Selecting a Computer Selecting a Computer Contents Overview Basics Components Overview This page is meant to help you learn enough about computers to help you make an intelligent purchasing decision. The reason I've put this together is that I'm often asked by friends and aquaintences to give them some advice, and its easier to refer them here than go through the whole spiel again. Also, here I can include links to other sites that go into more detail. Back to Contents . It's tough to pick out a computer these days.
Technology changes quickly.
The president of Intel Gordon Moore, in 1965 made the observation that the number of transistors in microprocessors doubled about every eighteen to twenty-four months. This has become known as Moore's Law and it causes a lot of consternation for first time computer buyers. They become concerned that the computer they get will be obsolete in no time at all. The bad news is, that your computer will become obsolete, but you are the person who makes the determination as to when it's obsolete. Also, different components will have different lifetimes.