Buying a computer can be confusing at the best of times. With our brief computer shopping primer, we can help you wade through the techno gobbledegook to find the right computer for your family

First, sit down with the family and ask the following questions. The answers will help you understand your needs and get you a few steps closer to that new computer:

What do you want to do with your computer?
Play games? Explore the Internet? Run educational programmes? All of the above? Knowing what you expect from your computer is key.

For example, if your primary reason for buying a computer is to run word-processing programmes and send email, your requirements will be vastly different than if you intend to play MP3 music files and the latest 3D video games on your system.

But here’s a tip: once you get online and start sending email, then photos over the Internet and printing T-shirts, your needs will quickly change. So don’t sell yourself short. Assume your needs will grow and plan accordingly.

One good idea is to read the boxes of the software you’ll be running. There you’ll find what the ‘system requirements’ for each particular programme are.

For example, the requirements for the popular Star Wars Pod Racer game read ‘Windows ’95 or ’98; 166 MHz or faster CPU required, 200 MHz recommended; 32MB RAM required, 64 recommended; 4MB 3D-compatable Graphics Accelerator required; 16-bit sound card required or better; Quad speed or higher CD-ROM drive required; joystick recommended’.

If Aunt Nattie had actually read these requirements before she bought this game for her son’s birthday, she would have known it wouldn’t run on her children’s 486 non-3D system. (See what we mean about your needs changing quickly? Children’s games are the power-hungriest of the lot.)

Consider all options
Would you like a sound system with quality speakers? Video and realistic graphics? Do you want a printer? Colour or black and white? How above a scanner or digital camera?

If you’ll be spending a lot of time on the computer, or plan to do desktop publishing and graphic-intensive applications (meaning scanning in photos, or creating newsletters with lots of icons and photos), you might opt for a larger 17-inch or 20-inch monitor. All these equipment options (and more) will add excitement and ‘oomph’ to your computer.

How much do you want to spend?
How much can you afford to spend? Hint: they’re not necessarily the same answer.

For instance, Mark might like to spend under £800 for his daughter’s next computer, but he could really afford more. Although wise money management is important, we always recommend buying as much computer as you can afford.

This advice was the same last year and will be the same next year! Specifically, get as much power (the microprocessor), memory (RAM), and permanent storage (hard drive) as your family can realistically afford.

The budget computer
Today’s under £800 units do a pretty good job of handling word processing and most educational and entertainment programmes.

However, if multimedia, desktop publishing, application multi-tasking (having several programmes open and running at the same time), or state-of-the-art gaming capability is what you’re really after, the performance of a budget system may be disappointing. Computers based on a ‘budget’ processor (such as Intel’s Celeron) are quite powerful.

However, they might not give you enough power nor suit your needs as far into the future as a computer with a faster processor, such as Intel’s Pentium III.

With any system, make sure it’s upgradeable. And don’t forget the ‘extras’ we mentioned earlier, such as sound and graphics cards. Another option that is worth having is pre-installed bundled software.

It spares you the trouble of installation and saves money in the long run. One more comment: if you’re really pinching pennies (ie it’s either dinner or a computer payment), forget our previous advice. Buying a used or bare-bones computer is better than no computer at all.