Black Friday Deals: Buy the Right PC, Not the Cheapest
Ablang
Computers may be on sale at insane prices, but take a careful look at
the bottom line — and exactly what it is that you're buying.
Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, Computerworld
Nov 26, 2009 3:00 pm
I don't need a new PC, but I want one anyway. All those Black Friday
deals are mighty tempting. But, if you're going to give in to
temptation here are some hints to keep in mind.
First, those deals that are too good to be true? Many of them are too
good to be true. If you are the first person in line at 4 a.m. you may
get the one ultra-low price laptop that a store will have in stock.
But, if you're a 'late' riser, who doesn't make it to the store until
4:05, you can forget about the miracle-priced computer.
Other computers may also be on sale at insane prices, but take a
careful look at exactly what it is that you're buying. I've seen
several netbooks deals that sound great... until I looked closer and
saw that they require pricey, two-year mobile phone contracts on top
of the up-front price.
I'm not saying you can't get a good deal. You can. Just don't get too
worked up about sub-$100 priced computers, or you may end up
disappointed or with a PC that costs you far more in the long-run.
Before setting your alarm clock for 3 in the morning, you also should
keep in mind that many vendors are offering the same deals at their
online stores. Given a choice between standing in a crowd at your
local Best Buy and sitting at my computer and shopping, I'm at home at
my PC every time.
To find these deals, there are several good Web sites that serve as
Black Friday sales guides. I prefer Black Friday Ads and Black Friday
Info.
Before you start shopping though, here are some specifics to keep in
mind.
If you're going to buy a new Windows 7 PC, be sure to get one with at
least 2GBs of RAM, and if you can get more RAM so much the better.
I've found adding RAM to a computer usually gets you the most bang for
the buck from any upgrade. Avoid netbooks with Windows 7. Windows 7
Starter Edition may, in theory, run on 1 GB of RAM, but it's no fun
and it lacks many of Windows 7's best features.
The version of Windows 7 that you'll want to buy for a home PC, by the
by, is Windows 7 Home Premium. Windows 7 Ultimate is also worth buying
if it won't cost you much more. On the other hand, you want to avoid
Windows 7 Home Basic. It has more features than Starter Edition, but
it lacks such basics as the ability to play DVDs. If you buy a 'deal'
with Windows 7 Home Basic, it's a deal you'll regret.
If you've been lusting for a Mac, now, or rather tomorrow, November
27th, is the time to buy. Apple will offer modest, about 8% sales on
Macs on that day only. Still, since Apple almost never discounts Macs,
it's still better than nothing. Other vendors, like MacMall, will also
offer lower Mac prices for longer periods of time. For what it's
worth, I think the Mac Mini, which will also be on sale, has always
offered a great Mac at a PC price.
As for Linux, there's not a lot to pick from, I had one deal I liked a
lot, a Dell's Vostro A90 Netbook for $184. This is a nice netbook that
comes with Ubuntu Linux, but it appears that they're already sold out.
Sigh.
Still, any netbook you can find will run desktop Linux successfully,
so if you're heart is set on Linux, shop around. Even the most minimal-
equipped network will still do well with Linux running on it.
Good luck with your shopping!
frater mus
> careful look at exactly what it is that you're buying. I've seen
> several netbooks deals that sound great... until I looked closer and
> saw that they require pricey, two-year mobile phone contracts on top
> of the up-front price.
My Eee 900 netbook has become the only PC I've ever loved. Took about 2
hours to get used to the keyboard.
> Still, any netbook you can find will run desktop Linux successfully,
I think folks should consider Linux for the desktop, not just netbooks.
My tech-allergic wife has been running Linux on her workstation at home
for the past three years.
> so if you're heart is set on Linux, shop around. Even the most minimal-
> equipped network will still do well with Linux running on it.
A couple of points:
* physical media - having the windows cd/dvd available may be helpful if
you are considering pulling off windows and upgrading to linux. That
way you can reinstall
or provide the media if you ever want to see the box.
* livecd/liveusb - you can boot most of the linux distros off CD or off
USB (using unetbootin
for the later) to see if you like it an if it likes your hardware. No
harm, no foul.
* there are linux variants that may be better for netbooks.
The most famous is Ubuntu Netbook Remix. http://www.tinyurl.com/linuxnbr
SSD (ie, flash drives, not hard drives) may benefit from variants that
run in RAM and write
to the drive only periodically. they also tend to be very small
footprint OSes. You can effectively carry your computer in on your usb
keychain and boot it whereever.
DSL-N, 100MB.
Puppy linux, 100MB.
DSL, 50MB.
Tiny Core Linux is only 10MB (!) but is not suitable for beginners.
--
brother mouse
composed offline and synced later.
http://www.mousetrap.net/mouse/offline.html