The Computer Buzz

January 25th, 2007

Nome and Paul Van Middlesworth - owners - The Computer Factory
 

Your Next PC

89 New PCs, only $299

(2) Three bedroom, 2 1/2 bath homes on half acre lots with fireplace and two-car garage. One $155,000, the other $750,000.

(2) 2007 convertibles, 4 wheels with tires, front engine, rear wheel drive, radio steering wheel and five windows. One $13,999 the other $129,000

Most of us have no problem visualizing how these similarly described items could differ so greatly in value. But how about this.
(2) New PCs 2.1GHz, 160 Gb Hard drive, DVD R/W and 512Mb of RAM. One $299, the other $599.

It's a bit harder for most of us to imagine what can make these two PCs so different.

For many years, a PC has consisted of the same basic set of sub systems. The CPU, hard drive, optical drive (CD, DVD), motherboard, RAM and the case/power supply assembly. The audio, video and most of the interface protocols (USB, IDE, SATA, Parallel, serial, Firewire, Bluetooth, infra-red) are usually integrated into the motherboard.

Each of these sub-systems is continually evolving to higher levels of speed and/or capacity. New, improved models are released two or three times each year. For example, in the last three years hard drives have gone from 5400 to 7200 RPMs, The interface speed has gone from IDE 66 to 133 then to SATA I and finally to SATA II. The cache memory in the standard hard drive has gone from 2Mb to 8Mb to 16Mb over the same period.

The same pattern of improvement occurs in each of the other PC components and sub-systems. Optical drives, RAM, CPUs and motherboard technology are constantly evolving. Sometimes it is difficult to know what you are getting. A 3.6GHz Intel PIV is slower and older than a 1.8GHz Intel T2400. These things are not obvious.

When a new component model is released, the price for the older model begins a long slide into obsolescence, usually about three years. Near the end of life, these components are discounted to the point where they may sell for less than 25% of the cost of the newer models.

Low end "bargain" PCs are often assembled from such components. A brand new "bargain" PC may be nearly three years old in terms of the technology on the inside.

We build our PCs using current component technology. If we chose to buy older technology and 2nd tier OEM components we too could sell PCs for $299. Big companies Dell and Compaq do it because they need to purge old inventories and because they like to have "bait and switch" systems from which to up-sell.

Before you jump on a bargain PC, ask about the components. Are they current technology or a few years behind times? Invest a little time before you invest your money.