Tips on Purchasing a New Computer

Overwhelmed with the myriad of choices out there for computers? Computer pros walk you through the steps on how to make the right choice for you.

Video Transcription

Tips on Purchasing a New Computer Female Speaker: Computers, they are everywhere, schools, banks, factories, hospitals, the arts, government, space. Everywhere you look, computers have become an integral part of our daily lives. Dan Gookin: Computers can help you communicate. They can help you create and they can help you being entertained. There are just a great number of wonderful things that a computer can do. Female Speaker: Tired of being left of the loop, ready to start emailing and sharing your photos and videos with your friends and family in Mexico, Chili, El Salvador, Puerto Rico and the rest of the world, then it's time to enter the digital universe and buy your very first computer. But rifling through the Sunday newspaper, searching online or high stepping it to the mall may overwhelm you with a hundreds of choices out there. So, how do you make the right computer choice? Let's start from the beginning. What you do want your new computer to do? Dan Gookin: Why are you buying a computer? You want to go on the internet? You want to play games? You want to do like write a book? Do you want to use email, whatever? You find out what you want to do with the computer. Female Speaker: Once you have decided on why need a computer and what you are going to use it for, it's time to find the software that will help you do it. Software are the computer programs that run your computer, the brains behind the entire operation. Dan Gookin: If you are into photography and want to do digital photography, then you are going to want software, a program that will go ahead and help you work with the pictures, edit the pictures, do all kinds of stuff or whatever. Female Speaker: Hardware is the actual physical part of the computer, the monitor, hard drive, keyboard, mouse, the parts you can touch with your hand. Dan Gookin: And when you know the software you need, the software will tell you what kind of hardware you need. Female Speaker: Now for the fun part, it's time to hit the stores and shop for computers. Remember, shopping for anew computer is an important investment and looking to save money on one, may not be the right way to go. Jose Ulloa: Cheaper is not necessarily the best. When you are buying a computer, it is a three to five year commitment. You want to be able to have the most advanced processor, you want to able to have enough capacity and enough speed. Female Speaker: So what are your choices in the digital world? The two most popular types are the traditional desktop model and the portable laptop, but you do have other alternative. Sean Flores: There is also touch screen computers which nowadays is coming out more and more. You are able to write on the laptop directly with that technology and you also have palm computer. Palm computers are very popular because they are small computers that you can fit in the palm of your hand. Female Speaker: And don't worry if you don't find the right computer on your first trip out. Finding out perfect fit takes time. Jose Ulloa: The question is to shop and ask questions and see which one feels most comfortable to you. Female Speaker: Questions like, what if my new computer breaks? What do I do if it crashes? Or if one of my programs isn't working properly, what type of technical support comes with my new computer? Dan Gookin: You want someone to help you when something goes wrong. You can go into a big store where they sell refrigerators and TVs and everything. They may not have the help. If you go to another store that just sells computers, they maybe able to help you better or you may be able to find someone who can help you on the phone. Female Speaker: After you have done all the research, shopped every electronic store within a hundred miles of your home and asked all the right questions over and over again, you have finally found the right computer for you. Purchasing it should be the easiest step. Right? Dan Gookin: Well, lot of people, are afraid to buy the computer because they no technology is changing, the new computer is going to be faster, it's going to cheaper, maybe I will a few weeks. Don't, don't wait. Buy it now, because while to see awaiting, you are not doing anything. Female Speaker: Now, buy that computer, plug it in and get ready for a whole new world.