The logical answer is no. What do I mean by that? A computer has a very limited period of use. It will either break, become outdated, or your needs change. This will occure for most of us in 3 to 5 years. Apple computers simply cost more to buy. As much as 2 or more times what you can buy on the PC side. You don't gain in value with a computer. It is not an investment that grows over time. It is a piece of equipment that will become worthless. I am not a believer in wasting money on this kind of purchase.
All in One Printers VS Seperate Components
I have personally installed and set up hundreds of various printers. What has become painfully obvious is the software needed to run the Multi Function machines does not work, nor does it install correctly. That is not to say after many hours or days of reinstalling and uninstalling and reinstalling I have been successful in getting some to work. If space is your absolute top concern then it may be worth the frustration. In that case I have found Epsons to be most reliable and most likely to correctly install. Both HP and Cannon the 2 top sellers are at the bottom on my list. The other problem with these MF machines is they do not do anything particularly well. You can get much better printer results from a dedicated inexpensive Ink Jet or Laser.
Does Anti Virus Software work?
It does work......sort of. Let me explain how the most popular ones do their job. Each company keeps a data base of known viruses and will update your computers virus protection with new ones as they become aware of them. How do they become aware of them you ask? You tell them. When your machine is infected and lots of other machines are also infected. Now the company will go about finding a way to fix it. After several tens of thousands of infections a fix is found and added to that data base of known viruses. Your best protection is to be a smart surfer. Don't open attachments from senders you don't recognize. Better yet, use a web based Email like Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, or one of the dozens of free options. These offer much better protection then most of us have on our own machines. NEVER NEVER click a pop up about anything telling you about your machine. NEVER install software to view special content on porn sites. DO NOT use peer to peer networks for downloading illegal stuff. This is the most common way to have a nightmare computer disaster.
What size LCD Screen should I buy?
Buying the right screen is very important, I think more imortant then even the CPU. LCD's have come way down in price, however they can still be the most expensive part of your system. At any given moment in time there is a sweet spot in the market for a certain size. Today that is @ the 22" size. The larger the size of the screen the more stuff you can see at one time. I strongly suggest buying the largest monitor you can afford. Today you can purchase 30" models from several manufactures. Remember, you will keep your LCD long after you throw away your CPU so it will be around for many many years. With a 30" you can see 2 complete web pages at the same time with out having to overlap or make minut adjustments. If you do any kind of work requiring multiple windows open and access to them all you will find the extra real estate invaluble.
When is the right time to buy a new Computer?
If you computer is more than 3 years old when trouble strikes you have gotten your money's worth and you can let it go. The value of a 3 year old computer or older is unfortunatly very little. I mean less than $100 little. A basic new box for $400 will be much more computer than that several thousand dollar one might have paid for years ago. Do yourself a favor and let it go. I can't tell you how many times customers have tried to keep the old boy running only to waste money and a great deal of time in frustration. Now if you computer is reasonable new you have some options depending on what's gone wrong. Most often it is the software that causes the major headaches. If your computer has slowed to a crawl or infected with who knows what it is worth keeping. I will answer how best to fix that in a future post.
To use Virus or spyware to repair my computer?
This is a very common question I get. And I always give the same answer. Once you have been infected your computer will never be the same. I don't care if you use every piece of software ever written to remove this stuff, it does not work. You can follow the detailed instructions word for word, line for line and still end up with a slow infected machine. You are always better off to wipe the drive and install your OS from scratch. You will be thrilled at having a new machine again and remember how impressed you were with it. This is only an option with a reasonably new machine. You will need the restore disks that came with your computer and then update any drivers and patches. If your machine is older than 3 years the amount of time to find if possible your drivers and the amount of updates and patches you will need to will waste days if not weeks. In that case read the post above.
Which router do I need, B, G or N?
This is a very easy answer. First, B is dead, so you don't even have to consider it. Now you have G or N to decide on. There are 2 differences between these standard. The speed in which information is passed and the strength of the signal. In both cases N is faster and stronger. However you will also almost always pay a premium for those, and in most cases it is of no use. If you home or office is 2500 sq ft or less you will get excellent coverage from G. If you have less than 3 wirelss connections going at once G will be fine. Now if you have a large house or will be having lots of wireless users on at the same time N is your answer. The only exception to this is sending an HD signal from room to room which most of us have no need for. G is more than enough pipe size and speed to watch streaming movies from one to computer to another. I have not seen any real difference in brand of router so get whats on sale. Place it mid room or higher on an open shelf in the middle of your home. Remember these things work line of sight. So if you have many thick walls and bathrooms and kitchens to get through you should put the router somewhere else.
How much Computer do I need?
For most of us we end up buying more computer than we actually need. Today you have 2 choices, Dual Core or the new Quad Core chips. How much computer power you need depends on what you do with your computer. For the vast majority of people, who only use the computer for email and web browsing, most anything in the bargin bin will work just fine for you. DO NOT buy your compter for tomorrow's unkown. Now if you have other uses for your computer such as gaming, video creation, or require dozens of open windows at one time, more computer will make a difference. DO NOT buy a Quad Core based machine from either Intel or AMD. The idea of 4 seperate cpu's all working for you is great in theory. The real world problen is no one has figured out how to use them. A computer is only as good as the software or instructions that make it work. Instructions need to be written in every single piece of software a computer uses explaining how to use the 4 cores and exactly what they each should be doing. NO Software to this date has been written anywhere close to that. As a matter of fact, very little has been written for Dual Core systems. The only real benift now with Dual Core is the ability to run spyware or malware at the same time you are doing actual work.
Separate video card or built in?
When buying a computer this is a very common question. This is a simple on to answer. If you don't play high end video games, I don't mean the web based puzzles, then you do not need a separate card. If you play high end PC games or do Photoshop or video work then you will need a good separate card.
Which Video Card is right for me?
This is going to be based on a few requirements. Be certain you know what you want you card to be capable of doing. If you have certain size monitors you will need something called Dual DVI to run them properly. If you want to run a certain game with all the bells and whistles turned on at a high resolution you will need a card with lots of onboard memory. I have always been a fan of Nvidia cards because the drivers needed to run them are properly written. ATI now owned by AMD does make some capable cards at very competive prices. In my experience, the problems with ATI drivers take away any price advantage. The latest cards from Nvidia are the 8000 series. To keep track of the latest power from all these I suggest Toms Hardware for a complete listing of cards by cost and performance.
Firewalls?
A firewall is in computer terms means a barrier between your internet connection and the rest of the world. This is something you definetly want. Now, there are a couple of ways to accomplish this. If you are still using Windows 98 stop using the interent. For the rest of us, here is what I suggest. Buy a router, any kind of internet based router. This is what is called a hardware based firewall. It will stop all incoming attempts to get at your computer or network. How it does it's magic is not really important, just that it is the best defense you can have. The other type of firewall is software based. This requires you install a program and then tell it what to do. And hope you get it right. For most of us, this is not a good fit. We are just not profeciant enough about this stuff. XP comes with it's own software based firewall that does not seem to do any harm. I strongly suggest you have it turned on. You have no real way of knowing that you firewall is doing it's job, other than the fact you have no problems.
SATA or IDE hard drive?
Your hard drive is dead or dying or you just want to additional space. You have a choice now in 2 kinds of hard drives, SATA or IDE. The physical difference is the type of connection cable they use for power and data. The new SATA drives have a thin red cable with a small black connector on each end. The older style IDE drive has the wide gray cable for data and the white 4 prong power connector. The advantage with the SATA drive is space and airflow. Allowing more of both around you case, keeping it cooler. Most motherboards made in the past 3 years have included some of both connectors, check what yours has. If you have the smaller connecter I recommend using them. Now, as far as performance goes, it just doesn't seem to matter. If you find a great deal on IDE drive good ahead and use it.