How to buy a Computer

I was thinking about this Christmas season and how I don't have a second job selling computer this year. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the extra money, but explaining the ins and outs of computers got old pretty quick...as did the people just looking to get the cheapest thing, even though it may not do what they wanted.

Since I'm not selling computers this year, I figured that I would write to tell you how to buy a computer, so that you may be the hero of your household. There are a few things that you must know before buying a computer, but don't worry, I'll walk you through it all.

The first thing you need to know is what you are going to be using the computer for? Is it going to be for just internet and email, games, school work, or video or image editing? Most people will know what they will be doing with the computer. Don't look too deep into the question...I mean do you plan on doing any of those tasks in depth.

Most all computers can do simple image/video editing for personal use; most can play simple games as well (although you get what you pay for here), and all can do internet and email now days.

So, once you have figured out what you plan to use your computer for, I will tell you what you will be looking for. Also, one thing to note is that most boxed computers from the store do not come with a monitor, so watch for that added expense.

Internet and Email - Many people out there just need a dependable computer out there that will just allow them to keep in touch with friends and family through the internet and email. This is easily done as most new computer will be able to handle this task with little problem.

You will be able to get by with a computer that is under $500. If at all possible find a computer with at least 1 Gigabyte (GB) of computer memory, or RAM. This will allow the computer to keep up and is an inexpensive way to speed up your computer.

Games - This category can be much trickier as there are a lot more options to look at. Some stores sell some "gaming computers", but these are for the hardcore gamers and wouldn't effect most who are shopping over the Christmas season.

The main thing when looking for a computer that you would like to play games on is the amount of RAM (computer memory) in the computer and the type and speed of the processor. For RAM, you want a minimum of 1 GB (Gigabytes), but 2 GB is recommended. As for the processor you will want to try and stick with the Intel Core 2 Duo series of processor.

If you follow these guidelines you will be able to run most games out there today without breaking your budget. If you want to make sure you get a good gaming experience, I also suggest you invest in a decent ($150) video card as well. Most places such as Circuit City and Best Buy can install these for you. Be prepared to spend $650 to $1,000.

Schoolwork - This type of computer is along the same lines of a internet/email computer, with a few additions. You can still get by with a minimum of 1 GB (Gigabyte) of computer memory (RAM), and minimum processor depending of what type of schoolwork is required.

For grade school through high school an internet/email computer (sub $600) computer should do just fine. Depending on the needs of your student, you may need to splurge for Microsoft Office to allow them to complete certain assignments. Otherwise a free substitute (very compatible and similar in features) is OpenOffice.

For college students, I recommend getting a more advanced computer as the requirements for certain classes can be demanding. I would at recommend 2 GB (Gigabytes) of RAM, although you should be able to get by with 1 GB in most cases. Hard drives are going to need to be above 100 GB as well and I would stick to a Intel Core 2 Duo series processor.

Summary - These are just the quick basics of buying a computer. Remember to ask plenty of questions when buying a computer. Most sales members at box stores around the holidays may have trouble answering your questions as they are hired for the holidays only. If at all possible, try to bring a tech savvy friend or relative with you.

Just try to remember these few things:

- 1GB RAM (memory) is plenty for most computer users, but if you can find a good deal with a computer that has 2 GB it will help performance.

- As long as your computer comes with at least 80GB of hard-drive space you should also be fine, but obviously the more space available the better. Shop around.

- Sales people at box stores are required to try and sell you extras. Some can be worth it, such as Microsoft Office (if needed). They are also able to install the software for you, which can be worth it if it is a gift, but if you feel you or the person can do it for themselves it will save you money.

- All computers need anti-virus protection. New computers do not come with this, and if they do, it is usually just a short trial. Circuit City and Best Buy both offer services to install anti-virus protection for you. Be prepared to add and additional $75 to $100 for this. The two alternatives are to buy the software yourself and install it, or to download free anti-virus software and install it. Your options depend on time and how proficient you are with computers.

If you have any questions or would like to see more articles on certain topics, please let me know and I will try to help out in any way that I can. I enjoyed selling computers for the two years that I did so, but did not like the pressure of having to push the extras.

Enjoy your Christmas and New Year!

Gmail offline?

I found a post on TechCrunch about India’s Hindustan Times article about the possibility of an offline Gmail client. Presumably running off Google Gears, the offline Gmail client would be beneficial to many people who do not have internet access everywhere they travel.

For those people who travel via public transportation or commute in ways where internet access is not available, an offline Gmail client would enable those to download their email before they disconnect from the internet and travel, just as they would if they used a email account from an ISP. Then, while traveling, they would be able to reply to emails and get work done when they were unable to before. As their device connects back to the internet, the Gmail client will then synchronize and download new email while uploading all replied and new emails.

I see this as a great innovation for Google and competition in the web based email category. Personally, since switching to Gmail over a year ago, I dropped my Hotmail account because it was too much a hassle and the interface was lacking. Since then, Hotmail has switched to Windows Live Hotmail and revamped their interface. I must say, it does look nice, but I can't bring myself to switch back from Google, as I figure they won't be long in surpassing Microsoft once again.

Google has done so much lately and created so many new products that I have been really pleased with what they have done. I just hope they don't loose their roots and become another Microsoft.

Nintendo dominance Part 2

I left off my last post on Nintendo stating why I thought Nintendo could still fail with this generation of consoles. There are many reasons actually, and a lot of them have to do with what Nintendo is not offering.

Although the Wii is built with wireless technology, there are no games that currently use this capability. The first game will be Pokemon Battle Revolution. While it may seem that games just have arrived with this ability, a lot of it has to do on how Nintendo is approaching online play. In order to show that the console is "safe", they have installed "friend codes". These codes must be traded with those you would like to play online with for every game that you own. That is, every game has a different code that you must trade to play online. This is great if you know who you would like to play against. But if you're like me, and don't have any friends that have a Wii, I can't play online.

So the easy of use of online play is an issue. Nintendo is aware of this fact and chooses to keep the setup the same. While Microsoft uses "gamer tags" to identify a gamer and allow them to connect through the console to play the games, even if they don't know each other. Nintendo could easily do this, and apply parental controls if they are worried about how safe it would be.

Another issue at stake here is third party support. Many developers are pushing out PS2 remakes and not too many original games. The original games that do come out are gimmicky and seemed rushed as the controls do not seem like they have been refined as they should. Also, why do we need motion control for every game? Why can't we be happy with simplified controls every now and then?

Right now the Wii seems to be holding very strong and has broken a lot of sales records already. I would like to see the Wii succeed and spark innovation. This is all when there are still shortages of Wii's everywhere. Can you imagine what the sales could be once the supply problem is fixed?

Some areas that I would like to see the Wii improve on is online gaming. I really think that Nintendo needs to seriously look at the online fan-base and realize what the community as a whole wants. Friend codes are not part of the equation.

I would also like to see more Real Time Strategy games released for the Wii. The motion controller would work perfect as a mouse cursor to control the games. You could bring new franchises to the console market that have been strictly on the PC. Take Command and Conquer, Warcraft, Starcraft or Civilization and port it to the Wii. It would work brilliantly.

It would be neat to see Nintendo open up the console for Homebrew applications. These are programs that are made by people who are fans. They make the games and applications and make them available for the console. If Nintendo could open up that market, they would surely succeed.

Of course, these are only my opinions, but they are shared by many in the Nintendo community. Hopefully Nintendo will be able to do some of this, but I won't get my hopes up because as soon as I do, they will spoil my dreams.

Want to see Paris Hilton naked?

Well, it seems that most people either want to see Paris Hilton or Britney Spears naked. Personally, both are twigs in my opinion, but open an email with a similar subject line and your computer could be more infected than you were when you came back from Spring Break in Cancun.

It seems that this subject is the latest ploy to spread the Troj/Iffy-B trojan horse from computer to computer. It takes advantage of the animated cursor bug in the Windows operating system. Microsoft released a patch for it last week.

It still amazes me that people still think it is plausible that someone would email them with a link to pictures of a popular celebrity naked. In this day in age of computers and email, I would like to think that people have actually learned something and know that these things are just ploys to sell you something or infect your computer.

This irks me to no end, knowing that people fall for this all the time. Not that I fix computers for a living, but when you have a friend that knows that you are a nerd and asks you why his computer is running slow, a virus is the first thing that comes to mind. Either from surfing porn sites or by opening an email related to porn.

To top it off, most of these problems could be avoided if people would just run basic anti-virus and anti-spyware programs. They could also follow that handy reminder that pops up in their system tray to tell them to install the latest updates.

But in the end, there are always going to be those people who choose to open up suspicious emails from people they don't know, and offering things that they seem unbelievable. Maybe people will wise up ... but I doubt it.

Nintendo dominance

I have been a Nintendo fan since I was a kid. I was born in 1977, which if I do the math correctly, means I was 8 when the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) was introduced. That's prime gaming age. So needless to say, I've always had a soft spot for Nintendo and their consoles. As I read more about the company and some of the practices they have used in previous years, I'm starting to question how much I am attached to them. I also love the Nintendo Wii, but I'm frustrated with it as well.

It all began when I received my first NES on Christmas Day of 1987. My younger and brother and I were not allowed to play it very often, but at least we got to play consistently. The Atari seemed like last decades technology compared to the NES. On that day I became a Nintendo fanboy.

Since that time I have owned every Nintendo Console that they have released, from the NES to the Wii. When the Wii was announced in 2005 as the "Revolution", I was genuinely excited. You see, the Nintendo Gamecube (GC) didn't do very well despite being more powerful than Sony's Playstation 2 (PS2). Nintendo's business practices had made the developers move elsewhere and caused Nintendo's decline.

Beginning with the NES, Nintendo only made it possible for game developers to use their cartridges with the system. So the developers had to buy the cartridges from Nintendo at a higher rate than they could from a third party. Before the game was released, Nintendo had to put their seal of approval on the game. Also, the game developers were not allowed to release more than five games a year. In short, there were a lot of controls that Nintendo placed on the developer, but the developers put up with this because the NES was the leading console and they wanted to make money. Some of these controls were not without their reasons.

Many problems that had plagued previous consoles was an over saturation of low quality games. Nintendo was trying to prevent this by limiting developers to only five games a year. They also reviewed the games to make sure that the consumers were not receiving a game that was low quality. While this seemed to help in the short term, abuse of this would lead to the company's trouble.

The Super Nintendo (SNES) had led the console wars through the use of its previous success and marquee titles such as Super Mario and Metroid. By the time the Nintendo 64 (N64) was released the Playstation was extremely popular. Nintendo decided to use ROM cartridges for the N64, which was not accepted well by game developers as Sony was using CD-ROMs at the time. The CD-ROMs allowed for more data storage at the cost of piracy. This may have been one of Nintendo's reasons for staying with the cartridge, but many developers saw it as a way for Nintendo to get more money from them since they had to buy the cartridges from Nintendo.

This began the decline of Nintendo. Many gamers were sold on the Playstation and its line of games and many attribute this to the core gamers aging and wanting more from their console. The Microsoft XBox and Playstation 2 were released later with online capability and the Gamecube was released with no online options. Despite being more powerful than the PS2, the GC didn't receive a great fanfare because it didn't have online capability and it did not have a lot of 3rd party support.

Bring on the Wii! Despite the some failures of its previous two consoles, Nintendo comes to the plate and hits a home run with the Wii. Its motion activated controllers were revolutionary and were a big hit with casual gamers that may have been intimidated with consoles before. Along with Sony's Playstation 3 blunder (released at $600), Nintendo began to regain some of its former dominance.

Stay tuned for why the Wii may still fail...