Tuesday, March 28, 2006

Buying a computer in 1994

Here is something I wrote in 1994 for work for when people would ask us what computer to buy. It's obviously dated, but some of its points still hold true.

From 1994

When Is a good time to buy a personal computer and which one should I buy ?

I want to by a computer, but is this a good time to buy?
Who should I buy from?
How much should I spend?

In order to answer these questions you need to understand how the trends of price/performance ratio works across time. Lets say that in 1992 you bought a computer for $2000 and its performance was average for computers available on the market. In 1993 that same computer that you bought in 1992 will now cost only $1400, with the average performance computer will still be around $2000 with a great increase in performance. Computers keep getting faster and faster and software requirements keeps going up and up. Each fueling each other. Without the faster computers no one could use the latest software, and without the latest software no one would need faster computers. So why do we need the latest software? The trends in the software industry have been to make software more functional, easier to use and have the ability to share data with other applications. What does this mean to you ? For example lets say you wanted to take a spreadsheet, take a graph and table from that spreadsheet, put it into a word processing document and print a form letter. Wow! If you were using DOS applications you could do it, but it might take you all day and you need to be quite proficient in all the software products you would be using. If you did that in windows it might take you an hour and it would be easy. So why not use windows? Well here's the catch, you could use an old 386SX/16 with 1 Mb of RAM (Random Access Memory) to do it in DOS, but you would need a minimum of a 386DX/33 with 8 MB of Ram to do it in windows. What's the difference between these Machines? - MONEY.

To illustrate the trends in computers we have graphed the average price Vs. performance over time for Gateway 2000 Computers From July 1992 - January 1994. For the performance rating we used our own grading systems taking into account speed, size of the hard drive, amount of RAM, video speed and video screen size. We graphed the lowest , mid range, and top of the line system available at six month intervals. Higher marks on the graph represent higher performance per dollar.



The graphs are evidence that amount of performance you get for the money you spend will always goes up over time. It also shows that your best value is usually in your Mid End System

When to buy a computers really depends on your needs. The longer you wait the better the computer you will get, but using that approach you will never buy one. Although this may sound strange the best time to buy a computer is when you really need it.

Our recommendation is a Mid Range system. If you buy a low end system you might save some money, but in six months they won't be making computers at your level and software manufactures will quickly write software that will be to slow to run on your system. If you buy a top of the line system your computer will stay useful for the longest period of time, but your paying for the development costs of the latest technology and the extra mark up associated with cutting edge. If you buy from the middle range of what's available you end up with a good buy. Your computer will stay effective longer then if you bought low level, but not with the price tag associated with top of the line.

As to who you should by from; It depends mostly on the current pricing, but look for a company with a good reputation. Overall mail order computers are a priced lower then the ones that you buy in a store, but can take anywhere from a week to 3 months till you get your computer. Remember just because you by a computer from a local store it doesn't mean that the store will be in business in six months.

The warranty of the computer is something that you should take into serious consideration. Try to avoid warranties that require you to send your computer back to the manufacturer. Also check to see what the guarantied response time is. If you depend on your computer don't get a warranty that will have you without your computer for weeks while you wait for them to fix it. If you buy a laptop the warranty is more important then if you buy a desktop because they tend to break easier.

At the this moment we would recommend Gateway 2000 for a desktop computer and Dell for laptops. Please bear in mind that by the time you read this the pricing will have changed, but if you require access to periodicals with computer information or adds please contact the systems dept.

end of 1994 article

A couple of quick observations

Hardware has now greatly exceeded software needs. Unless you are a gamer or do video processing most low end computers have more then enough power for you (until Vista arrives).

I find the references to mail order and periodicals amusing (we did exist without the web).

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