From the December,
1997 PC Alamode: |
The Christmas season started early this year; I saw seasonal paraphernalia
as early as September. Once again, merchants are eager to sell you a new
computer for a Christmas gift. The good news: This is the best time ever
to buy a new computer. Prices are at an all-time low, and it's almost impossible
to buy an underpowered computer. But it's still important to shop carefully
to get the features best suited to your computer needs.
Macintosh or PC?There are two varieties of computers currently in most stores: the PC and the Apple Macintosh. While the Macintosh is a fine computer, its market share is dropping and Apple's future has been questioned by industry analysts. Therefore, I would advise you to think very carefully before investing in a new Macintosh.Desktop or laptop?Assuming you decide to get a PC, there are two basic models to consider: the laptop and the desktop. The laptop is a portable version, which lets you pack it into a briefcase-size case and accompanies you wherever your business takes you. A laptop is usually considerably more expensive than a similarly-equipped desktop machine, and is often slower. Laptops have plenty of features, but since their parts are virtually all proprietary, it's very hard and expensive to upgrade a laptop, unless you can find your desired improvement in the form of a PC Card, the externally accessible expansion slots for a laptop. For practical purposes, this limits you to upgrading a modem, network interface card, memory, or adding a new interface like a SCSI (small computer support interface) card.Most desktop machines, on the other hand, are easy to update or expand. Desktop computers can have cases that are either horizontal or upright (sometimes referred to as mini-towers) and can go under your desk as well as on top of it, but the genre is still known as desktop computers. These machines contain a motherboard which contains all the main circuitry and holds the chips which control the operation of the hardware. Motherboards have expansion slots, which are connectors into which you can plug various cards, including video interfaces, sound cards, disk controllers, network interface cards, proprietary cards for external devices like scanners, and upgrade input/output cards that add a new feature like the universal serial bus (USB) to your computer. Desktop computers tend to be faster than laptops with the same speed processor, and usually have larger monitors and keyboards, which can make them much more pleasant to use for long periods. Finally, as I mentioned earlier, feature for feature, desktops are almost always a lot cheaper than laptops. You pay for the portability. So unless you really need to take your computer with you as you travel, stick with a desktop model. Buying strategicallyI advise two underlying strategies for buying a computer: (1) buy for the future and (2) buy for Windows 98 or Windows NT 5.0. A computer becomes obsolete before you get it unpacked, but it should be useful for at least two years after its purchase. Then you should evaluate new software on the market and new features available to see if you need to upgrade. Upgrades to individual components like disk drives or sound cards can keep your computer modernized between complete replacements, so it's very important that your computer be expandable. Avoid computers with proprietary parts that you can get only from the manufacturer, usually at high prices.Buying for Windows is a no-brainer, since that is essentially the only operating system that you can find, and all software development seems focused on Windows. But there are two versions available for PCs: Windows 95 (someday to be updated to Windows 98) and Windows NT. The latter is more stable and more secure, but lacks important features found in Windows 95/98. Next year, a substantially improved version of Windows NT, version 5.0, should bring most of the convenience features to NT. Microsoft advises that the future of the Windows operating system is NT, so you may want to start thinking in terms of migrating to NT. The only drawback is that NT requires heftier hardware, especially memory. Whereas Windows 95's optimum memory size is 48 MB, Windows NT likes all the memory you can afford, and keeps speeding up as you feed it more memory. So if NT is in your future, be sure your computer allows plenty of memory expansion. Computer speedYou will want the fastest computer within the constraints of your budget and desired feature set. Programs get slower as they add more features. Several factors affect the perceived speed of your computer. By perceived speed, I mean the overall speed with which your computer reacts to and executes your instructions. Processor speed is one, but others can have just as much influence. The amount of memory in your computer, the graphics adapter, and the hard drive all have a readily apparent effect on your computer's perceived speed. Let's examine each of these factors in greater detail.ProcessorsThe chips that actually do the "thinking" inside your computer are called processors. Sometimes you will see them referred to as central processing units, or CPUs. A substantial part of the cost of your computer goes towards the processor chip. Although most processors are made by Intel, competitors from AMD and Cyrix cost less and perform well.Intel sets the standard for processor labeling, which currently is rather confusing. Let's examine some of the identifying labels that Intel uses. Cyrix and AMD tend to use labels on their processors that denote their performance relative to Intel chips. The Intel 80486 chip (sometimes called just a 486) is essentially obsolete, but can still be found if you look hard. Don't go there. Not only is the chip obsolete, the support chips and supporting circuitry tend to be older versions that are no longer available. The Pentium chip replaced the 80486 and is also now essentially obsolete. It has been replaced with a Pentium with MMX™. MMX stands for MultiMedia eXtensions, and denotes chips with additional instruction sets that make multimedia material play faster and more smoothly. Except for multimedia, there's only a slight performance gain for an MMX Pentium over a standard Pentium. And except for games, not much software uses MMX - yet. That could change. Since it's hard to find a non-MMX Pentium, don't go looking for one. The Pentium Pro was Intel's next chip after the Pentium, as is a substantially more sophisticated chip designed to run 32-bit operating systems like Windows NT. The Pentium Pro is not MMX-equipped, but is easily the fastest chip Intel has made. The 200-MHz version is the fastest one, and it runs as fast as the newer Pentium II 300 MHz model. The Pentium II is Intel's latest chip, and is equipped with MMX. Unlike the Pentium Pro, it runs 16-bit applications and operating systems (like Windows 95) as fast as 32-bit systems. The Pentium Pro must be a surprise to Intel, since they thought it would die off when they quit developing new versions. But its inherent speed makes it the processor of choice for servers, and Intel recently acknowledged that by releasing a new version that works even better in servers. It still doesn't have MMX capability, nor clock speeds faster than 200 MHz. It isn't as good a choice for a home computer as a Pentium II. Cyrix and AMD chips also have MMX capability, and substantially match Pentium II performance in most important respects. And they cost less, resulting in overall lower system prices. AMD has a better track record for reliability. Their K6 chip seems to match the Pentium II for speed, also. Buying advice: when it comes to recommending a processor, the only distinguishing factor is speed. I would suggest getting a system with a Pentium MMX or AMD K6 chip with as fast a speed as your budget allows. They are both available in speed ratings up to 233 MHz. That's fast. For NT users, the Pentium II is the best choice. RAMA factor that can be as influential as processor speed on the overall speed of your computer is the random access memory, or RAM. This is the part of the computer where the processor temporarily stores information while it's "thinking." When you turn off your computer, you lose all the information that is stored in RAM. Today's software uses RAM hungrily, so it's hard to have too much. As I mentioned earlier, the optimum amount of RAM for Windows 95 is 48 MB; above that, it actually starts operating more slowly. Windows NT just keeps working faster as you add more RAM.The absolute minimum amount of RAM you should consider is 16 MB, with 24 MB or 32 MB being common and better. For Windows NT, 32 MB is a realistic minimum, although it will run (slowly) with 16 MB. Fortunately, RAM is cheap. If you buy a computer with 16 MB of RAM and want more, buy it along with your computer and ask your vendor to install it free, and include it as part of the warranty. There are two types of RAM currently found on today's computers: EDO (extended data output) and SDRAM (synchronous dynamic RAM). The latter is faster, but costs more. When adding more RAM, make sure you add the same type already in your computer. If you decide to replace your EDO RAM with SDRAM to eke out a few percent better performance (not the best investment you could make), be sure your motherboard supports SDRAM. Hard drivesA hard drive, or hard disk, is the device that stores your information permanently. When you turn off your computer, the information stored on your hard drive is not lost, but is available for use at a later date. A hard drive is an electromechanical device, and its apparent speed is based on how fast it can find and retrieve (or write) information to the drive.There are two types of hard drives, with funny names: EIDE (which stands for enhanced integrated drive electronics) and SCSI (for small computer support interface). A full explanation of these two drive types would require me to lapse into geek-speak, but here's the basic distinction: EIDE drives are usually considerably cheaper than equal-sized SCSI drives, while SCSI drives are often faster than EIDE drives. Virtually all home and small-business computers use EIDE drives, while network server computers almost always use SCSI drives. Hard drives come in sizes ranging from 540 MB up to 23 GB. The largest drives (above 9 GB) tend to be SCSI types, which are great for use on a server. Home and small-business computers have to make do with drives of only (!) 9 GB or less. Larger drives tend to be a little faster, but there are exceptions. Look at the speed rating for the drive in a computer you are considering. Some drives, like the Quantum Bigfoot series are very slow but offer a terrific amount of storage space for their price. Fast drives are not that much more expensive, so avoid the slow ones. How big is big enough? Buying advice: don't consider a drive smaller than 2 GB in size, with 3 to 4 GB being a comfortable size for most of us. Larger drives cost very little more, so if you think you will be creating or collecting a lot of data, get a big one. Floppy drivesThe 3½ inch floppy drive is standard on all computers today, but is limited to files no larger than 1.44 MB. That's not adequate for storing many files. A variation of the 3½ inch floppy drive called the LS-120 drive reads and writes on both the standard 3½ inch floppy disks, and a larger 120-MB disk. Once (but no longer) supported by Compaq, this is a good idea, but seems to be failing commercially.Buying advice: stick with a standard floppy drive. Video adapterThe video adapter (also referred to as the video controller or just the video card) is the device that generates the signal that is displayed on your monitor. Building a complex graphic image requires a lot of computing power and can take a lot of time. Most video adapters have on-board processors designed especially for creating graphic images, and at least 1 MB of RAM, which may be a specialized type.There are three interrelated parameters you need to keep in mind when evaluating a video adapter:
Buying advice: your video adapter needs at least 2 MB of RAM in and should support a resolution of 1024X768 pixels at a vertical refresh rate of 72 Hz. In all cases, bigger numbers are better. If you want to do serious graphics work, you will need a faster, higher-resolution system. MonitorsThe video adapter generates the graphic image, but the monitor displays it. Therefore, it's essential to be sure the monitor and the video adapter are compatible. Monitors range in size from 14 inches to 42 inches, measured diagonally. Like TVs, these sizes are actually tube measurements, so accompanying the nominal monitor size is an actual measurement of how much of the tube you can actually see. All monitor measurements are taken diagonally.Windows uses a graphical user interface, or GUI, so the size and quality of the monitor is important. Many computer systems are sold without monitors, so you're probably on your own when choosing one. Keep in mind that it's not necessary to buy a monitor made by the same company that made your computer. So if you buy a Hewlett-Packard computer, you can buy a monitor from another company. Of course, some companies' computers have proprietary features that may make their monitors better matches. Fourteen-inch monitors are for budget systems only; 15-inch monitors cost only slightly more and display more detail. Serious Windows systems will use 17-inch or larger monitors, and fortunately, prices of larger monitors is finally dropping. But there are still some really lousy monitors on the market, which will fatigue your eyes and obscure fine detail. Besides the size, there are two parameters that are important to consider when buying a monitor: dot pitch and vertical refresh rate, which we discussed in the video adapter section. The dot pitch is a measure of how fine-grained the monitor display is. Typical monitors have a dot pitch of .28 mm. Smaller numbers indicate even finer resolution, but for most purposes, .28 mm is fine. Beware larger numbers, which can still be found on really cheap monitors. Some even have .39 mm dot pitches, which can seriously strain your eyes. Vertical refresh rates are inversely related to the resolution of the picture. The standard VGA display invented by IBM years ago is 640X480 picture elements, or pixels. This resolution doesn't display much information, but is about all you could stand to view on a 14-inch monitor. Super-VGA displays start at 800X600 pixels and go much higher, with 1600X1200 being easily read on a good 21-inch monitor. Higher resolutions are possible on the best monitors. Refresh rates lower than 70 Hz (which means the picture on the screen is repainted 70 times each second) will produce images with annoying flicker. Be wary of systems that specify a vertical refresh rate less than 70 Hz; they will irritate your eyes. Buying advice: get a 15- or 17-inch monitor, depending on your budget. It should have a dot pitch of .28mm of less, should handle 800x600 pixel resolution (15 inch) or 1024x768 pixel resolution with at least a 72 Hz vertical refresh rate. These specifications for a video system are important, but only your eyeballs will tell you how well you'll like the monitor. If at all possible, find a monitor you're interested and see how it looks with the type of software you will actually use. Many stores just display graphic images on their monitors, which don't tell you how well a monitor will display text, for example. If you can't see a monitor before you buy it, make sure you have no-cost return rights. Input/output devicesAside from the monitor, other important input/output devices are the keyboard and the mouse. The keyboard is the principal input device, and should be comfortable over a period of time. Some people have difficulty using a standard keyboard, but there are a variety of ergonomic keyboards, which are curved at the bottom, and have the right-hand and left-hand keys angled so the hand isn't strained. Some also have built-in touchpads to move the pointer.The mouse is another important input/output device. It is an essential tool for Windows. There are tons of different mouse designs, but the latest type has a wheel between the buttons, which is used to scroll up and down a document without having to use the scroll bar. Microsoft didn't invent the design, but popularized it. Now companies like Logitech and several minor manufacturers are incorporating the wheel in their mouse designs. Buying advice: input/output devices produce highly personal reactions, so find a display model of a device you are considering and see how it feels to you. Major companies like Microsoft and Logitech charge more for their mice and trackballs, but they tend to last longer. Multimedia featuresOnce a special, expensive feature used primarily in games, multimedia is now standard. Used in reference works, training material, and even in Help files, multimedia makes computing fun. There are two components traditionally required for multimedia: the CD-ROM drive and the sound card.CD-ROM drivesThese drives play CD-ROM discs (that's the correct spelling), now the preferred medium for software distribution, games and reference works. CD-ROM drives are available in a variety of speeds, which are based on an X-factor. The X refers to the original speed of a CD-ROM drive, which transferred data at 150 KB per second. A 2X drive transfers data at 300 MB per second, while a current speed champion, the 24X drive, transfers data at up to 3600 KB per second. Actually, drives over 12X measure their speed a little differently, so the designated speed ratings are seldom achieved. Still, CD-ROM drives are slow compared to a hard drive, so get the fastest one you can. Most new computers have CD-ROMs with at least 16X speed, which should satisfy most users.Sound systemsActually, the circuitry that produces sound from your computer may be built into the motherboard, but that's a technicality. Basically, a sound card lets you playback recorded sound files, record new sound files (which you can embed in a document, presentation, or even an e-mail message), and play audio CDs. Many sound cards also have joystick controllers built in.A sound card may produce sounds with an FM synthesizer chip, which sounds very unrealistic with instrumental music, or with a wavetable, which are recordings of actual instruments, which sound like real instruments. Creative Labs, Inc. makes a very popular line of sound card called SoundBlaster™. This has become an industry standard, so whatever card you get should be SoundBlaster compatible. Chance are high that your computer will included a real SoundBlaster card. Their AWE models denote wavetable versions. Some Cyrix CPUs are incompatible with SoundBlaster cards. Buying advice: depending on how concerned you are about playing computer sound files, get the suitable SoundBlaster card. Just like your home audio system, a computer sound system needs speakers to play its output. Many computer systems skimp on speakers, but that's a very subjective decision. The best speaker systems usually have two separate speakers and a common bass speaker, called (erroneously) a subwoofer. Some of these three-piece speaker systems produce very decent sounds, while others are not so good. I like the speakers from Cambridge Audio, and some from Altec Lansing, but there are some great speakers from other brands. Buying advice: listen to the speakers using a CD of your favorite music and form your own judgement. If you're using your computer in an office environment, you may want to limit your speakers to avoid annoying your coworkers. Perhaps even substituting earphones would be advisable to maintain a peaceful coexistence. FaxmodemsThese are either cards that go inside your computer or boxes that connect via serial cables to the serial port of your computer, and enable it to communicate with other computers or fax machines. Although the fastest faxmodems are rated at 56 KBps, they can't work at speeds faster than 53 KBps, and may not work any faster than the next speed rating, 33.6 KBps, depending on your telephone system. The fax section communicates with either other computers, or with standard fax machines.Buying advice: since they don't cost much more, you might as well get a 56 KBps modem. They are becoming common in new computers. New FeaturesSome computers may have one or more of these features, which are relatively new.Universal Serial Bus (USB). This is a new type of connector that is faster and easier to use than the standard parallel and serial ports. There currently aren't many peripheral equipment items to plug into a USB, so they won't do you much good now; but in a year or so, there should be plenty of external devices, like monitors, cameras, scanners - almost every type of device that you plug into your computer - available for use. And a few years beyond that, the USB will replace the current connectors for your printer, mouse, keyboard, monitor - everything will plug into a single connector, which will allow you to add or remove devices while your computer is running. DVD (Digital Versatile Disc). This disc looks like a CD, but has much higher storage capacity. Designed primarily as a vehicle for prerecorded movies, the DVD will make a great storage medium for computer data - someday. Right now, you're limited to movies, which look great on DVDs. But most of us prefer to watch movies on our TVs, and many companies will gladly sell you a DVD player designed for that purpose. Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP). This is a specialized circuit on some new motherboards which handles graphics faster than the current designs. It requires a special graphics adapter, which only fits in the AGP connector. AGP adapters are not very common yet, and the first ones haven't lived up to their promise. But few devices deliver top performance without a little fine tuning. PrintersThe paperless society is closer, but still a long way off. Printer makers keep offering us better and cheaper printers to make creating gorgeous printed documents fun. There are two types of printers currently competing for your purchase dollar: the laser and the inkjet. They are comparable in price, but the big differences are that inkjets produce full-color output, while lasers produce better-quality text. Inkjets do text well, but may need special, expensive paper to produce their best color images. And the overall cost of using an inkjet printer is much higher than a laser, due to the price of ink, which drives up the cost per page.Buying advice: if you want a printer primarily for business correspondence, get a laser. It passes the résumé test handily (résumé test: would you send a résumé printed on this printer to a company you want a job with?), and produces correspondence that you would not hesitate to send to important clients. For home use, a color inkjet printer is fine, and the best ones produce text that nearly equals lasers. And kids like the ability to create full-color pages. So do adults, for that matter. Backup tapesOne of the most useful add-ons you can buy is a backup tape drive. A tape drive lets you make a copy of the programs and data on your hard drive and store it away for safekeeping. So if your hard drive crashes, if a file is accidentally erased, if you install a bigger hard drive, or (heaven forbid) if your computer is stolen, you can reinstall everything on your computer from the tape. Tapes are cheap, so you can buy several and rotate them to maintain several backup sets.Tape drives come in two versions: internal and external. Internal models mount in an expansion slot near your floppy drive and accept tapes from the front of your computer. External drives can plug into a parallel port or, if you have one, a SCSI port. The advantages of an internal tape drive are its cost (cheaper) and its neater appearance. The advantages of the external model are ease of connection (you don't have to open up your computer to install it) and ease of sharing (you can use the drive with several different computers, including laptops). Tape drives come with backup software that is usually easy to use. Tape drives are slow, so you may want to make a backup set at night or when you are away for several hours. Buying advice: get some sort of backup tape drive and use it frequently. If you get one whose storage capacity exceeds the size of your hard drive, you won't have to swap tapes, so can make a completely unattended backup. Just start it off and come back in a few hours to a completed job. ScannersOnce cursed with very high prices, scanners have enjoyed the same precipitous price decreases as other computer items. A scanner is a device that takes a piece of paper and produces a digital image of it inside your computer. You can then use the image in your documents or graphics. If the scanned image contains text, specialized software called optical character recognition programs can convert it into real computer text, which you can edit with a standard word processor. Many scanners provide OCR software as part of their standard package.If the image is a picture, scanners create a file in a graphics program, where you can touch it up it for best appearance. Scanners come in two configurations: flatbed and sheetfed. Sheetfed scanners are similar to fax machines in that they let you place a stack of pages in a feeder tray and then scan them all automatically. That's great, but what if you want to scan a page in a book? You either have to rip out the page, or make a copy on an office copier. So a flatbed scanner, which looks like the manual copy platen on an office copier is preferable for this sort of scanning. Flatbed scanners come in higher-resolution versions, making them suitable for serious graphics work. Buying advice: if you need a scanner (and you may not), get a flatbed model that provides at least 300x600 dots per inch and 24-bit color. If you don't want to open up your computer to install a controller card, get a scanner that plugs into your printer port. It will be slower, but installation is a breeze. Combination scanners, printers, faxes, copiersMost printer companies make single machines that perform all the above functions. They cost less than buying all the equivalent devices separately, and take up lots less space on your desk. The fax function usually work like a stand-alone fax machine, so you don't need to leave your computer on for the fax to work. Drawbacks? The scanner and printer functions in combination machines are often lower quality than separates. But more important to me is what happens if the device breaks. If your stand alone scanner breaks, you can send it in for repair and still use your printer and fax. But if a combination machine breaks, you lose much greater capability.SoftwareYou use software, and your software uses your computer. So getting a job done depends on selecting the right software. Unfortunately, most computers you get today don't have much software included with them, and even those with big software bundles may not offer much value. So you need to set aside part of your computer budget for the software you need to do the job for which you buy your computer.If you want to perform standard office tasks, companies like Lotus, Corel, and Microsoft offer office "suites," or bundles of their top-line productivity software at good prices. Such suites typically contain word processors, spreadsheets, databases, presentation programs, and personal information managers (PIMs). Microsoft owns about 75% of the suite market, and offers several versions, some tailored for home use. For less demanding users of office software, Microsoft offers its Works program with a word processor, spreadsheet, database, and communications program for about $45, while Claris offers similar functions in it ClarisWorks program at a slightly higher cost. One absolutely essential software purchase inexplicably omitted from most new computers is an antivirus program. I urge you to make this your first purchase after you buy a new computer. Viruses are programs written by people with diseased minds specifically to harm your computer. My virus checker has over 12,000 viruses on its list, which indicates the magnitude of the threat. With the Internet offering access to lots of files, the virus threat is greater than ever. I'll leave it to our virus protection professional, Randy Waters, to illuminate the advantages of specific virus checker programs. Buying advice: get a virus checker program from a major company (like IBM, Symantec, or McAfee) and set it to run in the background. While these aren't the only programs you should consider, be sure your virus checker program provides free, frequent updates to its virus signature list. The best program in the world is useless if it can't recognize the latest viruses, and the signature lists are the way the programs recognize viruses. Utility programs can help you maintain the health of your computer and do other housekeeping chores like remove unwanted programs. Communications programs can improve on your fax operations, file transfers, and e-mail capability. Graphics programs range from simple photo scanning software to complex professional designer tools. Educational software uses multimedia to help you learn a huge variety of skills, from operating your latest software to speaking a new language. Then there is the most popular type of computer program: the game. Games extend your multimedia capabilities to the max. The multimedia CD-ROM is a great way to package information, and is used for thousands of reference works. Multimedia encylopedias are much easier and more fun to use than printed versions, and often have equivalent content. Map programs let you find an address anywhere in the US. The list of educational programs is enormous, and multimedia features make learning more fun. Where should you buy?Lots of folks are eager to sell you that new computer. Let's examine some sources and their advantages and drawbacks.Electronics/Office Products storesStores like Best Buy, Circuit City, Office Depot and OfficeMax have extensive selections of computers and software. They may also have maintenance shops which can fix your computer when it breaks, and install expansion device for you. Their prices are highly competitive. Their employees' knowledge of computers is often limited (even nonexistent), so don't expect much help explaining the features of different models.Computer SuperstoresCompUSA and Computer City dealMail-orderSuccessful mail-order companies like Dell and Gateway don't build a computer until you place your order. That lets you specify the exact features you want in your computer, and not pay for other features that you don't care about. Direct marketing (another name for mail order) has been so successful that Dell is the leading supplier of computers for the Fortune 500. Better mail-order companies have excellent tech support, often open 24-hours a day via a toll-free number. Prices are very competitive, and because of the direct distribution to the customer, new features usually appear in mail-order computers first.The principle drawback to mail-order sales is that if your computer truly breaks, you have to ship it back to the manufacturer, although on-site service may be offered by some companies. Another drawback is waiting time for tech support. It's not uncommon to hear of hour-long waits. It's really difficult to generalize here, and unfair to companies that provide rapid access to tech support. Local computer specialistsThese are the small shops, many of whom advertise in PC Alamode, that build a computer to your specific requirements. I have bought two computers from local shops, and have received the best tech support I have received from any source. Their prices are generally quite low, and if your computer breaks, you have a local repair shop to deal with. Local shops also perform a service that no one else will: upgrading an existing computer. Perhaps you don't need a completely new computer, when a new motherboard will give you the performance you want.Drawbacks? Because of distribution channels and order quantity, local builders are last to get the latest technology, so if you want the latest and greatest technology, look elsewhere. On the other hand, that may be an advantage, because by the time technology reaches a local dealer, the bugs have been worked out. Another potential drawback is the longevity of the shop. There has been a fairly high mortality in small computer businesses in San Antonio, and it would be nice if your dealer was still open for business when you need service. On the other hand, these shop use standard parts, which can be found easily if you need service from someone else. Ask someone who has a Compaq or Packard Bell computer how easy it is to find their proprietary parts, and how expensive those parts are. SummaryTo reiterate, this is a great time to buy a computer. I'll probably say the same thing next year, and it will probably be true then, too. The above thoughts make some generalizations and simplifications, but I think they will help understand the often very technical topics. Good hunting! |