent sound card and some speakers are essential. I added the CD Recorder because families love to burn their own MP3 albums; this cost can be marked as optional if you don't plan to burn CDs. The above personal computer should last a family a good few years with quality performance.

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Contents of Article: various
 Pg 1.  — Getting The Right PC
 Pg 2.  The Gamer's Computer:
 Pg 3.  The Tech-Guru's Computer:

 
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