The Purchase of a PC

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5 Components• Microprocessor

• Internal Memory (RAM)

• Auxiliary Storage

• Input Units

• Output Units

Microprocessor

• Brain of the computer • Current chips for PC

– Intel (Celeron, Pentium III and Pentium IV)– AMD (K-6 and Athlon)

• Which do I buy?– Pentium IV or Athlon for graphic intensive programs– K-6 or Celeron for business and Internet browsing

Internal Memory (RAM)• Temporary (erased when power turned off)• Measured in bytes

– 1 Byte = 1 character (8 bits)– 1 Kilobyte = 210 (~1,000 bytes)– 1 Megabyte = 220 (~1,000,000 bytes)– 1 Gigabyte = 230 (~1,000,000,000 bytes)

• Need 64 - 128Mb of RAM– Want to keep multiple programs & data files in memory– Graphic intensive programs demand a lot of memory

Auxiliary Storage (Permanent)

• Floppy Disk– Most common is 1.44Mb– LS-120 disk is 120Mb

• High Capacity Removable Storage– Zip disks (100 or 250Mb)– Jaz Disks (1 or 2Gb)

• Hard (Fixed) Disk– Most common are 10 –30Gb

Auxiliary Storage (Continued)

• CD-ROM (650Mb)– Recordable devices also available

• DVD drives (4.7Gb-17Gb) – ROM and RAM– Higher capacity than CD

• Tape Units– Used for large, unattended back-ups

Input and Output Units

• Keyboard

• Mouse

• Trackball

• Scanner

• Joystick

• Pens

• Ink Jet– B/W or color– Smears

• Lasers– Highest quality

output

Modems/Network Cards

• Fax/Modem– 56Kbps/V.90

• Cable Modem– Uses TV cable

• DSL Modem– Voice and Data on same line

• Network Cards

Additional Devices

• Multimedia– CD ROM or DVD– Sound Card– Speakers

• Other Devices– Scanner– Camera

Purchasing Decisions

• Local store versus mail order– Magazines– Internet

• Use credit card to double warranty• 30-day price guarantee• Don’t forget the software

– Windows 98 (included) or 2000– Microsoft Office (check the version)