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How to choose when buying a computer – is asking “what is the most popular computer” the right question? First off, I’ve found that a lot of people start thinking about this by asking “what is the most popular computer?” and letting the answer to that decide the question for them. Well, this isn’t necessarily the best idea.

Just because something is popular doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best — for example, fast food restaurants are popular places to go, but I think we all know they don’t serve the best food in the world. Here’s the thing to remember when thinking about how to chose when buying a computer — you should generally avoid the big brand names. Yes, this might surprise you, but in my opinion, it’s usually not a good idea to buy from one of the big brand name companies (there’s one exception that I’ll get to in a minute).

Here’s why: dollar for dollar, you’re generally going to get a worse deal than if you go with a reputable “generic” or “white box” store. A lot of people have low price as the first thing on their list when they’re trying to figure out how to chose when buying a computer. So they go with a cheap brand name and spend a few hundred dollars on it, and they think they’re getting a good deal. But what they don’t realize is that it’s common for a lot of the big brand companies to sell very out-of-date computers in their lower price ranges, and from what I’ve heard, they also often sell computers with parts they know are bad!

I’m not kidding about this — most of the big computer companies out there, when they sell their least expensive computers, are trying to unload old inventory that’s been collecting dust on their shelves for a long time. They sell it to you as if it’s new, and maybe it is in the sense of never purchased before, but it’s hardly new in terms of the technology. And the more disturbing part of this is that from what I’ve heard, those computers often have parts in them that are *known* to be bad parts!

You see, when a chip manufacturer like Intel makes a computer processor (the “brain” of the computer), they test it to make sure it works. Makes sense, right? But inevitably, many of them fail these tests. Now you’d think these bad parts would be thrown away, but no — from what I’ve heard, what happens is they still sell them to the big computer companies at a discount, and those companies put them into their computers anyway.

What you can do with a bad processor a lot of the time is set it to run slower, and while it may not be running at full speed, it works well enough to pass the tests. But the parts are still bad! Sure, they may work OK for a while (maybe just long enough to make it through the warranty period) but they have more little “glitches” and end up breaking down sooner. So if you can find a reputable local company that sells computers they assemble themselves, you’ll get a well built computer for a lot less because you’re not paying for the brand name.

A family-owned store like that is the only place I’d buy a Windows PC, personally. So earlier I mentioned there was an exception among the big brand names — if you’ve been reading my articles or my email newsletter for a while, you might have already guessed which one it is — Apple.

Apple is the only big brand name computer I personally would buy (I’m writing this on a MacBook Pro). I do this partially because I’ve used a lot of different types of computers over the years, and really don’t enjoy using Windows much. But I also do this because Apple doesn’t deliberately put bad processors in their computers, or try to sell out-of-date computers as new. Some people complain that Apple’s Macs are overpriced, but that’s actually not the case — when compared apples to apples (excuse the pun) they tend to be in the same price range as a Dell or HP of the same general specs.

So bottom line is, here’s how to chose when you’re buying a computer: if you want to stick with Windows, then support a local business and go to a good store that puts your computer together for you from parts. And make sure you ask them to put Windows XP on it, not Windows Vista (for reasons I’ve covered in a previous 3-part article about the problems with Windows Vista). Or finally get away from Windows and switch to a Mac.

Either way, you’re getting a better deal. Hope that makes sense and helps with your decisions on how to chose when buying a computer.

By: Worth Godwin


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Slow running of computer can be very irritating especially for people who have to work with their computer every day. Computer running slow is a problem many face who has not upgraded their computer for a long time. There could be many reasons why system runs slowly at times. There are various steps which can be followed if the computer is running slow. The problem can be solved to an extent by analyzing the system properly and deleting some unwanted data. But hardly anything can be done if the system configuration is poor i.e. expecting a Pentium II processor to perform like a core duo processor is something unreal and no steps can help doing that.

The computer usually runs slow because the processing done is more than what it could take. So reducing the burden of the computer will allow it to process a little faster. Some steps which can be done to improve the windows booting time are

disabling unwanted startup items .
Some important items like anti virus and firewall could be kept running and almost every other startup items can be removed. MSCONFIG is the best and easiest way to add and remove startup items. Disabling windows startup screen can increase the boot speed slightly. Changing the BIOS booting sequence
changing BIOS booting sequence will help reducing the boot time as it searches directly in the hard drive instead of other devices like a CD or a floppy. Giving fewer loads to the computer improves the performance like if a song is played in the background while playing a game, the performance of the game will not be as good and fast. Disk Clean Up
Doing disk cleanup regularly will help removing unwanted files from the computer and will help prevent slow running of computers. Maintain System Registry
It is very important that the computer is free from registry error to have a good performance. So scanning your system registry and maintain it regularly will definitely make your computer perform better. Hence it is important nowadays that everyone who uses windows as their main operating system should have a registry cleaner software. As it helps to keep your computer clean from registry error. deleting cookies and temporary internet/windows files
Deleting cookies and cache regularly will help improve Internet speed. Temporary Internet/windows files should also be cleared at regular intervals. This also improves your browser speed along with system speed. But Today registry scanner can automatically scan and delete all those unwanted files and optimize the system.

So taking some simple steps can avoid computer running slow to a good extent. Having a error free system and a fast computer could be very significant in order to do your work quickly. I bet you are looking forward to automating all the jobs so you do not have to spend too much time to worry about your computer speed anymore. Check out Computer running slow for more details.

By: Alexandre Frings

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Are you frequently asking the question “Why does my computer run so slow”? This was also a question I kept asking myself when my computer was running horribly slow in the past. In fact, anyone who has used their computers for a long time will probably ask the same question at some point.

A slow computer can be a result of various issues. This article will cover the most common causes of a computer slowing down, and how to finally get your computer to run fast again.

Corrupted Registry

90% of the time, a computer will slow down as a result of errors in the computer registry. It is very easy for us to neglect our computer registry, and over time, the registry entries in the registry will get horribly messy.
To fix your registry properly, you will need to download a registry cleaner. This program will easily identify all the bad registry entries in your system for you with a scan, and then fix them after you have approved the software to do so.

Running Too Many Programs

You may have installed software that are running in your startup section which you may be unaware of. As more and more programs get installed, your system starts to slow down as it uses up more resources just to keep these programs running in the background. These programs should be turned off or your computer will crash often.

If you are looking to fix your computer, these are the 2 areas that I would look at. I personally managed to get my slow computer running a lot faster after using registry cleaner to fix it. Get your computer back to its original working condition again!

By: Austin Porter

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