Buying a computer? Spend the money, save the hassle!

As I was recently reminded by a person who follows me on twitter, it is easy to go to your local electronics store when your looking for that new computer and say to yourself, “Self! How can I save money on a new machine?” and that answer may lead you down a path to the machine that is “On Sale” or “Less Expensive”.

Then you will say to yourself.. why does this guy keep using quotes?

Well folks, I have been the owner of a computer business for just under 4 years and would you like to guess which machines I see most often? You got it.. that inexpensive machine. I don’t even need to state the brand names, if you got it for under $500, there is a GREAT chance you already know what I am talking about.

The computer companies have to get pricing down to sell quantity, and they accomplish this with lessor parts and poor warranties to back them up. If you’re buying a $500-$800 computer, you’re really just getting a one maybe two year loaner with the right to spend more later.

But you could fix it, right?

Well, sure you can, but let me ask you this? Is it in your best interest?

If you spent $500 on a computer and it has a bad hard-drive (the most likely issue to occur with any computer failure is the hard-drive or power supply) you will have to pay a technician a fee to “hopefully” retrive your data, purchase a new hard drive, reinstall your Operating System, then restore all of your programs and old data.

This could easily be a $200-$400 fix depending on your computer company (please find a reputable A+ Certified technician). That’s less than a new computer, but no guarantee that you won’t face failure of the other inexpensive parts shortly thereafter.

Now, yes, I have favorite brands, and I deal HP products, but the rule still follows. you’re going to have better luck with having a computer 3-4 years if you make a solid investment now. Don’t ever buy leading edge, but one step below that is helpful.

Tags: buying, Computers, craig sutton, finance, money, spend, Technology

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This entry was posted on Saturday, November 22nd, 2008 at 3:58 pm and is filed under Offbeat. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.