What They Don't Want You To Know!

When purchasing a home computer there are a lot of choices, brands, configurations, extended warranties and  many upon many questions especially for the the not so tech savvy.  Ok so stop right here first of all lets start with the brands.

Compaq/HP:  Ok so this company has been around for many years and to a certain extent they are a fairly good company but as with any computer you need to factor in your needs, most of HP's prebuilt computers are built for general computer use and some minor multimedia but the lack of a dedicated graphics card in most of there affordable computers makes them very poor for gaming or special video configurations.   Also while I was in the Navy there were a lot of engineers like myself buying HP notebooks with the new 64 bit athlon processor and altec lansing and 9/10 of these notebooks had noticeable dead pixels in the first couple months of use.

Dell: Ok so heres a refreshing change, a company that makes a computer tailered to my needs as opposed to a machine produced in bulk and this allows you the customer to make choices based on your needs but as with anything you want assurance that when and if something goes wrong someone will be there to help you.  In Dells case this is only really half true, each computer you buy from Dell comes with a specific service code this lengthens the process to reaching customer service OF ANY KIND and in most cases you pay extra for technical support, what kind of company is this that tells you that you have to pay for technical support, to any rate this is a huge slap in the face of the customer.  Also one of your biggest concerns with buying a computer is standardization, and with Dell this is mostly a hybrid affair as only about half of the computer is standard a good example is case design, although Dell sticks to the standard for slots and cables, the casing provided doesn't always provide for upgrades or modifications and for the tech savvy this can be a nightmere with a Dremel.

Gateway: Single handedly this company has been the absolute worst for customer service, R&D in there products, and end product.  Nothing redeems this company at all and that is why they have done so terribly financially almost since there start.

Apple:  Hurray for the underdog, right?  Wrong for particualar applications an apple can't be beat such as multimedia editing on the professional level but they are usefull for little else.  Most Macs are poor at best for games, the user interface is very hard to get used to as a new consumer, your better of with a gateway.

Ok So What is the perfect Choice?

Well unfortunately there is no PERFECT computer but the closest you can get is to build one yourself.  This may sound hard but is is much easier then you may think and there are a lot of people out there who can offer help, in fact I sell a guide locally just for this purpose that takes all of this complications out of this process.  A very nice home computer excluding monitor can be built for under 1,500 dollars and because all of the components are removable repairs are as easy as removing a card or reconnecting a cable and upgrades are just as easy, in fact the hardest part of doing this is deciding what you want for hardware.