Factors that need to be consider

When buying a computer for a specific reason is always tricky. You have to make sure you know what exactly you’re looking. Because the course I am doing in college is applied psychology I work with computers and need certain amount of memory and programs.

Also being a student I can’t afford to be buying the most expensive computer. I would consider buying a laptop though so I could bring it with me into college to write and save notes and be able to do CAs as well. The size and weight would also be an issue because I would be carrying it around and wouldn’t want something big and heavy. I would look at how much battery life a laptop has without having to charge it after so many hours because I wouldn’t be always beside a plug.

I would need certain programs such as Microsoft office as I have to write essay, do presentations’ and also downloading lectures. I would also need some graphic programs as part of my course such as Adobe Photoshop and this requires a certain amount of memory to be able to work on this and other programs.

So the amount of memory would be a big issue as I will be running graphic programs as well as being able to storage information and my work. I would have to look at CPU, Cache, RAM, and storage device types. Laptop computers save data in two ways. One is on the hard drive which is also called as the permanent memory and the other one is in random access memory which is also known as the temporary memory where information is saved while the software is running.

RAM, also known as Random Access Memory, refers to the most common computer memory. RAM can be used by programs to perform needed tasks once the computer is turned on. RAM is also considered an integrated circuit (IC) memory chip that allows information to be stored or accessed in any order.

I should look for models with at least 512 MBs of RAM or more. It will vary depending on the type of programs I'll be running. Making sure that computer devices such as this can be upgraded and this goes with the motherboard.

Nowadays, most computers use a type of memory technically called as DDR2. However, there is also called DDR3 which is now finally making its way to PC systems. In terms of pricing, DDR3 is quite more expensive than DDR2. Specs wise, it is best to have at least 2GB of memory in any computer system and preferably 4GB. Of course the faster memory speed the computer provides the better performance it gives.

Since random-access-memory is what the computer uses to run applications and data on operating system, it should really provide higher specifications.

One of the main purposes of my computer will be graphic work; I should check the video RAM. Desktop computers can easily be upgraded. But when it comes to notebook technology, (where each new generation always comes up in the market) RAM keeps increasing. So I should be careful to choose the one that really suits my needs.