For a very long time much of the computer industry has been guilty of speaking to its customer in technical terms and jargon that may or may not be very clear.  On this page we will attempt to simplify things to a point where hopefully they’ll make a little more sense.

We’ll start with computer specifications.   Customers are often handed a quote with a price and a long list of specifications that mean little or nothing to the average user.  Who is the average computer user you ask, I’d reckon about 90% of the population.  So let’s try to demystify some of these terms so that we all can get a better understanding of what we want, what we need and what we are paying for.

Processor or CPU (Central Processing Unit): 

INTEL processor examples:   Core II Duo, Dual Core, Celeron, Centrino, Quad Core, Atom.  
AMD processor examples:   Phenom, Athlon, Sempron

The Processor is the engine or the brain of the computer; it does most of the thinking.  The speed of the processor determines how much stuff your computer can cope with and how fast it goes.  Newer software, particularly games can require faster, smarter processors.

Internet access and word processing don’t need much processor speed.  Gaming, large spreadsheets video editing, and even DVD burning might need something bigger and faster.

The difference between AMD and Intel?  Sort of a Holden Ford argument. 

Hard Drive: 

Examples.  80Gb, 160Gb, 320Gb, 500Gb etc.

This is the storage inside your computer that stores all you information. It’s like a filing cabinet and stores your programs like Word, Solitaire, and Excel and your documents, files and photos. The bigger the size the more programs, documents etc you can fit.  I.e. 500gb is 6x bigger than 80gb. 

Photos, movies and music can take up a lot of space so something around 320gb is a good idea.

Memory:  Sometimes referred to as RAM (Random Access Memory)

Examples: 512MB, 1GB, 2GB, 4GB.

Not to be confused with Hard Drive GB. 

If your Hard Drive is your filing cabinet that stores your information then Memory is like your desk.

If you need to use a file all the time you take it out of your filing cabinet and leave it on your desk until you’re finished with it. Why? Because it’s easier and faster.

Memory allows frequently used information to be kept close to the processor so it can be accessed easier and quicker.

As a general rule and depending on what other programs you want to run, VISTA should have 2GB of Memory as a minimum and Windows XP is best with 1GB.

Video Card:

Also know as gaming card, display card, graphics card.

The video card can be added to a computer to help the processor do all the graphics to be displayed on the screen.

Good to have one if you are playing the latest games. These types of games will normally have specific requirements which are usually written on the side of the box.  Video cards aren’t needed for basic games like solitaire & minesweeper.

You will also need a video card to use AutoCAD, Dreamweaver or programs that require a lot of detailed colours and images on the screen.

Terminology Confusion:

A common one is what to call the computer box. 

There are basically 3 components to a computer system.  (I’m not talking laptops) The screen (LCD, TFT, Flat Screen) the keyboard & mouse and the computer (computer box, the big box, the tower, the desktop) 

It’s best not to refer to the computer as the “hard drive” as this can cause a bit of confusion.

Another common confusion is with Windows XP Home and Windows XP Professional. These programs are not to be confused with Microsoft Office.
XP Home, XP Professional and Vista are called operating systems.  The operating system has all the basic stuff you need to be able to use the computer.  It does not include word or excel.

Your basic Microsoft Office package comes with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.  Office is an additional cost.

Happy computering!

What can cause a computer to play up?

What sorts of things cause a computer to become slow, to crash or become unreliable? Much of the time it's simply a lack of maintenance.

Software can be the cause of many problems with computers. Corruptions, viruses, spyware, pop-ups and all those annoying programs that sneak into your computer system can cause a computer to slow down, behave erratically or not work at all. 

Computers also suck up alot of dust over time. Too much dust inside a computer can cause it to shutdown. Its not a bad idea to get it cleaned out once and a while.

If you have loaded new programs on a computer and it has slowed down more memory ( RAM ) can help quicken things up again. 

Games, movies and lots of music can take up a lot of room on your computer. You can add extra hard drives to your computer to expand your storage space.

Regular maintenance on your computer system can save you time and money.