The right PC
for every purpose
These articles sponsored by Intel. Intel®
processors deliver the performance and
innovation to transform your computing
experience—at home, in the office or
on the go. The company’s leading-edge
products include the Intel® Core™ 2 Duo
and Core™ 2 Quad processors and Intel®
Centrino® processor technology for note-
books. The world leader in silicon innovation,
Intel develops technologies, products and
initiatives to continually advance how
people work and live.
HAS YOUR SEARCH for a new personal computer bogged down amid the
vast number and complexity of available choices? If so, then take heart, because as complicated as a new PC might be under the hood, finding one that
meets your requirements doesn’t need to be. The first step, of course, is to
decide just what your requirements really are.
One reason PC selection has become so challenging is that we’re all doing more with our computers than ever before. With a high-speed connection
to the Internet, a personal computer becomes an instant reference library,
newspaper, mailbox, shopping mall, flea market, social club, matchmaker,
employment service, photo lab, juke box, gaming arcade, movie theater and
travel agent. The list gets longer every day, and each new application drives a
fresh round of innovations by hardware manufacturers and software developers that make existing tasks easier and entirely new ones possible.
Decision one: desktop or laptop?
The first order of business in
choosing a new PC is to decide how you
intend to use it, beginning with where
you’ll use it, because the very first fork
in the decision tree—desktop or laptop—
divides on whether you want a system to
use in a single location (a home office, for
instance) or a mobile system for on the go.
Once across the desktop-laptop divide,
the next step is to decide what applications and
tasks are most important to you. Do you want a multipurpose system for general home and light office tasks? A
student machine for homework and online research? A multimedia workshop
for enjoying and creating high-definition video? Each of these choices will
dictate different priorities for choosing and configuring key components—the
processor, main memory, hard disk, optical drives and graphics solutions.
To see how your intended uses can focus the PC selection decision, let’s
look closely at what you’ll need for what you’re going to do.
An all-purpose desktop for home multitasking
Let’s say you’ve decided to purchase a new desktop PC for basic home
use—primarily Internet browsing, shopping, e-mail, family photo and music
