                             Buying a PC.

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.
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