How to Understand New Computer Pricing

Why are some computers cheap and others expensive? Find out.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Pens
• Spiral Notebooks
• Pens

1. Expect PCs with a top-of-the-line Intel processor to be the most expensive, and machines with the second fastest processor to be the next most expensive. Top-of-the-line processors will usually be the fastest.

2. Expect PCs with older Intel processors to be much less expensive, and PCs with a non-Intel processor to be the least expensive. Older processors will be slower. Though non-Intel processors might risk compatibility problems, they might be as fast as Intel ones.

3. Prepare to pay a premium of up to 15 percent for a brand that consistently gets good grades in the "PC Magazine" reliability and customer satisfaction survey (published each July). Conversely, brands that score poorly typically cost about 15 percent less than average-rated brands.

4. Think of how many radio, television and print ads you've heard or seen for a particular brand, and remember that marketing and advertising costs are a large part of the purchase price.

5. Consider that the length and quality of the manufacturer's limited warranty is included in the purchase price.

6. Expect to pay more for machines with more RAM and bigger hard disks. More RAM means you can open more programs at once and open larger files in the programs. Insufficient RAM can make your computer slow. More hard disk space means you can store more and larger files on your computer. (Video and sound files take up the most room by far. You won't fill up a modern hard disk with text files.)

7. Expect to pay more for additional or upgraded hardware, such as DVD drives, CD recorders, internal Zip drives and cards with extra audio and video inputs and outputs. Consider your need for these features before springing for them.

8. Expect to pay more for professional office software, as opposed to software for home users.

9. Realize that a low price can indicate the omission of standard parts, including combinations of expansion ports, expansion slots, sound cards, video cards, video RAM and processor fans. Make sure you understand any limitations of a system you're considering.

Tips & Warnings

• Macintosh computers use processors made by Motorola, not Intel. As with PCs, Macs with faster processors are more expensive.
• Be aware that cheap computers may contain used or refurbished parts.

on 1/23/2006 Apple gets its processors from IBM, not Intel. Although recently they've switched over to Intel chips. Note that the IBM chip speeds cannot be directly compared with Intel chip speeds - the IBM ones are slightly faster than you'd guess from comparing MHz/GHz.

on 1/25/2006 Manufacturers do not lose money on their low priced PCs. They make up for the low prices with adware (Backweb, toolbars, search tools, etc.) that use pay-per-click revenue model. Even some of the mid-high priced ($800-$1200) will have adware.

Have a local shop build your PC. Don't make them compete on price or you'll get inferior components. You'll get better service. They'll install Windows (and only Windows) and will usually update the OS and provide some Internet security tools.

Remember: You get what you pay for.

on 11/22/2005 Dont buy from big chain stores, load after load of people buy from these overpriced profit makers. Computers from a computer shop can be half the price for the same system.