The Alfred Computer Guy: Thinking of buying a computer?

As many of you are heading home for the summer, there is a decent chance you will consider the possibility of buying a new laptop for the coming school year. However, there’s a lot to think about when taking this plunge.

It is extremely important to pay close attention to the price of a computer before deciding on your purchase. When I say “price," I don’t mean the white tag attached to it at the store. I’m referring to a price that is often referred to as “TCO”: Total Cost of Ownership.

Sure, a good notebook that costs less than $600 is a great deal – but what about the cost of the additional software that will need to be purchased? If it is a Slimline or Netbook model, what about the optional drives and accessories you might need? If the quality of the parts or the build is lacking, how much will you need to pay in repair bills over the life of the computer?

Then we come to the question I am asked most often, by far: Mac or PC. The short answer is, it depends on your needs. I recognize that this is not very satisfying, but it’s the truth. Both platforms are welcome and fully supported by the Alfred University ITS department and our network.

Apple computers have a higher quality build, great software package, and don’t suffer the headaches of malware that PCs do. On the other hand, PCs are more affordable, you have a much wider variety of makes and models to choose from, and if you want to play any major games, you’re pretty much stuck with Windows. Before anyone chimes in with views to the contrary, I realize there are a thousand little exceptions to every one of these points, but those are best left for later. At the moment, I’m only going over general consumer-level features.

If you make the decision to purchase a PC, you also must consider which operating system to use. Typically, Windows XP is no longer offered on consumer retail laptops. That leaves Vista, but again – which version? Really, all of them will work on our network just fine. My general rule of thumb with Vista is to stay away from Home Basic (Home Premium is fine) and to get no less than 2GB of RAM to support it. Why not Home Basic? Despite the name, it really lacks some of the basic functionality of a home computer and upgrading to Premium is usually not a great deal higher in price.

Lastly, we come down to warranties. I know extended warranties can cost more up front, but remember what I mentioned earlier: Total Cost of Ownership. An added $100 or $200 on the price of a system can hurt, but not as much as paying $400 for replacement parts that died a year and a half into the life of the laptop. Over the course of the 2008-2009 academic year alone, I’ve seen hard drives crash irreparably, DVD drives grind to a halt, screens burn out, power supplies fizzle, keyboards die, and entire motherboards bite the dust.

Some of these were covered under warranty, and the only costs to the students was a few days time while waiting for parts to ship. Some of these were not covered and the price of parts alone occasionally ran upwards of four figures. It’s this situation that I hate to see.

Another advantage of extended warranties is the little-known fact that Alfred University ITS has signed contracts with both Apple and Dell to provide complete in-house service for warrantied student computers. We have fully certified Apple and Dell technicians on staff who have performed many warrantied repairs, big and small. Of course, we still provide service for other computer brands, but warrantied systems requiring repair will still need to be handled through the manufacturer in those cases.

That’s a whole lot to consider, but it’s important that you at least think about all these factors and seriously weigh your options before making your purchasing decision.