Shopping for a PC: A Long-Term Solution

Here are some common questions and answers.
Q: I'm about to buy a new computer to replace my old 486. But with a limited knowledge of computers, I'm feeling overwhelmed by all the choices and conflicting opinions, and beginning to feel a little panicky about making a good choice soon. My designer friends are insistent that I should buy a Mac, but after looking at the prices and being told my perfectly good 5-year-old laser Brother printer most likely won't work with a Mac even with $300 in conversion cables, I'm not convinced. I didn't find the monitor on the iMac very appealing either, and you don't have much ability to change the computer's capacity--and the G3 and G4 with monitor are over $3000.

So, if I go with a PC, my options are to buy a Dell or Gateway over the Internet, or to buy a locally built machine through a local dealer, or to have an Acer system built by a local computer/internet doctor who did a good job when my e-mail system was a mess. My wish is to have a very reliable, good-performance system for about $2500 to $2750 that's backed up by excellent service and warranty, and will be satisfactory for the next 3 to 5 years (I know, 5 years is ridiculous!).

As well, if I go for a PC, I need to decide on Celeron v. Pentium, etc. A designer (Mac) friend told me that Celeron chips are Pentium chips that failed the quality-control tests in a couple of areas. Is that a nasty rumour, or only true of the old chips, or what? Which do you recommend?

A: Your well-meaning Mac friend is giving you some extremely poor advice. Celerons are most definitely not Pentiums (or any other chip) that failed "a couple of quality control tests." That is a lie, plain and simple.
 
Here's my opinion(s).

• If you get a Mac, especially an iMac, it will be less upgradeable than almost any PC you can buy. G4 (or older G3) towers are the best bet in the Mac world today. And, whoever told you that your old Brother laser printer probably will not work was giving you good advice. PCI adapter cards such as the 6-port serial port card from KeySpan do not support AppleTalk, which your Brother PostScript laser printer requires in order to print. The same limitation applies to USB-to-Serial adapters from Keyspan, ADS and other manufacturers.. They work (most of the time) with standard serial devices, but do not support AppleTalk devices, and may have problems with certain high-speed serial devices (such as MIDI interfaces) as well.
  You may, however, be able to use the Brother with a Mac by using the PrintLink cable and software from www.infowave.com - they have a list of supported printers that mentions several Brother models.
   
• As you have five years of PC experience and your needs could be served well by a PC, that is my recommendation. They cost less (at least in up-front dollars) and they are faster in disk operations than comparably priced Macs and more versatile at word processing and communications (internet, etc.) tasks -- the two things you says you need most.
  If you elect to buy a PC, get a good-quality machine, built from category leading, high-quality components. According to a July 2002 survey by PC Magazine, "consumers like Apple, Dell and Handspring - not AOL, Compaq or MSN" (Read more....)
   
  Consider that the highest-speed processors are always more expensive than mid-range models, which may be fast enough for your needs. You might want to get a mid-range Pentium 4 or Athlon processor (depending on the motherboard type you choose) now, and upgrade the processor in a year or two. Note, however, that if you buy a system now, and wait too long, you may find that the voltage or pinouts of next year's processors might not be compatible, so this strategy carries with it a certain amount of risk. At any rate, we doubt that few people will outgrow a 1.6GHz PC (currently, considered a mid-range model) anytime soon.

  Get a Maxtor 7200RPM drive. They are cheap, fairly reliable and very fast.
  If you prefer to buy a "big name brand," consider a Dell. The company's service is very good - particularly via telephone or dial-up connection. I think you would be happy with their service and support.
   
  Putting together a system that will be completely satisfactory for the next 3 to 5 years is a tall order.  I'd be sure to get a model with a "DDR" memory support and a high-quality motherboard, capable of being upgraded to today's fastest processors. There are still some systems on the market based on the PIII, however, most low-cost PCs are based on the more upgradeable Pentium 4 or Athlon XP.  Despite your Mac friends' allegations (which are false, by the way), I have been very pleased with the performance of the Celerons for the price. They are only about 10 percent slower than more expensive Pentium III or P4 models. I would go for at least 256MB of memory (I have 384 MB RAM in my machine), a 40 GB hard drive and a 1.4GHz or faster processor.
   
  Today, most motherboards support so-called DDR (double data rate) memory. There are cheap boards lacking this feature (and, perhaps, other leading-edge features such as USB 2.0, ATA133, etc.), but they are not a wise choice if you are looking to minimize future compatibility problems. A computer built upon the foundation of a mainboard from Abit, Asus, MSI, Gigabyte or other top motherboard manufacturer is a safe choice.

  If you work primarily in Word or WordPerfect, and use a home finance product such as Quicken 2000 or MS Money, even a mid-range machine will be plenty fast enough. Today, many people do a lot of work by e-mail . . . and want to be able to play a cool game or two, or start building their own Web sites. Having a faster machine really starts to come in handy when you get into graphics -- say, by adding a scanner or beginning to work with a publishing program.
   
  Despite the fact that the Mac is renowned as the platform for graphics work, a wide range of desktop publishing and graphics tools are available for PCs and, as you may know, Word and WordPerfect and Internet Explorer are all more advanced on the PC platform than they are the Mac.

  And what PC software should you use to convert Mac files?
  I convert Mac files all the time, and I don't need any special programs. I use Stuffit Expander for Windows, WinZip, MS Word, Internet Explorer and Photoshop and these handle all my Mac file conversion needs. All but Word and Photoshop are downloadable for free.

  I also recommend purchasing and installing an anti-virus program. I use McAfee, but Norton Antivirus is also good.

  To do back-up and to send physical files, a CD-Writer is probably the best current choice. LG Electronics makes good, inexpensive units. An IDE type internal CD-Writer is the most compatible with backup software titles and CD burning utilities.
   
  In low-cost monitors, I like the Hansol 701P (not the "701A"). I also like Samsung and Viewsonic monitors, in general. In "Tabloid" printers, my favorite is from Epson. HP printers are well regarded, although you should be careful to avoid inkjet units requiring HP's "half full" #15 ink refills.
   
  And, when it comes to Internet access, consider skipping a modem and going straight for high-speed cable or ADSL service, if either are available in your area. Once you've tried @Home or ADSL, modems seem so-oo-oo slow.
  

For Further Reading:

• http://www.computerautofix.com/my_webs/buy_computer.htm