Unless you are a hardcore gamer or graphic designer its hard to justify spending $2000 dollars on a computer anymore. Just 10 years ago when I started college, the computer I took to school was a $2000 beast with 64MB of RAM and a 500Mhz AMD processor. On the other hand, I bought my current computer for $400 bucks (used) and spent a few hundred extra dollars to upgrade the RAM, hard-drive and video card and threw in a few parts I had in another computer. Grand total for a system that can handle just about anything you throw at it? $700

I used to make sure my computer always had the “newest and best” hardware and was on a 6-8 month upgrade cycle but I have come to the conclusion that unless you have money to burn, there is no point. Most of what I use my computer for is done through a browser or secure shell and the rest is word-processing, instant messaging and iTunes. I use a 2 year old laptop running Linux to write most of what you read here and although a bit slower, I can do everything I can on my desktop.

If you are thinking about buying a new computer think really hard about what you will be using it for. You will probably spend most of your time looking at a browser window, sending e-mail and watching You Tube. 98% of you will be able to get everything you need out of a $600 [insert favorite manufacturer here] computer.

Don’t waste your money on the latest and greatest…you will probably be getting a new one in 2 years anyway. I would much rather spend money on a good monitor (wide-screens are a godsend) and a nice set of speakers.

Filed under: F.Y.I., Lessons Learned, Tech, Tips