How to Choose a Computer
You can find several
styles of computers on the market, and you may be wondering how
you’ll ever choose which one to buy. Some computers, such as
laptops, are small and portable. Other computers use different
operatingsystems, such as Windows and Macintosh, to make everything run.
Computers may excel at certain
functions, such as working with graphics or playing games.
Consider the following features when choosing the type of
computer you should buy:
Which computer operating
system do you prefer?
Windows is probably the most common computer operating system.
However, Macintosh computers from Apple are also popular. Macintosh computers
use Apple-specific
software. However, many software applications written for Windows are
also available for the Macintosh, and you can also set up your Mac to run the
Windows operating system, which gives you the best of both worlds.
Some computers run on a freely available operating system called
Linux, which has similar functionality to Windows.
Do you want a laptop or
PC?
Two types of computers you can buy are a laptop and a desktop.
Here’s the difference:
A laptop is portable,
weighing anywhere from two to eight pounds (the lowest weight ones are called
netbooks). The
monitor,
keyboard, and
mouse are built into the laptop. (Note that if the monitor is
damaged, you have to pay quite a bit to have it repaired or hook it up to an
external monitor.) Choose a laptop (sometimes called a notebook computer) if
you want to use your computer mainly away from home, or you have little space
in your home for a larger computer.
Desktop models
typically have a large tower that contains the computer’s central processing
unit (called a CPU). The keyboard, mouse, and monitor are separate.
Desktopcomputers take up more space than laptops and are not portable, but
they’re usually less expensive.
How about pictures and
sound on your computer?
If you work with a lot of visual elements (for example,
photographs, home movies, or computer games), consider a computer that has a
better graphics card. Games often involve sound, so a high-end sound card may
also be useful.
Computers with more sophisticated sound and image capabilities
are often referred to as gaming or multimedia models and they typically require
a larger hard disk to handle these functions. Because the capabilities of these
cards change all the time, ask the person you’re buying the computer from
whether the system can handle sophisticated sound and graphics.