How do you select a computer? That question is faced by most computer shoppers who may be making their first computer purchase. Without much computer knowledge, shoppers go into a store or on-line and start shopping. How do they make a decision? They rely on the salesperson, they have seen the computer advertised, a recommendation from a friend, or the lowest price. This is the normal practice but unfortunately not the best method. The shopper with limited computer background is at a big disadvantage. Computers found in a retail stores are ranked very low in quality. They may not be the newest technology if they have been in stock too long. One of the largest computer manufactures we will call "Dude Computers" makes their computers from the lowest cost parts they can find. Remember that "you get what you pay for" and sometimes even less.

The answer is simple, ask a reliable computer engineer or technician that has experience with computer components. Like everything else quality varies between manufactures and within product lines. The price of computers continues to decrease as technology improvements provide outstanding performance and good value to the consumer. Your computer should be manufactured from the highest quality components so that you get the best performance and longest life from your investment. Since the technology changes quickly, it is important to be up to date on the current technology so that your computer selection is valid for you needs.

Who is the leading manufacture of quality computer components? Intel®. They are the largest manufacturers of the CPU (Central Processing Unit). They also manufacture the chipset, motherboard, and set the standards for most of the other components in the PC world. Most computers are built with Intel® CPU's but only a few high end custom manufacturers use the high performance Intel® motherboards. The motherboard is the foundation of the computer that provides connections for all of the components. All of the data flows thru the motherboard. The motherboard can be thought of as a city with a highway system. A low quality motherboard contains dirt roads and in our city analogy and the high quality motherboard contains superhighways where the data flows much faster providing the user higher performance.

Once you locate a quality computer manufacture the next step in the selection process is to determine the performance level required by your computer. The higher the work load, the higher the performance requirements for the computer. Computers can be divided into three performance levels - Basic, Mid-Range, and Advanced. A basic level system is an entry level computer that is used to check E-Mail, play games, and do word processing. A mid-range system will offer more performance to work on all office and audio products and some limited video applications. An advanced system is used by professionals in the video production area, serious gamers, web developers, and those who demand high performance for their applications. If computers were cars you could think of a 4, 6, and 8 cylinder engine that would provide you better performance as the size of the engine increases.

Once you determine the performance level required in your next computer, select the three computer models to see the list of components in each computer. The quality is the same for each but the components have been selected to provide higher performance. Cost of ownership includes the hardware, software, training, and also the maintenance. The higher the quality of the equipment the lower the cost of maintenance. The life span of a business computer is 3 years. Intel® CPU's and motherboards have a 3 year warranty; these parts also include next day replacement if required. Most Intel® computers are in service 7 years with low cost of ownership. Local Intel® certified support is also a valuable resource.

Now that you have a better understanding of how to select a computer; go to the top of this page to preview the different computer models. Basic - Captiva, Mid-Range - Aspen, Advanced - F430, and Laptop for mobile users. All of these are high quality computers with 3 year warrantee. Happy shopping.