Holiday Computer Shopping: Buyer Beware
Written by: Tom Sawyer
We are less than two weeks away from Black Friday and I’m also in the market for a laptop for my wife. That being the case, I’ve been looking at what is out there in terms of computers and just wanted to talk about some things “under the hood.”
Name Brands – name brands dictate what the outside of a computer will look like, but the guts of computers are basically the same. Computer companies like Dell buy parts in bulk so HP and Dell could be putting the same parts in their computers.
Hard Drive – they are actually putting 500GB hard drives in laptops now – that is huge compared to 5 years ago. The thing to look at when deciding on hard drives is rotations per minute (RPM). The faster a hard drive spins, the better it will perform and more power it will use. So a 5400rpm hard drive theoretically will not perform as good as a 7200rpm hard drive. Solid State Drives (SSD) are another type of hard drive with no moving parts. The lack of moving parts reduces power consumption, heat and most importantly increases speed. SSDs are still on the expensive and small side though. Prices will come down in the coming months/years.
RAM – the more the better. RAM (random access memory) is where your computer gets and stores temporary instructions. Additionally, some systems have built-in video cards meaning your video (the speed you see) could use some of your RAM. 4GB on consumer systems is not out of the ordinary now – 512MB used to be more than enough. If possible, max out the RAM when you buy and go for a video card with dedicated memory (512MB is still good for video cards). There are so many different types of RAM, I wouldn’t even try to cover each one. Matching RAM speed with bus speed is the main goal.
Processor – of course this plays an integral role in how fast a computer operates. Processors go from Intel Celeron (slow/budget) to dual core (the most common processor at this time) to quad core (think 4 processors in one) models. All these processors come in various speeds – 2.0GHz or so seems to be the sweet spot right now for a performance/price balance.
Bus – think of the bus as a street that connects all your components. Would you rather have a street (667MHz bus), a road (800MHz bus) or a highway (1066MHz bus)? A computer with a front-side bus running at 800MHz and RAM running at 667MHz would kind of defeat the purpose right?
Like always, some readers already know all this information and more, but some don’t. Wal-Mart has already sold a laptop for $300 and similar deals will be all over the place this holiday season. Matching budget, future usage and the actual hardware is what the goal should be, but sometimes cheap prices trump all. Most people don’t need, or will never use, the expensive systems, but will not be totally be happy with the cheapest computer either. Since there are so many computer configurations out there, it is helpful to know what is really being sold.
Happy shopping!
Tags: components, computer, holiday sales
November 16th, 2008 at 2:37 am
Well buying a laptop or computer is like making an investment worth a small fortune. I myself am looking for one right now and I’m trying to find the right balance between specs and price.
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November 16th, 2008 at 8:48 am
Tom,
Great information. The only other thing I would mention would be the grim reality of dare I say those three dirty little words, Mail In Rebate. I just recently purchased Compaq laptop for over $600 but after sending in and receiving three rebates I ended up getting it for $399. So yes, they are a pain but if you pay close attention to detail you will get that money in the mail.
Couple of quick tips for Mail in Rebates:
1.) Make copies of EVERYTHING! (UPC, reciepts, and rebate submission forms) I keep a small yellow folder with all of the copies until I get the checks in hand.
2.) Read the rebate form at least three times. Manufactures love people who overlook small details because they can refuse the rebate.
3.) Send the rebates out Priority mail with delivery confirmation. There is less of a risk of your rebate forms will get lost in the mail and you’ll know when they reach the destination. This is more important with expensive electronics that carry large rebates.
4.) Try and forget about the rebate, it will show up quicker when your not counting down the days.
November 16th, 2008 at 10:19 am
You are right and we must understand what spending initially can do. $50 or $100 more, at the time of purchase, could mean PC will last for 6 months to a year longer. When I say last I mean the user will be satisfied with the computer’s performance.
November 16th, 2008 at 10:20 am
Ryan, good info. Companies are trying to find reasons and ways to NOT pay rebates. Your tips will help those getting rebate offers at the time of purchase.
November 16th, 2008 at 10:51 pm
Great post to print out when trying to decide what laptop to buy.
November 17th, 2008 at 7:30 am
Tom, you have said time and time again that computers and the stuff about computers is not rocket science or something like that. I tried to stay up with this post and I think I kind of did, but I was exhausted by the end because I tried so hard! The hard drive part was the most difficult for me to get. I didn’t understand if you were saying SSDs are better than the moving parts hard drive or vice versa.
Anyway, I am good as far as computers go right now, and since I know where to find you, I will refer to your expertise and the yellow and black book (lol) when the time comes for me to buy one!
November 17th, 2008 at 7:40 am
Thank you Ryan! Great info!
I did two rebates a few years back. They were Christmas purchases. I got each of my kids a VCR. I think I sent each rebate in separate but somehow, they caught that I was the same person. Do you know they told me I could only do one? I can’t remember exactly what I did but it took a long time (about three months) to get even one check. Because of what they said, I eventually settled my mind that I was only going to get one and then a few weeks later a second check came.
The whole experience left a bad taste in my mouth for rebates. I would do it again but first I always try to find the lowest prices possible without having to mess with rebates.
November 17th, 2008 at 7:44 am
Think of SSD hard drives as storage space that are computer chips with no moving parts. Think of other hard drives like small albums where the needle must move around to find the information the processor requests (starting word, opening Internet Explorer, etc.) Since the SSD has no moving parts, the information can be retrieved faster, with less heat and less power consumption. Also, the lack of moving parts means a reduction in failure. The very computer I’m typing this on had a hard drive failure and I just got it from the shop on Saturday.
As far as being exhausted, this is what irks me about the computer industry. You shouldn’t feel bad about the fact that you may have to go over something more than once because even the experts have to do it. But they would love for you to believe it is all second nature to them – they must study new technology just like anyone else. Don’t be discouraged, be encouraged by the fact that you probably know more now than you did before you read this.
November 17th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Good. Good. I got that explanation! Tell me this, what is the difference in the cost of two computers, with all things being the same except, one has the standard hard drive and one has the SSD?
November 17th, 2008 at 11:10 am
I looked on http://www.newegg.com – a great site for electronics – and the price of 128GB SSD hard drives ranged from about $280-$485. On the Apple site, if you add a 128GB SSD hard drive, when configuring a laptop, the price increases by $600!
The price is coming down, but it will always be cheaper to do a self install. From what I understand, it is just a matter of disconnecting one hard drive and connecting another one. The main problem is the fact that performance numbers aren’t what they were expected to be.
I predict manufacturers will start to offer SSDs as the main drive with additional (spinning) hard drives. Putting the OS on the SSD should increase the speed of a computer and the second drive would be the larger one for storage (videos, pictures, movies).
November 17th, 2008 at 2:38 pm
I think I got it!
November 17th, 2008 at 3:49 pm
No Problem Kathy, I too have been there.
I had a horrible experience with a $50 rebate for an At&t phone. They claimed my upc label was not acceptable yet the gentlemen at the authorized At&t store made me the copy and told me that was all I needed. After some not so friendly phone conversations I had my check in about a week.
I actually have a rebate sitting in my office that I need to send in for my mother-in-law. I am attempting to find any reason possible to put it off. Rebates are miserable to deal with but well worth it when the check shows up three months after submitting it.
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