The Decision Tree
Summary
Determine what you want to do
Shop at several stores and educate yourself
Make notes of store policies etc.
Plan your upgrade when you price the computer
Get references
Make your purchase at the place you have the best comfort level with |
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First Choice
Currently there are two major decisions to make when purchasing a new computer.
The first decision is whether to purchase a name brand computer, or have one custom built.
As you will read in greater detail later in this article, custom built computers offer
much greater flexibility with respect to upgrades and repairs. In addition to this another
major factor is the store that you purchase from. Typically, the larger superstores cannot
offer the level of service you will find at a good custom computer shop. Our
recommendation is to shop at several places before you make a purchase. Your comfort level
at a given store can be a major indicator of the level of service you can expect after you
make your purchase. The superstores do not offer true custom build options, so your
decision as to whether to buy custom or name brand is tied closely to your comfort level
at a given store. If a sales person pressures you in any way to buy a computer right away
and you are not sure of your decision, do not make a purchase.
Second Decision
Your second decision is whether to purchase Pentium II or a non-Pentium II
option. This is a rather complex decision and we recommend speaking to a knowledgeable
sales person to help you with this choice. Essentially, the Pentium II offers the home
user marginal performance differences over a non-Pentium II alternative such as the AMD
K6-2 350, which does offer greater future upgrade ability. You will typically pay around
$200 more for a similarly equipped Pentium II.
Third Decision
After you pick the Pentium II or alternative, you need to pick the main board.
This decision will affect to a very large degree the future upgrade ability of the system.
There are several things to consider when making this decision. A salesperson will be able
to explain the differences to you. If you are getting a Pentium II or AMD K6-II, there are
two very important things that are required. First you will want to get a main board with
a 100MHZ front side bus. This will allow you to upgrade to as high as 550MHZ or more for
future CPU upgrades. You will also need PC100 memory to do this. These things cost a
little more up front but will save you money in the long run, because you can do at least
one major upgrade during the life of the computer, which will extend the useable life of
the system.
Independent Computer Stores
Industry wide, independent computer stores that custom build computers account
for more than 25% of the total computers sold in the United States. The ability to have a
computer custom built to order and to be able to talk to a technician or have service
performed quickly are two of the main reasons customers patronize the independent computer
store. The April l998 issue of PC World contains an article about the four major computer
retailer in the United States and rates their service. We recommend you read this article
before making a purchase. We have copies available upon request. From reading this you may
get the impression that all independent computer stores are wonderful places to shop. This
is not always true. This again goes back to comfort level of the consumer. We suggest
shopping at several stores, getting written price quotes and information on how warranties
are handled. It is in your best interest to buy from a financially stable store that will
be around in the years to come to not only service your computer under warranty but to be
your computer store of choice for the long haul. Our store operates with zero debt. We
have a list of references available upon request.
Rapid Depreciation
If you are going to buy a computer, the first thing you need to realize is that
computers and computer products depreciate more rapidly than any other consumer or
business product in the world. Something you might pay near to $2000 for may only be worth
three or four hundred dollars a year from now. The fact that your new computer is worth
only a fraction of what you paid is irrelevant if it still does the job you want it to.
The problem lies in the fact that you may want to run newer software on that year old
computer and it simply won't |
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work. New chips, boards, video cards, modems, etc.
have come out in the year since you bought your PC and they are priced very attractively,
thus driving down the market price of your old PC. The reason you want these new chips and
cards is to run that new business application or perhaps the hottest new game on the
market.Should you upgrade or buy a new one?
If you currently own a PC, you might wish to upgrade it to run the newer
current software. In some cases this is a feasible option. Your best bet is to bring it to
a store that specializes in upgrades or rebuilds and get a written quote. Whenever you
consider an upgrade, always compare the cost of the upgrade to the price of a new
computer. Be sure to also factor in the fact that if you buy a new PC, you will still have
the old one to trade in, sell or pass along to another family member. Since some upgrades
are not economically feasible, be very careful in making your decision. Many computer
stores will encourage a customer to upgrade when it is not in the best interests of the
customer to do so. The sales people at that store are typically paid on commission thus
have an incentive to sell you an upgrade and would make nothing by referring you to the
new computer department. At BarNETt Computers, we freely give advice to the customer based
on what we think is in the best interest of the customer. Since upgrades can be as simple
as putting in a memory chip or as complicated as rebuilding the entire computer, please
feel free to bring your computer in for a free consultation and written estimate. No
appointment necessary.
Upgrades on Name Brands
If your computer is a name brand PC your upgrade options are often limited or
more expensive because almost all name brand computers are what we call
"proprietary". This simply means that the manufacturer of the PC is using parts
that cannot be purchased except through them, which is costly and time consuming. In many
cases parts are not available after 12-18 months. These PC manufacturers are driven by one
thing---price competition. If that means that they will save $10 by combining the modem
and sound card into one card, then they usually do it. You will also see things like video
cards and sound cards even built into the main board. But the biggest problem consumer's
encounter with name brand computers is the fact that most main boards cannot be replaced
with anything but the original board that can only be obtained from the manufacture. These
boards can cost as much as a new computer. Thus the main board cannot be upgraded without
replacing the case, power supply, main board and any of the other things that might be
built in or combined with other parts if you are willing to pay the high price of a
replacement board.
Upgrades for custom built PC's
If your computer is custom built, your upgrade options are simply greater.
These systems, by design are non-proprietary and can be upgraded or repaired easier,
quicker and cheaper than any name brand computer. If the main board fails is simply a
matter of taking it to any reputable repair shop and having it replaced. These main boards
are currently priced at $99 to $229 depending on the features you want. In the case of a
custom system from BarNETt Computers, repairs can be handled in a matter of a day or two
at the most and in some cases within an hour or two. Large superstores simply don't have
the repair staff to handle the amount of tech work that customer's demand. They are more
interested in selling lots of new computers and letting the mfg. support them. Our store
is available to solve customer problems.
Price is not the most important factor
Making a computer purchase based only on price can be a costly mistake. The
major computer makers are in competition to make their product the cheapest in comparison
to others. This usually causes them to cut corners that cost the consumer in the long run.
These cheap advertised specials are often closeouts or machines that have almost no
upgrade ability at all.
Copyright © 1999 BarNETt Computers. All rights reserved.
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