On this page you will find free advice on what to look for when buying a new or second-hand computer with Windows 7, Vista or XP installed on it. I will be explaining the basic, minimum, hardware and software requirements you should be looking for before parting with your hard earned cash.

Always try and buy a new computer where possible. The price difference between a new computer and second-hand computer these days is so small it is not really worth buying a second-hand computer these days unless you know of a "One Careful Owner".

MEMORY  To add an extra piece of memory to a new computer these days is very affordable and widely available whereas extra memory for an older computer, a computer that is four or five years old for example, may mean its memory type is no longer manufactured and/or is obsolete. Also, finding an old piece of memory can be difficult and very expensive. Memory helps with computer speed, the more memory you have the better.

Laptop Memory - Capacity: 256MB. Speed 333Mhz. Type: DDR

A Hard Drive stores Windows 7, Third-Party Software and your Personal Files on it

The latest Microsoft operating system is called Windows 7 - This is its logo

The CPU  -  A Microchip that processes software/hardware instructions

Many people buy a computer that costs between £300 and £500 with standard computer specifications and speeds. When they buy a computer they look at things like storage space (the hard drive's size) and not at the cpu speed or memory capacity. They also don't realise that a "fast hardware" computer can easily be slowed down by bulky/heavy software (known as bloatware) - Software that uses too many system resources (such as Memory, CPU time and Hard Drive space). So what should you do and look for before buying a new, or second-hand, computer?

IGNORE THE SALES MAN  Although the sales person is not on your side, they are not the enemy either! They just have a job to do, which may include flogging you a crap computer because they need to clear it from the shelf and/or earn commission. I know, I have worked in computer shops and know what goes on!!

Don't ask for a computer demonstration because test computers do not emulate real life computer usage. Meaning, it will not be installed with all the latest security updates (which will naturally slow down any computer a little), it's hard drive will not be full of files such as holiday videos and photos and it will not have activated/in-use software running. With the latter; if it has a 90-Days Trial of Microsoft Office 2010 and Norton Internet Security 2011 installed they will not be fully activated/updated versions and therefore will be lighter on the computer. These tactics show the computer to be fast in other words.

A good computer demonstration will be achieved by asking the following of the sales person. Ask them if they can run (launch/execute/open) 10 Programs, one after the other, such as Microsoft Word, Norton Internet Security, Paint, Notepad, System Information and so on. What you are looking for here is how each program runs (how quickly its window appears and how responsive it is with other programs running).

As a grand finale, ask them to run a game of cards. With 10 Programs already running it will be interesting to see how the animated shuffling of cards will appear (you are looking for a clean shuffle, with no jerking/slow motion) - This is a good test for the Graphics Card and Memory in general. Also then ask the sales person to quickly switch between program windows. What you are looking for here is how quickly each program can be switched and more importantly how responsive its window display is (also ask them to click on a window's buttons before moving to the next window).

NOTE WELL: Not all sales persons will do this test because they will know what you are asking of them. In fact, they may admit defeat or say something stupid like "if you want a faster machine....", meaning you need to spend more! BTW, if you really want an excellent test; do the above but ask them to restart (cold reboot) the computer before the test is carried out. That way you can also monitor the time it takes that computer to start up (boot up).

SHOP AROUND  Don't just look at the main/famous commercial retailers for prices. PCWorld, Comet and Currys for example might be your first stop but that doesn't mean you should ignore smaller commercial retailers or private retailers who have less stock whereby you automatically think "They will not stock what I need".

I shop at Staples and Maplin for example and have bought all my laptops from Staples. They tend to stock cheaper brand name, as well as expensive brand name, laptops (such as Fujitsu Siemens) which have better specifications (i.e. more memory for your money). I use Maplin and the Computer Fairs for hardware such as Dongles, WebCams, USB Hard Drives, Flash Drives and DVDs because they are cheaper most of the time. And if I need something quickly (such as CDs) I use Argos. Other places include YoYo Tech (located in the West End shopping area of London) and Cable Universe (the internet).

With regards to second-hand computers and parts; Avoid places like Cash Converters, CEX, Internet Cafes, Classified Ads (i.e. Gumtree) and EBay. There is nothing wrong with these places in general, and you might be lucky enough to find a genuine bargain, but in reality crooks operate in these places selling their dodgy/ripoff/stolen goods. If you are going to use places like these try and buy from wellknown, good reputation, sellers or commercial retailers.

Buying second-hand in general, with any goods, is always a risk. Buy a second-hand car today for example and it may work well for six months only, but then again it might last you six years without problems. And it's the same with second-hand computers. The computer may be stolen and/or damaged, but then again it might of had "one careful owner" who needed to sell it for quick money.

So to recap the above. Get a computer that has a CPU with a speed of at least 1.6Ghz, a hard drive with at least 160GB of Data Storage, at least 2GB of Memory and installed with the Windows 7 operating system. Here are some examples of brand name laptops with good specifications - Please note: Information was correct at the time of writing (11/11/2011).

The above are examples of well respected brand named laptops that come with specifications worthy of your hard earned cash. Even though a laptop may lack a certain feature, such as only having a 1.6GHz Dual Core CPU instead of a 2.1GHz Dual Core CPU, don't let that put you off because it may have other features such as a larger hard drive and/or more memory to make up for the lesser cpu speed.

As well as the above specifications, with a laptop you also have to consider Screen Size (at least 12"), Battery Life (at least 3 Hours) and the number of USB Ports/Sockets it has (at least 3). Sockets in general are important too, such as whether or not it has a HDMI (High Definition) Socket so you can playback HD DVDs via a big flat screen tv and a hdmi cable for example. The above is not meant to be "The Gospel", but merely a guideline as to what minimum specifications you should look for regardless of your budget.

For the best deals it pays to do your homework and shop around - Look online for what's on offer and take notes (and printouts). Then visit your local, commercial, shops and have a good look at the computers you looked at online and printed out. Test their keyboards and check their real prices and specifications (ask to see the computer's System Informationand if need be - START Menu >> ALL PROGRAMS >> ACCESSORIES >> SYSTEM TOOLS >> SYSTEM INFORMATION) and get a feel for the computer. Don't be afraid to ask the sales person questions and demo the computer's features. Now go back home and order online, if possible, as ordering online can save you money. Many shops now give big discounts for shopping online, as opposed to shopping offline.

As an example of the just said about homework; I recently visited PC World and found out that the Packard Bell TS11HR model actually has an Intel Dual Core I-5 CPU inside it instead of the stated I-3 (I-5 is faster) and that the installed memory is 3GB and not 4GB as stated on the PC World specifications web page. By visiting PC World, and other shops, I could compare other computers and more importantly see the durabilty/build of each computer and compares features and sizes.

Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation.  As stated here by the Microsoft Corporation.