Need a new computer?

Many times I am asked about new computers. People want to know what kind to get, what should they get on it, how much memory should it have (that one is almost ALWAYS confused with hard drive space), etc. I usually get the comment "I don't want to get one and do a lot with it, just some e-mail, word processing, a little Internet surfing, but I don't want to play games." I've included just a basic table of what to look for as of today. The brand doesn't make a lot of difference. Most of the support is the same now. Besides, everything is antiquated almost the next day after you've plugged it in! My advice would be to get as much as you can afford.

Component	Comment
CPU	At least 2.8 - 3.0 GHz (no Mhz here)
RAM memory	512 MB - 1 GB
Storage (Hard drive)	80 GB - 160 GB
Operating System	Windows XP Home (Pro for work)
Miscellaneous	Wireless Networking if more than one computer

I included wireless networking because sometimes you can resurrect an older machine to help in the storage of files. I have Dell XPS R-450 machine that I bought in 1998. I put a 1 GHz processor in it in 2001. Now it's my experimental machine. It's where my Moodle test is, and I'm considering making it a test machine for some Linux OSes where I can learn how to use those. I connect it to my network wirelessly because I have enough cabling around here!!