- This post is a bit long winded but I think its needs to be. (I can give you free advice over the phone or meet you at a store and provide unbiased advice for $50)
- Here is my opinion.
I often go to clients homes and see computers that while they seemed like a good deal at the time, are a bit lacking in some areas and most likely will not be able to keep up in a couple of years time.
I went into my local officeworks today and saw a HP Pavilion P2 110-000AB Desktop PC bundle for $397. On face value, thats a great deal, but will it still be meeting your needs in a few years time? Most of my clients intend to keep their computers for at least 5 or 6 years.
So what do you get with this computer?
Processor (the heart of your PC) - Amd Brazos Dual Core E1-1500. This processor, while still quite new is just not up there with the latest. Its processing speed is 1.48GHZ (gigahertz). Compare this with something closer to an acceptable range like an Intel Core I3-3220 Processor. This has a processing speed of 3.3GHz, much faster and likely to meet your needs for some time. You cant upgrade this when buying it
RAM (random access memory) This memory helps your computer process data much faster as it loads information from the hard drive ready for the processor to use. The bundle comes with 2GB (gigabytes) While this meets the basic requirements for Windows 8 which this computer comes with, it won’t meet your needs later on. I would suggest doubling that to 4GB. Officeworks can upgrade the RAM for you for $48 for the RAM and $29 to install it. So your computer has just gone up to $474
Hard Drive capacity. The bundle comes with a 500GB (gigabyte) drive. These days this is again acceptable but unlikely to meet your ongoing needs. I would double that to 1TB (terabyte). Officeworks can do that for you but you’d have to go to a computer shop to buy it (as they don't sell hard drives). Average price for a second hard drive of 500GB is $89 plus $29 to fit it for you. Price of computer is now $592
Compare this with another computer that officeworks has, the ACER Aspire M3985 Core i3 Desktop PC for $598 (4GB RAM, 1TB Hard drive) (without a monitor) so adding a monitor for $145 total cost is $743.
So for an extra $151, you have a computer that while it is more expensive, it will meet your needs for a much longer time. (prices current at 30 August 2013)
Im always available to help my clients and Facebook fans with advice. Just call
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