1. A PC Buying Guide Office graphic copyright by Microsoft Corp.

2. A PC Buying Guide 2 Overview 4 Confused about PC ads? 4 Buy from hundreds of companies, retail or mail-order 4 Select desktop, tower, mini-tower or notebook computers

3. A PC Buying Guide 3 Overview 4 Select mouse, trackball or pen 4 Select Storage –Hard disk –CD-ROM and CD-recordable devices –Removable disk drives 4 Fax-modem card 4 Sound card 4 Video Adapters 4 Tape Backup Units

4. A PC Buying Guide 4 Personal Computer History 4 IBM offered PC in 1981 4 Intel designed microprocessor for IBM platform 4 Microsoft designed operating system 4 Open design created IBM PC Compatible market 4 Upgraded with expansion cards

5. A PC Buying Guide 5 The Microprocessor 4 Clock Speed 4 Megahertz 4 Intel CPU Performance index (iCOMP) Note: Click PC to see Meltdown

6. A PC Buying Guide 6 Memory 4 Memory - temporary, fast storage area that holds data, instructions, and results, and passes everything to the CPU 4 RAM = Random Access Memory 4 Byte = 1 character 4 Kilobyte = 1,025 bytes 4 Megabyte ~ million bytes

7. A PC Buying Guide 7 Auxiliary Storage 4 Floppy disks 4 Hard disk = Fixed Disk 4 Gigabyte ~ 1 billion bytes 4 Access Time 4 High Density = 1.44MB 4 Double Density = 720KB

8. A PC Buying Guide 8 Video System 4 Video system consists of the monitor and display adapter card 4 Pixels 4 VGA 4 Super VGA 4 Dot Pitch 4 Vertical Refresh Rate 4 Video (display) adapter

9. A PC Buying Guide 9 Local Bus Bus is circuitry that transports data to/from the motherboard to other peripheral devices

10. A PC Buying Guide 10 Printers 4 Dot matrix - inexpensive, noisy, dotted characters 4 Inkjet - quiet, color, excellent quality 4 Laser - speed, highest quality,

11. A PC Buying Guide 11 Fax/Modem Card 4 Modem 4 Modulate 4 Demodulate 4 Bit = binary digit 4 bps = bits per second 4 Fax/modem card 4 Recommendation: Buy at least 28.8K, 33.6K is better

12. A PC Buying Guide 12 Multimedia 4 CD-ROM Compact Disk, Read Only Memory 4 Access time 4 Speeds 4 Transfer Rate 4 DVD 4 Sound card needed for microphone and speakers

13. A PC Buying Guide 13 A Guide to Smart Shopping 4 Research and Plan 4 Start at University Computer Center or Bookstore 4 Retail Store 4 Mail Order 4 User Buyer Protection Plan 4 Software Bundling may not be your best buy

14. A PC Buying Guide 14 Buying a Computer Hands-On Exercise 1 1. Dell Computer 2. Configure the System 3. View Your Shopping Cart 4. Print Your Order 5. Comparison Shopping

15. A PC Buying Guide 15 Summary 4 Computer is a big-ticket item 4 Consider Local Service and Support 4 Insist on 30- day money back guarantee 4 Include software in your computer budget 4 Microprocessor, memory, hard disk and monitor are major performance and pricing considerations