What should I do?. Review on Branded Vs. Assembled Computers

When I first started out with computers I didn't know the first thing about them.

My sister had just gotten one and called to tell me I should get one like hers. It had a mere 4 megs of ram and was quite high priced. She had said it had everything I would ever need on it. So following her advice I went and purchased one. I couldn't even get on the internet with that but at the time that was okay as I was in the business of preparing income taxes from my home for clients and so it served it's purpose.

I really wanted to get on the internet so next time I bought something a bit better.

I started with windows 95 and 4 megs of ram and have worked my way up to windows xp and over 500 megs of ram on one of my computers as I now have 4.

In between I had talked to several people about having a computer built for me and the price was lower at first but since then machines have come way down in price and have many whistles and bells on them.

So it is less expensive now to buy a branded computer and you can find one with anything you need on it.

My last purchase was last month buying an e-machine with all the bells and whistles for less than 600.00 including a flat screen monitor.

No matter what brand you choose I always check the warrenty and the tech support in case it is needed. For new computer users I suggest buying an extended warrenty. I do not purchase those any longer as I am now able to fix my own machine.

With any computer the usuage you get depends on how well you take care of it and learn to use it the right way.

I have one Gateway almost 5 years old, never any problems with it. One compaq 4 years old and no problems, the one I am on at the moment is a HP and no problems and then the new one.

Most users only use the computer. They don't learn how to fix little problems that occur on any machine, such as catching a virus. Some don't even know they have one. This is where a good virus scanner comes in run on a regular basis and a second one to double check.

Sometimes you will get a trojan that only allows you to put the trojan in the vault, this is not safe. You can remove it by putting it in the vault then turning off your restore point, reboot and add your restore again. This removes the trojan from the machine.

Branded or unbranded is not the point. Taking care of what you have is. I stress this again as it is very important.

I have used avg virus protection for years it is free from https://grisoft.com

There is also a program called adaware that keeps your computer safe from spyware. You don't want to allow a bunch of sites access to your computer.

Also windows will send out critical updates, these only take a few minutes and need to be done right away as with the recent problem of hackers getting into microsoft browsers. If they are not put on right away your entire machine could be wiped out as happened to my brother.

Keeping your machine clean and at a proper temperature is important as well.

Ask a friend to help if you do not know how to do these things or visit a tech chatroom online.

It all depends on the user. My sister bought the same e-machine I did and she doesn't know anything about computers and has it all messed up all ready so learn about computers and also about what things you need on your computer and then any computer will serve you for a long time.