                              Buying a PC

                                   By

                               Lee Bohan

     Many magazines will be happy to show you reviews of the latest
     machines  manufacturers  have  to  offer.  Some will even help
     further by doing 'Supertests' of many machines, to see how one
     machines of similar specification will  compare  from  various
     manufacturers.  What is less common however is actually trying
     to help people what  specification  they  need  in  the  first
     place.

     The  first  stage  in establishing your needs is to figure out
     your budget. After all,  we  could  all  justify  the  latest,
     fastest  model, but most of us cannot afford it. So, establish
     a maximum amount you can spend, and stick to it.

     Most  PC's  are  classified  mainly  by  processor  type,   so
     establishing  this  is  a good first stage in thinking out the
     specification. Many good offers  today  can  be  seen  on  old
     machines  such  as  286's  or  even  XT's; but ever stopped to
     consider why? Because the shop keeper is nice man, or dislikes
     big numbers? Not quite, it is because  there  is  very  little
     demand  for  them  any more. You should only consider a 286 if
     your budget is less than 500.  Never  consider  an  XT,  wait
     until  you have saved up for a better machine: once these were
     the work horses of industry, but they are no  way  up  to  the
     demands  of modern software and are only about 10% less than a
     286 in any case. What I believe everyone should look for in  a
     386 of some kind, or even better.

     Although  a  386SX will not offer much advantage over a 286 of
     the same clock speed, the net result will be  a  far  superior
     machine  in  every other way. The 386 processor handles memory
     much better and also aids windows and other programs that  use
     extended or high memory.

     The  386SX,  in it's 25MHz, or increasingly 33MHz form is what
     should be though of as an entry level; the price  differential
     make  slower  SX's not worth the bother. It would be ideal for
     the home user who has no aspirations of using things like  CAD
     for  a  living  on  it.  It  would  also be good for the small
     business who needs to word process, do small  spreadsheets  or
     the occasional bit of desktop publishing.

     The  386DX  is  the next step up. It should be only considered
     in it's 40MHz form, as again, the price differential makes  it
     not  worth  considering  lower  models.  Also  here look for a
     cache, 64k is optimum for most purposes, as more is often used
     as a sales gimmick and gives less than 1% improvement,  unless
     more  than  8MB  of RAM are used. Apart from the obvious clock
     speed benefits, the full 32Bit architecture on the chip on the
     board gives it an advantage over the SX. The 386DX is  a  good
     machine for those who want there 3D games to run at absolutely
     the  fastest  speed possible, want to use the biggest software
     such as Word For  Windows  2.0  or  want  to  program  with  a
     compiled  language.  The  speed  this gives will make even the
     slowest compiler or debugger tolerable.

     The next step price wise is the 486SX, although to  call  this
     a  little  misleading  as  it  is  slower  than a 368DX. It is
     normally in a 20MHz form, and has it's main advantage  in  the
     fact  it  can  be  upgraded to a 486DX by just adding an extra
     chip. Why anyone would buy a 486SX is beyond me, it is  slower
     and  more  expensive than a 386DX, and the cost of the upgrade
     chip makes going to a 486DX more expensive  in  the  long  run
     than  buying a full 486DX mother board, swapping the RAM chips
     over and selling the 386DX board second hand.

     The  fastest  processor  currently  available  is  the  486DX.
     Although  it  is  available in a 25MHz form, it should only be
     considered in it's 33MHz or 50MHz form. The 50MHz  is  as  one
     would  expect  faster than the 33MHz, but also about 300 more
     expensive, a significant differential, so  I  suppose  it  all
     depends  on  how  patient  you  are. The main boon of a 486 is
     that it has a in built maths co-processor. This is very useful
     indeed for CAD or large spreadsheets. The 486DX is a good  buy
     for  a  CAD  user  who  can't afford a Sun, business users who
     large spreadsheets, heavy users of drawing packages or DTP and
     ego maniacs.

     After deciding the processor type, the size of  hard  disk  is
     the  next  consideration.  The  current minimum is really 40MB
     although this is only really suitable for the  low  end  user,
     who  doesn't really intend to make any serious use of windows.
     The new emerging standard for a minimum is 100MB, and this  is
     ideal  for  a  remarkably  large  number  of  people  with the
     possible exception of the professional CAD user or programmer.

     As for type, well for almost everyone an IDE drive  offers  by
     far  the  best  price/performance ratio. It is fast enough for
     almost anything, will support up to two physical drives and is
     relatively cheap. MFM and RLL are old and  slow  standards  or
     little use outside an XT or slow 286. ESDI is a dying standard
     which is a little faster than IDE, nut this gap is closing and
     the  high price of ESDI makes it a declining standard. For the
     real power user, consider SCSI, as it is by  far  the  fastest
     system  (especially in it's new SCSI 2 form)and can support up
     to seven physical devices.

     Many people often blame the poor performance of the PC on many
     factors, when it is in fact the lack  of  RAM  to  blame  (see
     elsewhere  in  this  issue). For the person who will never use
     windows or anything more adventurous, who only runs small  DOS
     applications  and  games  then  2MB may be OK. For the windows
     user, do not consider less than 4MB, and for anyone  who  will
     ever  have  more  than  one  application open concurrently, or
     anyone who is into serious CAD, DTP or  programming  at  least
     8MB should be ideally aimed at, as it should for OS/2 or UNIX.

     When  one  turns  on  a  machine,  the  quality or lack of the
     graphics is the first thing that hits home. On a more  serious
     note,  poor  graphics  is the only way a machine can seriously
     damage  you  health.  Only  two  standards  should  really  be
     considered as a realistic alternative mono VGA or colour SVGA.

     For  the  dos  applications  user,  who will never play games,
     mono VGA is ideal. However, colour  is  becoming  increasingly
     more  important in things like windows, and as such is for the
     non-gaming text based used only. The one point in  the  favour
     of mono VGA is that it is about 150 cheaper than SVGA.

     To  call  SVGA a standard is a little misleading in itself, as
     it is really a collection of standards of anything which  will
     out  perform  standard VGA. Firstly, for those into CAD, large
     spreadsheets or DTP a large monitor  with  at  least  1024*768
     resolution  and  a  17"  or  more  tube  is  a great help. All
     monitors I have seen of this specification are  more  than  up
     to  the  job in hand, so I will not go on further about these.
     To we normal mortals however, 14" is  perfectly  adequate.  At
     the 14" size, we should want no higher than 800*600 resolution
     as  this  would cause eyestrain, although you should make sure
     it will run at this resolution in non-interlaced mode, and has
     a dot pitch or .28" or less.

     After one has got the SVGA monitor specification sorted,  then
     the  graphics  card  must  be  looked at. Firstly, ensure your
     supplier gives you a monitor that is OK with  the  card,  next
     look at the card chipset. Avoid an Oak chipset like the plague
     as  they  are  slow  and  poorly  supported.  The most popular
     solution is a Trident video card, and although adequate,  they
     can  make  an  otherwise fast machine seem slow in windows, as
     it is not quick. The best  solution  is  a  Tseng,  Orchid  or
     Western Digital card, but as always, these are more expensive.
     Also,  then  asking  about the card, make sure it has at least
     1MB of memory on it. One last point one video  cards,  is  the
     advent  of  the  so-called windows accelerator card. These may
     indeed speed up windows (but not  much  over  a  Tseng  or  WD
     card),  but there performance outside windows is poor, and the
     price premium high; so unless you use windows heavily  90%  of
     the time don't bother.

     Perhaps  the  most  common  mistake  when  ordering  a  PC  is
     forgetting you need an  operating  system.  Often,  especially
     from  cheaper  sources, this may not be included in the price.
     Don't be disheartened however, barter and most suppliers  will
     throw  in  DOS  5.0  (or  DR  DOS  6.0  - don't get an earlier
     version) free, and sometimes even  Windows  as  well.  Another
     mistake  that  is  not  unknown is forgetting to order a mouse
     (eh, Dave?), as this will also usually be thrown  in  free  if
     you barter.

     Lastly  on  to  cosmetic  things like the case etc.. Today the
     trend seems towards slimline cases, however with hotter faster
     processors becoming the norm, it is better to avoid  these  if
     you  have  room.  The  best buys are either a desk-top or full
     tower (a mini-tower can also suffer similar  cooling  problems
     to  a  slimline).  Colour is also a factor, and there is now a
     choice too! Don't pay more for black though, the manufacturers
     don't have to pay more for the components.

     All in all, I hope this  covers  what  specification  problems
     you  may  encounter.  Should  you  not  be  able to afford you
     perfect machine, don't worry; looking back up  the  list  will
     soon allow you to either find where savings can be made or let
     you  decide to wait a while until you have saved up a bit more
     and prices have continued on there ever downward slope.

                         Lee Bohan - July 1992.



                                 Ends.
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