1.2: Buying a computer

1
1.2 Buying a computer

• The PC market and its terminology
• Considerations when going out to purchase
• Typical costs
• Putting a system together

2
Where do I buy?

• STOP! First, establish what you want to do with
  the computer - be honest.
• Word processing
• Handling facts and figures
• Communication
• Games

3
Where do I buy?

• The Consultant
• The Specialist Shop
• Mail-order and the box shifters

4
What do I need?

• processor
• memory (RAM)
• backing store (hard-disk)
• monitor, keyboard and mouse (joystick?)
• sound-card, speakers (microphone?)
• CD-ROM / DVD
• modem, printer, scanner,...
• USB ports, firewire, LAN

5
The Processor

• Intel Celeron 2, Pentium 4, AMD
• Speeds in MHz, e.g. 450, 500 or GHz 1.6, 2.8
• Cache memory, e.g. 128kB, 256kB, 1 mB
• Upgradeable

6
Memory

• Random Access Memory (RAM)
• 512MB is a realistic minimum today
• Has never been cheaper, e.g. lt 0.25 / MB
• Watch the type and speed, e.g. PC3200 /400Hz
• Take care over memory banks

7
Backing Store

• The hard disk
• 40GB is a realistic minimum today
• Again, has never been cheaper, e.g. 42p/GB
• Watch the controller type, e.g. EIDE, SCSI

8
Input / Output Devices

• The Monitor
• CRT or LCD
• screen size (measured diagonally), e.g. 17
• resolution (dots wide x dots high), e.g.
  1280x1024
• number of colours, e.g. 256, 64,000 or 16.7M(!)
• watch the dot pitch, e.g. 0.24mm (smaller best)

9
Input / Output Devices

• Keyboard standard, Microsoft natural, wireless
• Mouse standard, left-handed, cordless, optical
• Joystick, flight yoke, steering wheel

10
Multimedia

• Might opt for an MMX processor
• Sound card 16-bit, 32-bit speakers
• CD-ROM32 40-speed(also useful for installing
  software)
• DVD or DVD/CD-RW
• go for a powerful processor!

11
Other peripherals

• Modem
• the faster the modem, the lower the phone bills
• 28.8kbps, 33.6kbps and 56kbps.
• But why not ADSL?
• Scanner
• for getting photos, diagrams etc into computer
• Printer
• ink-jet cheap to buy, expensive to run, slower
• laser almost the opposite, colour v. expensive

12
1.3 Inside a computer

• Identify all the components from section 1.2
• Expansion slots
• Serial and parallel ports
• Motherboard

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1.4 Windows XP

• Points to note from the demonstration
• starting up the system and logging on
• accessing any piece of software from Start
• the operation of the WIMP interface
• switching between different tasks

14
Windows XP

• Points to note from the demonstration
• working on multiple documents
• rapid access to recently used documents
• changing the desktop appearance
• the consistent look and feel of all applications
  under the operating system