21 May, 2011
Last week we looked at the different scenarios associated with a dead PC, namely if it was already 3 years old and whether it had been on a battery backup and surge protector (UPS). This week we will look at computer replacement options for both business and home use. Firstly if it is for home use then one main concern is – will it be playing computer games? Many people are quite surprised to learn that one of the most challenging tasks for a modern PC is to be able to play the latest fast paced games – shoot-em-ups and race car simulators where there is a lot of screen movement. None of the PC’s with on-board graphics cards will play these games well and often not at all. Spending between $200 to $600 on just the graphics card alone will have a huge effect on computer games and as most teenagers will tell you – this is a necessity. For hardware specs you can refer to some of our previous articles but mostly 4GB of ram is common place and we also suggest an Intel Core i3 or Core i5 or Core i7 processor is best. A home user also needs to look at software options. Do they need Microsoft Office & does the PC come with a virus scanner? In both above cases nearly every PC now comes with trial editions of both of these software packages. So after getting the new PC home they often then have to spend more money online registering this software for further use. In nearly all cases for home use the latest Windows 7 Home Premium operating system will be perfect for the range of tasks required. For a business there is more to consider as the operating system version of should always be Windows 7 Professional. Normally a business will also run the same virus scanner on every PC (sometimes a network based one) and most importantly not all versions of Microsoft office are even legal for use in a business – it will need to be ‘home & business’ or the ‘professional version’ & larger businesses will have Microsoft Volume Licencing for their Office software. Also keep in mind that the chain store PC’s are just a generic PC that is ‘supposed’ to cater for a variety of end users – however we find that they have so much ‘junk’ software and trial software installed that they typically run at about half pace straight out of the box. We have had new customers bring one of these new PC’s to us and after about 2 hours of flat out uninstalling and reconfiguring they have literally half of the original software and run twice as quick. Don’t overlook the benefits of having an IT professional setup the new PC back onsite as well as making sure that you have all of your original data in place and a new backup system. Next week we will look at the current purchase decisions associated with buying a new laptop. Kerr Solutions is at 128 Musgrave Street & is contactable on 49 222 400.