3. How much should I spend?

This is often the second question I’m asked and a tricky question to answer. What you need to do first is determine what you need the computer for and then consider what features you actually need. Understand that you will be paying more additional features and for mobility. You pay more for less weight and smaller footprint size. Basically, you pay more for less (just like mini-skirts). At the same time don’t be deceived by the price tag either. People often ask me why my quotations are higher than some vendors in the market. When we go through each component in a computer you will better understand this. For now I’ll just simply tell you that a computer’s casing is just that. It does not reflect what is actually inside the machine. I can sell you a fancy looking machine, remove a couple of components, replace a few more with cheaper parts and reduce the price significantly. I won’t do that because you will find your computer out of date very rapidly. Technology is moving at such a pace even vendors have a problem keeping up. I bought my first computer in 1990 and paid RM2500 for it. It was an 8088XT with no hard drive and a 16-colours CGA screen. At the same price today I can get a computer that is a hundred times faster, with a huge hard drive, a multi-coloured screen and features that didn’t even exist back then.

Like I said earlier, the features move the price. Sony Viao for instance has a range of cool looking laptops and you’d probably pay an extra RM500 just for it. It is the same for the Acer Ferrari, you pay several hundreds extra for the Ferrari logo and it isn’t even a chick magnet. Size is another factor, you’d find yourself paying about RM1000 extra for a 12.1” screen and a couple of hundred extra for a 14.1” screen as compared to a 15.4” laptop. The one thing that really brings the price up or down is the processor. Always read the specifications. An AMD Athlon XP will save you nearly a thousand whereas an Intel Core 2 Duo can set you back a thousand. We will cover more on processors later on but for now I’ll leave you with a list of processors that are still in the market with their general specification . Don't worry if it doesn't make sense to you yet. The basic rule is - the higher the number the better it is. So, the next time you read a brochure look at the figures next to the processor, they are important when you are doing a price comparison.

As a general rule, I normally advice a budget of around RM2000 for desktops and RM3000 for laptops (excluding software). You'll spend about another RM1000 for a Microsoft Office Pack and RM150 for a good Anti-Virus software.

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