What do you look for when buying a new computer?

I can't say one factor. It would be between price and speed. You don't want to spend too much money on a new device but at the same time you can't sacrifice speed for it. Otherwise, you might as well not be buying a new computer as it wouldn't be any better.

 

You know what, I'm actually looking for not a brand new pc, but a 2nd hand one. And I always look at how fast is the processor and how large is the memory. I think the minimum processor speed would be 2.8 Ghz, and the RAM should be 2 GB. (I currently have 1 GB RAM and it can't run Bluestacks). And the video card should be at least 512 MB so that it can play the recent games. The OS should be pre-installed already too.

 

First thing, is the quality. I wouldn't mind spending a little more if it means that the quality will be superb and if it were low maintenance. Speed isn't much of a problem for me, but memory is definitely something that I look into. I also look at the reputation of the brand. For example, I bought an apple computer for obvious reasons and I'm pretty happy with the purchase

 

I prefer to focus on the specifications along with costs, in particular the CPU and GPU. Sizewise, I like mine small and light at around 13.3", making it portable.

Miaka_M makes a good point about quality. The better branded ones imo tends to last longer, I've been using my laptop virtually everyday for 5 years and it's still going strong (it's a 13.3" LG business model laptop) though the components are now getting outdated for some things I want to do.

 

What is being sought is to obtain the best price-cost ratio. For me this usually means higher processor speed and performance of the motherboard for the price.

Since these components are the ones who will widely affect the quality of the computer over time, they are what matters most to me.

The rest can be easily enhanced through individual upgrades. RAM, Hard Drive. Monitor and others. All can be obtained separately and are changeable for many generations. The processor and motherboard do not enjoy much of that benefit. Specific processors and motherboards are common to go together for lesser time than -say- RAM.

Motherboard and processor at the moment of buying new is most important, and this is what should be considered by the buyer aiming to get the most benefit from their investment over time.

 

The most important thing I look for is processing speed. It doesn't have to be the fastest on the market, but I don't want a sluggish machine. I also look for the amount of RAM memory installed and the maximum amount that I can add. This is really more important than processing speed. I also look for a dependable brand name. There are some brands that I wouldn't buy.

 

I'm not too much of a computer geek but I have a friend who is and I have him handle such stuff for me when the need to buy a computer arises. One thing I always stress on is, "I need a cheap but fast machine."

As for the rest of the things like processing power and so on, I leave that to him because he knows his stuff [ and also, the fact that if he sells me something that won't work well, he'll have to refund my money].

 

It depends on what kind of computer I'm buying. If it's a laptop, then I look at battery life and warranty. Also build quality is really important as I know I'll be using that laptop for at least couple of years.

For desktop PC the most important thing is price and performance. For example you can buy a top shelf Intel i7 processor, but it costs $300+, while i5 which costs only $150 is only a bit weaker. Of course I'd go with the latter one, because I could spend that money elsewhere.

 

I look for speed first, then hard drive capacity then memory capacity (top three on my priority list). Next is the graphics quality, size of the monitor (I don't want anything below 14") and the input/output ports. I want something that I can use for presentation with HDMI port, etc..

 

I am usually looking for something between an office computer and a gaming computer. This means that I want some speed, a fair bit of ram and a reasonable hard drive capacity. A dedicated video card is important to me though it needn't be expensive. I am not interested in a top of the line machine as price is a factor for me. The ability to expand upon what I buy is another thing I look for. I might not max out the ram at first but I want to be able to add more should the need arise. I am just getting into some video editing and I can already tell that my next machine will need a faster processor and a larger hard drive as I am working with 64GB chunks of data now.

 

Here's what I look for:

• At least i5 or greater CPU
• 1080p (1920 x 1080) res Screen
• SSD Drive (128 Gig min)

Let me take you through the buying process aka what I do to buy a laptop (Also known as ultrabooks or notebooks these days) As when I buy a PC I build it from scratch.

I generally wait until Black Friday or Cyber Monday for some good discount. I still have an account from a previous job on corporateperks (I think this is just MyDiscounts anyway?) I get emails when the sales are on and I just headed over to the HP section. I had two HP laptops at my old work and never a blue screen of death. The most important part to look for is that it has a i5 or i7 processor and 4GB of RAM. After that, the screen resolution. The higher the resolution the better for me so I can fit multiple browsers on the screen. Then I look to check it has an SSD drive, this speeds up the loading times of Windows and your applications considerably. My laptop came with Norton free for two years or something like that.

If you play games you will spend more and want a built in graphics card (ATI or Nvidia) but generally an intel 4000 is fine for applications and web browsing. I would not recommend a laptop for playing games personally.

 

For me, I just need something that works. for the amount of work I do on a computer, having one that operates smoothly is needed. beyond that I could care less. I don't need high end software. I just need pages to load quickly. I always have 3-7 tabs open at once on average, so I need a computer that can handle that.

 

The most important for me is of course the price. I must be able to afford it first. Second if the money that I have is in, then I go look for the speed of the computer. It must be fast and not that slow to the point that it's not going to serve me the way I need it to do so. Third is the hard drive memory. Although there are now external hard drives that are much cheaper than the internal one, not to mention more manageable, I still find it more convenient to have a very large memory installed in my laptop that I wouldn't be needing the external hard drive. Fourth is the weight. I always travel a lot and I am always using my laptop so it's important that it's really light to be brought with me, that it wouldn't make me tired bringing it anywhere I would be needing it to be with me.

 

I'm looking mostly for longevity which I have found in MacBooks. They remain very fast even with years of abusive use. I use my laptop almost all day everyday and I almost never turn it off and it still runs very well now after many years of use. I've had many Windows laptops in the past that just have me so much headache in having to wait after each small movement after they got old, not to mention all the pop up and tinkering I needed to do in between everything I already had to deal with.

 

I rarely buy a new computer but when I do the thing I look for is power. A new PC is quite expensive, if you want top of the line hardware, so I try to buy the most powerful I can afford in the hopes that it won't become obsolete too fast. The looks, as in computer case and the likes, don't matter too much - I can always place some cool stickers or apply custom paint to make it look better.

 

Since I always mainly use my PC's for gaming, it's extremely important for me to have a powerful graphics card, but unless it's for that purpose I think the most important thing to look for is the RAM capacity, it will allow you to perform more tasks at once without a performance loss. Of course that if you're looking for a laptop then the battery duration might be a very important factor.

 

It depends entirely on the reason for purchasing my computer. Let's say it is for some gaming, in that case, I will look for excellent graphics specs, including a powerful graphics card, and even a solid state drive if it is available. On the other hand, if I am planning to use it for more mundane everyday tasks like web browsing, then I just go with the generic dell that seems to be everywhere these days. Of course, at a bare minimum, it must have at least 4 gigs of RAM... I mean, I'm no animal!

 

Since I commute I usually look for something light weight but sturdy at the same time. I need something that is light enough to throw in my bag to take to work and school. I also look for something with a longer battery. I do a lot of my work away from home so its important to have a battery that lasts. I always buy name brand and good quality hardware because I want it to last. If I am already spending so much money on something I might as well spend a few extra dollars and get something of great quality.

 

Of course, the first consideration is the cost since I cannot buy it if I cannot afford. When we buy a computer, what we do is to make a list of the specs that we need like the kind of processor, the size of the memory, the capacity of the hard disk, etc. That's the only way we can compare the prices using fixed specifications. We are planning to buy a new one early next year and our best bet is an IBM type with 2 units of 1 Terabyte hard disks.