The expensive computer of one year generally becomes the budget computer of a few years later on.
Nowadays an expensive computer is a bit faster, a bit more disk space (for storing movies etc), a bit more memory (if you have lots of things running at once that can help) but there's not a huge difference. So little difference, that most people won't notice any change at all.
If you want to use it for playing computer games and need a high frame rate - or for aircraft simulation or 3D things like that which put a lot of demand on your computer, you may want the fastest computer you can get and may need to buy a new computer every year or two to play the latest games or simulations.
But for most people nowadays, any computer will do just about anything you want it to do.
Main things then are, things like
And it is easy, once you list out what you want - to find that some really expensive computers don't have what you want (e.g. stylus / touch screen if you are a digital artist for instance) and that some budget computers have everything you need.
And - if you buy a budget computer - then if your budget is limited, that means that next year, or the year after you can buy another one which will be much better than the one you have now.
If you buy an expensive computer (say price of thousands of dollars) perhaps it uses all your budget for buying computers for five or ten years.
If that is the situation, then the low cost computer means that though you start off with lower performance, that maybe as soon as two or three years later, you buy a computer that is better than the original very expensive computer in terms of performance - at much less total cost. So then over a ten year period, for most of that time period you have a much more capable computer than you would if you spent all your budget on a high cost computer.
Even if you spend say $10,000 on a new computer right now, there is no way it can have the next generation of computer chips which will be brought out even next year because they don't exist yet. And by say two or three years from now, for computer geeks at the cutting edge, it may already be a way out of date old computer in some ways.
So to have a bang up to date top of the range computer for more than a year or two is expensive, as you would spend thousands of dollars on computers every year. If you need to ask this question at all, then this is probably not for you.
But for most of us, things like having a frame rate of say 60 instead of 30 for the latest computer game is of no importance at all, even though for a gaming geek that's a huge very dramatic increase in speed. So for most, budget or middle range, and list out what you want from your computer and make sure it can do that, rather than focus over much on the hardware specs.
The game geeks though drive innovation in computer hardware and indirectly by paying so much for top of the range computers help us all to have faster computers in a few years time.
Nowadays an expensive computer is a bit faster, a bit more disk space (for storing movies etc), a bit more memory (if you have lots of things running at once that can help) but there's not a huge difference. So little difference, that most people won't notice any change at all.
If you want to use it for playing computer games and need a high frame rate - or for aircraft simulation or 3D things like that which put a lot of demand on your computer, you may want the fastest computer you can get and may need to buy a new computer every year or two to play the latest games or simulations.
But for most people nowadays, any computer will do just about anything you want it to do.
Main things then are, things like
- Screen resolution
- Physical size
- Tablet / laptop
- Does it have touch, does it have multi-touch, does it have a stylus so you can write and paint?
- Operating system Windows / Mac / Android / Linux
- Is there enough disk space and memory (nowadays usually is unless it is a tablet with not much space and you need large files, e.g. lots of videos off line)
- Does it run my favourite programs, or does it do what I want it to do?
- Nowadays also - how good is its camera for photographs and for video conferencing / skype
- What is its battery life like (if you plan to use it a lot on the move)
And it is easy, once you list out what you want - to find that some really expensive computers don't have what you want (e.g. stylus / touch screen if you are a digital artist for instance) and that some budget computers have everything you need.
And - if you buy a budget computer - then if your budget is limited, that means that next year, or the year after you can buy another one which will be much better than the one you have now.
If you buy an expensive computer (say price of thousands of dollars) perhaps it uses all your budget for buying computers for five or ten years.
If that is the situation, then the low cost computer means that though you start off with lower performance, that maybe as soon as two or three years later, you buy a computer that is better than the original very expensive computer in terms of performance - at much less total cost. So then over a ten year period, for most of that time period you have a much more capable computer than you would if you spent all your budget on a high cost computer.
Even if you spend say $10,000 on a new computer right now, there is no way it can have the next generation of computer chips which will be brought out even next year because they don't exist yet. And by say two or three years from now, for computer geeks at the cutting edge, it may already be a way out of date old computer in some ways.
So to have a bang up to date top of the range computer for more than a year or two is expensive, as you would spend thousands of dollars on computers every year. If you need to ask this question at all, then this is probably not for you.
But for most of us, things like having a frame rate of say 60 instead of 30 for the latest computer game is of no importance at all, even though for a gaming geek that's a huge very dramatic increase in speed. So for most, budget or middle range, and list out what you want from your computer and make sure it can do that, rather than focus over much on the hardware specs.
The game geeks though drive innovation in computer hardware and indirectly by paying so much for top of the range computers help us all to have faster computers in a few years time.
About the Author
Robert Walker
Writer of articles on Mars and Space issues - Software Developer of Tune Smithy, Bounce Metronome etc.Studied at Wolfson College, Oxford
Lives in Isle of Mull
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