Home Reviews HowTo	How to buy a computer. When should you move up the line (higher performance), or down the line (lower cost), and why? Where are the best values? Where should you spend your money? Always keep in mind that buying a computer is about cost tradeoffs. There are low-end, high-end and midrange computer systems.
	In general if you are going to be using your machine professionally (and for many hours a day), then you should be starting near the top end (fastest) computers.
In general if you are a newbie (just starting out), and you want to learn computers -- but you are going to use it mainly for a bit of word-processing, web-browsing and email, then you should start thinking towards the bottom of the product lines. If it takes you 2 or 3 years to outgrow the current machine, then by then you'll be able to buy a new machine that will be far better (for far less cost) than you would have 2 or 3 years earlier. That means that most of us are somewhere in the middle. Midrange machines almost always offer the best value, with a combination of flexibility and performance. As you buy towards "cutting edge" and fast, you are actually getting less extra performance per dollar. The extra performance can easily be justified by professionals -- but most people can only justify buying the top end if they are doing very specific things that demand all that performance (or they just want to have the "very best" for ego reasons). Many sales people will always try to start you at the top. If you do not use your machine for anything other than emails and web surfing, don't be talked into spending more money that you can afford. Special needs Some things you want to do with computers will force you up the product line. If you are going to be doing Video Production,  high end Sound Production, Graphics (Image editing, or very large illustration or CAD), Programming (of large projects), 3D, or Virtual Reality -- then odds are you are going to need a lot of horsepower -- and a faster computer. Things like Word-Processing (and general office stuff), basic browsing, email and so on, then you probably don't need too much machine. Most games, like strategy, role playing, board games, 2D Games, aren't that processor intensive any more. The middle of the line computer is just fine. But hard-core 3D Gamers or Flight-Simulator type games require all the power that you can give them. Simulator type games also depend heavily on a good graphics/video card so for gaming, I would choose a mid-end machine with an excellent video card, over a high end machine with a lower quality graphics/video card. How long will it last? In general if you are the type that is likely to buy a machine every two to four years, then you don't need the high end.  You will be replacing it soon anyway, so why spend the extra money? If you are a person that is unlikely to upgrade or replace your machine, then definitely consider moving up the product line. For most people, your peripherals will have a longer life span that your computer. Many people will carry-over a monitor or printer from one system to the next.  Consider moving down in the CPU costs, if it means spending more on quality peripherals that are likely to be used longer anyway. Computer technology is growing faster than peripheral technology, so your CPU is more likely to be obsolete first. People also tend to not put enough value in their monitors -- they buy nice computers and crappy monitors that are blurry. Then they stare at that ugly monitor for the next few years. The monitor is really worth spending a little money on to get something you like. Storage Storage prices are always dropping in cost. So you want to watch "overbuying". In the 3 or 4 years when you outgrow what you have, it will cost 1/2 as much money for twice as much storage. People are starting to do many things at once, especially on the Internet (like email, chatting, newsgroups, browsing, and so on -- all at the same time). I would recommend a minimum of 256 megabytes of RAM. You can get by with less -- but the time costs of an upgrade (and money costs if you have someone else do it) makes it worth while to just get enough RAM in the first place. People usually underbuy RAM. If you are doing Graphics (Photos or 3D), Video or Sound, then you certainly should consider even more RAM. Hard drives.  Most people I know could easily get by on a 6 Gigabyte (or less) Hard Drive but they spend extra money to upgrade from the 6 Gig to the 30 Gig model.  If you are doing a lot of Audio or Video Production then you might need it -- but most don't. Some Professionals (publishing or graphics editing) could use it. Unless you know you need the storage, you probably do not. Removable storage. I try to teach people to make a "files" or "documents" folder, and save all of their files in their, and then back that folder up regularly. Applications can be reinstalled, but recreating your data can be impossible!  Make a little list of what is most important to you. Which peripherals do you want, which do you need. How much memory and performance do you need (and want). Then go out and buy a computer accordingly. Each option that you are "adding" (like more speed) should make you think about whether that amount of upgrade could be better spent on another aspect of computing (for you). Never let me (or anyone else) tell you what you need to buy. Consider any advice as exactly that - advice. Learn as much as you can about what you need and then go buy your computer.