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Migrate from your old PC to a new PC
New computers take time to set up
Migrating from your old PC to your your new PC related articles:
What To Know Before You Buy Computer Equipment
by: Bonnie Archer
There are so many factors to think about when deciding which computer
equipment to buy. The bewildering amount of choices can seem overwhelming.
This guide will help you compare computer equipment features and help
you to examine and sift through many of the basic items before you buy
a new computer. If it be a desktop PC, laptop, discount/surplus computer,
a refurbished computer or a computer accessory, this quick guide will
help you to get the most for your money.
With modern computer equipment almost any of them will adequately handle
what most people need to buy a new computer for; word processing, basic
office, internet surfing and email, which you can buy for about $1000
or less! But if you are into digital videos, photo editing, music, or
manage a large database you will need more than the basic Desktop PC or
Laptop. This higher end computer will cost you around $1500-$2000.
(CPU) Processors
There is always change in the computer market, but no matter what the
upgrades, there are always two basic choices to be made when purchasing
computer equipment:
1) Brand
2) Speed.
To buy a new computer that handles standard office and Internet tasks,
any processor will work.
Need more power in your computer equipment? Then the Intel Pentium4 or
the AMD Athlon XP (great for graphics and photos which use a lot of memory
space) is for you.
If you buy a new computer one or two levels from the top you will only
lose about five percent per tier performance but you can save a couple
hundred dollars!
(RAM) Memory
Memory is very important because optimum running of your computer equipment
is dependent on enough RAM. The minimum amount should be 256MB, for better
performance you should get 512MB. If you can afford to buy a new computer
with more, you should. It's worth it because you can keep more applications
open and it will easily handle memory hogs like Photoshop and music applications!
Monitors
When buying computer equipment, look for a monitor that is at least 17"
with a resolution of 1280 by 1024 pixels. A Desktop PC with a 19-inch
monitor gives you 20 % more screen area. If you can spend $300-$450 on
a monitor when you buy a new computer you might want to get a 15"
LCD because it has the same viewable area as the 17" CRT and takes
up much less space.
Hard Drives (storage)
Most hard drives sold today will provide more than enough storage. The
basic computer equipment comes with 40GB or larger, which is plenty for
most tasks. But for working with graphics, video, music, or large databases,
80GB should be the minimum you settle for. 7200-rpm drives give better
performance. But for the best performance, get a computer with 8MB of
cache.
Basic Warranty and Tech Support
A one-year warranty on most computer equipment is enough, because most
problems seem to happen in the first year. If you want you can get an
extended two to three year warranty for around $150 to $200. If you buy
a Dell you can get priority call routing to tech support for a year for
only $39.
About The Author
Bonnie Archer is a successful author and publisher of http://www.A1-computers.net.
A great source of information about computers and computer accessories.
support@a1-computers.net
5 Sure-Fire Tips for Buying a New Computer
by: John Lenaghan
So you're thinking of buying a new computer...
Where do you start? There are so many brands and models of computers available,
and it can all be a little overwhelming when you start to look around.
How do you decide what type of computer you need? And perhaps more importantly,
how do you decide what the best value is?
I have sold computers professionally for almost 20 years, and there are
certain "tricks of the trade" that most computer stores and
salespeople use. Knowing these secrets can make your decision easier and
will help you buy the right computer for your needs.
1. Buy What You Need, Maybe a Little More
One of the most important things you can do when buying a new computer
is make a list of the things that you will be using it for. There are
so many different models - with different capabilities - that you can
easily buy more, or less, than you really need if you don't.
If this is your first computer, this can be a little tougher. Until you've
used a computer, it's hard to know exactly what you might want to do with
it beyond the obvious, like connecting to the internet.
Regardless, you should think about some of the things you might want to
do. Some possibilities include:
* Connect to the internet
* Play games
* Digital photography
* Digital video
* Type documents
* Accounting
* Design websites
* Programming
* Digital scrapbooking
* Genealogy
Some of these things need more power than others. For example, connecting
to the internet really doesn't need a lot of power. Even the most basic
computer available will probably work just fine.
Digital video and many games need a lot more power. If you don't get a
fast enough computer with enough memory, you'll be disappointed with the
performance.
Knowing what you're going to be using your computer for will help your
salesperson, whether they're on the phone, the internet or standing in
front of you, recommend the best system for your needs.
As a general rule you're always better off buying more power than you
need rather than less, but buying too much can be a waste of money.
2. Warranty Considerations
Computer warranties are one of the most confusing and obscure parts of
your purchase. Most manufacturers have cut back on their customer service
to the point where poor service has become a given.
The three most common options are onsite, carry-in or manufacturer's depot
service.
Onsite service can be helpful, but think about whether you want to have
to be available for a technician to come and diagnose your computer, and
possibly have to come back with parts at another time.
Carry in service is a good option, but find out whether the service center
is factory authorized for warranty repairs, as well as whether the technicians
are all certified.
Shipping your computer to a factory service center can take a long time
- sometimes a number of weeks. It also creates risk that your computer
will be damaged or even lost in shipping. In some cases, the manufacturer
will even replace your computer with another unit and ship it back to
you, rather than repairing it. This can result in your losing any information
that was on your system and having to reload all your software.
Another aspect of the warranty to find out about is technical support.
Find out if the computer manufacturer offers a toll-free phone number
and what the quality of service is like.
The better computer salespeople will be honest about this and tell you
if a company's service leaves something to be desired. You can also do
some research on the internet - most of the computer magazines like PC
Magazine and PC World have annual customer service comparisons that rate
the larger computer companies.
Always find out how the warranty is handled before making your decision.
Even if it doesn't influence your choice, knowing what to expect if something
does go wrong will save some nasty surprises down the road.
3. Can You Negotiate the Price Down?
A computer is a relatively large investment - anywhere from a few hundred
to a few thousand dollars. Many computer buyers expect that there is a
significant amount of "wiggle room" on the price.
The reality is that most computer hardware - the physical pieces like
the computer, monitor and printer - are sold at very low profit margins.
Often, computer systems are even sold at or below the dealer cost. When
you're buying a computer, it never hurts to ask for a better deal, but
don't be surprised if you only get a few dollars off, if anything.
Over the close to 20 years I sold computers, I watched the profit margins
go from over 40% to less than 5%. It's almost embarrassing to offer a
$20 discount on a $2500 computer system, but that could mean the difference
between making and losing money on the sale.
What you can do to get the best price is to do some comparison shopping.
Most computer stores offer price-matching guarantees, so if you find your
computer for less at another store, most dealers will match or beat that
price, even if it means they lose money.
4. How Do Computer Stores Make Any Money?
You might be wondering how these computer stores make any money if they're
selling computer for so little profit.
Their money is made on add-on items. The highest profit areas in most
computer stores are cables and "consumable" products such as
printer ink and paper.
Printer ink is a huge money-maker for most computer stores (even more
so for the printer manufacturers). Why is this? Once you've bought a printer,
you're going to have to replace your ink at some point, and continue to
replace it as it runs out.
Most chain computer stores and office supply stores that carry a large
selection of ink cartridges make more from ink than they do from the computers
themselves.
Cables also have huge markups. A cable that costs the store $2-3 will
often sell for $20-30. That's ten times their cost!
If you're buying a new computer, you will likely need to buy some cables.
Some items - printers, for example - don't often include the cables needed
to hook them up.
Many printers also come with "starter" ink cartridges that are
only half-full. You might also want to pick up some extra ink cartridges.
This is where you should be able to negotiate a better price. Don't expect
the salesperson to throw them in for nothing, but they should be willing
to offer you a better price. After all, if you're happy with their service,
you'll probably continue to buy your ink, paper and other products from
that store in the future.
5. What Software is Included?
The last secret of buying a new computer has to do with the software that
is included. Most new computer systems include quite a few programs and
sometimes the value of the software can be quite high.
Something to watch out for when looking at the included software is "trial
versions" or "limited editions".
Many programs that are preloaded are either crippled versions that don't
have all the features of the full program, or trial versions that will
only run for a certain amount of time before they expire.
Computers are often sold with trial versions of the following types of
software:
* Antivirus
* Firewall
* MS Office or other office suites
* Accounting - both business and personal
The computer manufacturers generally don't make it easy to tell whether
the software on their systems is a trial version or limited version. This
is a question that you should specifically ask if you can't find the answer
in their promotional information.
If you're buying a new computer with trial versions of the software, keep
in mind that you will need to pay to continue using it after the trial
period is over. This is an added cost that you need to consider as part
of your overall budget.
These five "secrets" of buying a new computer are fairly common
sense, but they are not always made clear up front. Knowing what to ask
will help you in two ways. First, you can be sure you are getting the
right computer for your needs.
Second, if the salesperson or company that you're dealing with explains
these things to you without being asked, you'll know you're dealing with
someone who is honest and upfront.
Knowing you can trust the people you're dealing with is an invaluable
feature of your new computer system.
About The Author
John Lenaghan offers easy-to-understand advice at the Computer Help Squad
website. Sign up for our newsletter and receive your free report "5
Critical Steps to Protecting Your Computer on the Internet" at http://www.computer-help-squad.com/5steps.
PC Tools You'd Never Think You Need.
Do you use Windows standard uninstall feature? How do you migrate data from your old PC to the new one? Get some tips on amazing software you never knew existed and find out why the pros have been using them for years.
Ashampoo UnInstaller Suite
The question is, why should this be necessary at all? Why do you need a special program? Why can't you just delete an application in the same way you can delete a file? The full answer to this question could fill a book. In a nutshell, however, modern Windows applications are very complicated beasts. They include large numbers of files that are often saved in many different places, not just in the application's own program directory. In addition to this they also have even larger numbers of settings, sometimes hundreds, which they record in Windows' central database, which is known as the Windows Registry.It gets worse:
Many of the program files used by applications are often 'shared' with other applications. These files contain universal functions that many Windows' programs use for common tasks. Even though these files are listed as 'belonging' to an application, if you delete any of them when you remove one application, another application may stop working. The entries in the Windows registry are equally troublesome. Among other things, they often change frequently, because programs write and delete values and settings in the registry while they are working. And they too get written 'all over the place', not just in the application's own registry sections.
Ashampoo UnInstaller Suite works by creating two "snapshots" of your system, one before you install an application and another one directly afterwards. These snapshots record the entire status of your computer system, including all registry entries, the locations, dates, sizes and versions of all files and the contents of all configuration files. When you tell Ashampoo UnInstaller Suite to uninstall the application it loads this log file and uses the information it contains to restore everything on your system to the way it was before you installed the application. New files, directories and registry entries are deleted. Changed registry entries are restored to the values they had before you installed the program
More Information: http://www.deprice.com/ashampoounInstallersuite.htm
Acronis MigrateEasy 7.0
So finally you got your hard disk drive the way you like it. Unfortunately, it's now full and you have to upgrade to a new hard disk. You think you are facing a large re-installation project spanning several days of tedious work. Lucky for you, there is Acronis Migrate Easy 7.0, an award-winning solution that migrates all your computer data, operating systems, programs, documents, address books, mail, settings and preferences in minutes automatically - just the way you had them.
Key Features
* Clone an old hard disk drive to a new one
* Automatic and manual hard disk upgrade modes
* Installs new hard disk drive as a boot disk or as an additional storage device
* Allows to re-deploy old hard disk
* Extremely easy to use Windows XP-like wizard-driven interface
* Supports large disks over 180 Gb
Partition Management
* Resizes transferred partitions to match new hard disk size (for supported partitions only)
* Creates, copies, moves, and deletes partitions
* Special sector-by-sector support for other partitions and corrupted file systems
Free Download: http://www.deprice.com/acronismigrateeasy.htm
About the Author
John Deprice owns and operates http://www.deprice.com
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