How Much Money You Should Spend on Your Next Computer

Buying a new computer is a lot like buying a new car. You can either get the "BMW" model that has all of the bells, whistles, and horse-power you'd ever need. You can also go with a KIA type model that's very inexpensive, does what it's supposed to for the most part, and that's about it. There are so many different options; it's hard to know how much money one should spend and where to spend it at. We're going to cut through the jargon and confusion and see if we can't come up with some good recommendations.

If you just need a basic computer to do email, surf the web, and do word documents, you will do just fine to order whatever basic model Dell is selling right now, or a basic model that you pick-up from Best Buy or Cost Co. Computers are so powerful right now, that even the low end models will do all of those things just fine without you having to worry about any performance issues. If you just need a basic computer for those things, never spend more than $600 for it. If you are offered an extended protection plan or an extended warranty, just say no. They're almost never worth buying.

If you're looking for a computer that plays the latest games well, you're going to want to spend a bit more money. You'll probably want to spend about $1,000 for a low-end gaming machine, or around $1,500 for a higher-end gaming machine. You'll want to get a machine that has one of the latest Core 2 Duo processors, 2 GB of system memory, a large hard-drive, and the latest Nvidia or ATI graphics card.

Perhaps you're a power-user that does a lot of computer graphics work, CAD work, or a lot of advanced video editing. This is where you're going to start spending some real money. Chances are you'll want to buy a second monitor for your computer, get lots of hard-drive space, at least 2 GB of system memory, and a very fast processor to meet your professional needs. In this range, you'll spend around $2,000 to $2,500 for a professional workstation that will do the tasks you need it to. If you're shopping from an online retailer like dell, consider looking for a supped up home computer system rather than a professional workstation. You'll often get more bang for your buck by looking at home models

The latest computer technology changes on a monthly basis, so if you don't know what system specifications to look for, just ask somebody that does. They'll have a pretty good idea of what you need in terms of a compute processor, hard-drive space, system-memory, monitors, and a graphics card.