How to buy a computer

As of 2012
*These are my working notes which I'll update as I get time. I'm publishing it as-is to help anyone that can make sense of it.*

What to look for when buying a computer...

As a techie, I find myself talking with people too scared to buy a computer even though they need one because they feel it will be outdated too soon or they generally don't know what to look for.

Start off with your expectations.

If you want a computer that gets you by, expect something in the $350 range if it's used. It may have choppy video playback, freeze more often than you like, have a small trackpad, etc. But hey, it gets you by. Much less than $350 and it's probably junk. You'll get a slow integrated video card. Expect a Geekbench score of 1,500-2,500, http://browser.primatelabs.com/processor-benchmarks something to use as a performance comparison against the other classes of computers. Graphics card performance will be around 150-350 on http://www.videocardbenchmark.net.

Right now you can expect to pay about $450 for a 1-2 year old solid mid-grade computer with an i5 processor, a dedicated video card, and maybe a decent track pad, and USB 2.0. This applies to both laptops and desktops. These will have Geekbench scores of about 3,500-4,500. Graphics card performance will be around 300-750.

For $600-$800, you can get a used computer that will do pretty much anything you throw at it. This includes a second or third generation quad core i7 processor, USB 3.0, a larger trackpad, and if you look hard, a good dedicated video card so you can put together home movies without much of a lag time. These will have Geekbench scores of about 6,000-10,000. Graphics card performance will be around 750-1,600.`kpads may be too sensitive)
HP Envy line

The quick answer is one with...
1. Intel i5 dual-core processor (or anything with a 4000+ score on http://browser.primatelabs.com/processor-benchmarks.) General rule of thumb is i3 is for basic users, i5 (and first (of three) generation)  is for mid grade users, i7 (second and third gen) for advanced users. These are about 75% the performance of the i5s.

2. A video card with a score of 300 or higher on http://www.videocardbenchmark.net. This generally means any dedicated video card with 512MB RAM or more (you can save some money and settle for an Intel HD 4000 found in 2012 models. Stay away from Intel Accelerated graphics cards. In my experience the ones from 2010 and older are slow and may have problems with video. (The HD 3000 and 4000 videocards are decent, but there are many better ones). 2010 512MB DDR3 video cards will get you scores around 500-700. 1GB DDR5 videocards are a significantly more powerful (and will run you at least $75 extra used. May be worth it if you want to do video editing and futureproof your computer.)

3. The right quantity of RAM.
You'll want 4-8+ GB if running Vista, 7, or Windows 8 or Mac OSX 10.5 or higher. Some people with video editing may use 16 GB.

4. The right speed of RAM.
At least 4gb of 1333 MHz or faster RAM. Also comes in 333, 666, 1066 (all slow) and 1600 speeds which is even better.

5. Proper hard drive space.
160GB is fine for business use without needing to store many files. For home use, I'd recommend 500GB+ if you think you'll store a decent amount of video, music, etc.

6. Hard drive speed
SSD is the fastest, most durable, reliable, and by far the most expensive. $350+ for 480GB
Hybrid drives are cheap, have faster load times than most 7200 and 5200 drives.
About $125 for 500GB
7200 RPM 500GB drive, about $90
5400 RPM 500GB drive (the slow standard) about $75.
I hate the slow application load times of 5400 RPM drives. I used to always recommend 7200 RPM drives until SSD drives became affordable. If you have the extra money and hate wasting your time waiting for things to load, go with a Solid State Drive.

Most laptop hard drives spin around at 5,400 revolutions per second. There are other very slightly more expensive ones that spin at 7,200 and these can perform about 40% faster, but they may reduce your battery life by about 5 minutes. Not a huge deal in my mind. The faster it spins, the faster it opens applications and large documents. The best hard drive is an SSD (Solid State Drive) in that it can take harder drops without loosing data. It is built on flash memory instead of spinning mechanical platters. SSDs can offer better battery life, unless someone is using a low power hard drive. SSDs are pretty expensive though, but they can be a great thing for people that think seconds count. I use an SSD. Maybe it's overkill, but I'm happy with it. I was frustrated at how long it took Windows XP and Mac OS 10.5-10.8 to load on a 5,400 rpm drive (about 1:45). With an SSD it dropped to between 8 and 45 seconds. To save on cost, there are hybrid drives (though Macs have been known to not like them much), and also dual drives, there the operating system and applications are loaded on a small SSD (maybe 160GB) and then their files are stored on a second hard drive in the computer.  Some PCs have started offering a built in version of this where 8GB of SSD storage is built into the computer and stores the most commonly loaded files and a 5,400 rpm hard drive holds all the data. This helps with boot speed. Windows 7 and 8 were designed to have very fast boot speeds regardless of the type of hard drive. So test a few configurations out.

7. Features to consider
-Screen size 11-12" is for single tasks and nothing intensive like video editing. Kind of can be used like a tablet. Fine for single window things, but too small for me personally.
13"-15.6" kind of the standard for typing papers and college kids. These are generally considered portable. Good for college students because they fit in backpacks. The 13-15" MacBook Pros are good options, but they can initially be a bit more expensive than their Windows counterparts, but you don't need to worry as much about viruses. The Dell Studio and XPS series are a plce to start
15.6"-17"+ Good for desktop replacements or a home computer you may want to move around. If you get a thin 17" like the discontinued MacBook Pro, it isn't much bigger or heavier than the 15 but has a super awesome high resolution screen. If you can get your hands on a 2011 17" MacBook Pro, you will probably be a happy person. The HP Envy 17 can be pretty good if you confirm the processor and video card performance of the model. the 13" and 17" MacBook Pros are good.

-backlit keyboard- The keys have a light behind them so you can type in the dark. I really like it. 

-Screen resolution. The 17" MacBook Pro has a hi res screen of 1920 x 1200 and I love it. The standard 15 Macbook is 1440 x 900. The hi res 15" MacBook Pro is 1680 x 1050 and I like that. The standard 13" MacBook Pro 1280x800. I definitely prefer the hi res screen option to the standard one. You can fit more on your page and see more in a side by side view since toolbars and stuff show up smaller. Some Samsung 15" have 1600 x 900. Many Windows 15" laptops have 1366 x 768 resolution. This is fine if you only use one window at a time, but I personally do side by side windows and like hi res screens, though they cost a little more.

-SD card reader- lets you slide your SD card into your computer without any cables to get pictures off of it.

-Aluminum vs plastic case- Aluminum comes off as more professional and is a bit more expensive. The aluminum may help distribute heat from the graphics card (GPU) and processor (CPU) and may mean less fan noise. It does dent and scratch (metal on metal) easier than plastic though and is more expensive to replace.

-HDMI-good for connecting the computer (with audio) to an HDTV (Though I have had problems with there not being an overscanning option to make the picture fit the size of the screen, so you may not be able to see the toolbar.

-Upgraded Audio-May be nice since many laptops are not very loud when watching movies. USB

-3.0-a much faster connection than USB 2.0, the current standard, but you have to have a USB 3.0 peripheral. May be nice but probably unnecessary unless you are regularly transferring large files to an external hard drive.

-Blu-Ray-How many Blu-Ray DVDs do you have? Really? 

-Bluetooth-not many things use bluetooth anymore. Maybe a wireless headset. My phones don't transfer files over bluetooth like they used to with my RAZR flip phone years ago.

-Thunderbolt-Fastest connection, but peripherals with this connection are very expensive.


*Here is a quick tutorial and explanations on how to get computer specs. Find the exact model of computer you are considering. For this example 'Toshiba Satellite A665-3DV6' is the one we want. You can try your luck googling it, but a better idea is to go to the manufacturer's website, in this case Toshiba, and type the model number in the search. It shoudl give you this page,  (which also may show up in google search results. http://us.toshiba.com/computers/laptops/satellite/a660/a665-3dv6/

Go to the specifications tab. Then you will be able to find the highlights.
1. Processor = Intel® Core™ i5-460M processor
Copy '460m' and go to http://browser.primatelabs.com/processor-benchmarks and click ctrl+f to bring up the find on the page. paste the '460m' in the find, and you will see that the processor gets a Geekbench score of 4248. That is over 4000, so I could recommend that as a computer that will last at least 3+ years and be decent.

2. Graphic/video card = NVIDIA® GeForce® GTS 350M
 Copy 'gts 350m' and go to www.videocardbenchmark.net/. You will have to pick which graph you think the graphics card will be on. Most 2010+ GeForce and Radeon graphics cards will be on the high end graph, the first one on the left. If it is an Intel 3000 or 4000, it may show up on the 'Common'. If it is tied to an i3, i5, or i7 processor. Since this is a GeForce, it is probably on the high end, so we go to that link (http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html), do the ctrl+f and serach for the 'gts 350m'. It shows up with a score of 567. This is grater than 300, so it's ok for a basic user who may want to play the occasional game like Call of Duty on medium quality. Do keep in mind that the high end 2011 1GB DDR5 graphics card can get a score of about 1,300-1,600 for comparison's sake.

3. RAM quantity = 4GB
(4GB started being the standard configuration in 2011. It can show up in 256MB (1/4 GB) through 32GB. High end users use 8GB. Crazy video professionals may choose 16GB. The downside to 16GB of RAM is that the computer needs to use 16GB of the hard drive to put the computer to sleep, so you loose this much in available disk space.)

4. RAM Speed---?
 (It doesn't tell you the speed of the RAM, which I think is lazy on their part. 1066 MHz is generally 2008-10, 1333 MHz is generally high end 2011, and 1600 MHz is high end 2012. The higher numbers are better. Stay away from 333 MHz and 666 MHz unless you are getting the computer for free. 1333MHz is mid grade in 2012.)

5. Hard drive capacity- 640GB
160GB-1TB(1,000GB). The size you need depends on what you plan on storing. Hard drives are cheap if you want to install your own, but it can be a hassle on Windows. Mac is pretty easy to upgrade your hard drive and transfer everything with TimeMachine, SuperDuper, or CarbonCopyCloner

6. Hard drive speed- 5,400 rpm


My evaluation of this computer is that it has a solid mid grade processor, a mid grade video card, the right amount of RAM, the RAM speed is most likely 1066 or 1333 which is mid grade, the hard drive size is pretty large. The hard drive speed is slow, but acceptable if you aren't a complete power user. This computer is mid grade all the way and a solid choice. It will probably run you about $450 as of late 2012.

Here are some basic things I look for:

1. Processor performance
Processors control how fast calculations are done. The faster the better, but there is a point where you can pay a whole lot for a negligible amount of performance increase.If you see a computer you are interested in, look up the processor model and do a find for it on this page. http://browser.primatelabs.com/processor-benchmarks

When looking for a decent computer, a basic user will want a processor with a score of at least 3000, such as most Intel i3 processors. I tend to recommend something at least in the 4000+ range because I don't want the reputation for recommending a computer people may find slow in a year. Intel i5 Processors generally fit this. I personally use a 2011 MacBook Pro with a quad core 2.3 GHz i7 processor with a geekbench score of 8540. I use it because I run Windows and Mac at the same time and need the extra resources so they both run smoothly. A regular user should be fine with an i5.

Additional remarks: I have worked ok running both Mac 10.8 and Windows XP on a 2.8GHz Core 2 Duo T9600 (Geekbench score of 3087), but have found myself frustrated with lag times with processors slower than that.

2. Video card/ graphics card performance
Video cards control the fluidity of the things on your screen and also do any graphics calculations if you do video or hard core photo editing. You will likly run into issues if your card scores under 250 in one of the graphs here http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/.

Check out your score http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/high_end_gpus.html
or
http://www.videocardbenchmark.net/common_gpus.html

Advanced: Just so you know, the cheap common integrated graphics cards are the...

Growing up, these were the speeds of integrated graphics cards (graphics cards we all hated but were all we could afford)
Mobile Intel 915GM/GMS 910GML Express Chipset F (score 76)
Intel Media Accelerator 3150 (score 73)--I bought a desktop computer with this video card because I liked the processor, but the computer couldn't play YouTube videos. I sold that computer and bought one with a dedicated video card.
Mobile Intel GMA X3100 (score 87)--found in the 2007 white MacBook Pro and several windows computers.
integrated GeForce 9400m (score 147)--2008-9 13" MacBook Pro had these
I mustered through with a x3100 and 9400m in college and wasn't happy with their performance. There was a lot of lag time and screen shadowing, but computers with better graphics cards were to expensive.
Intel Media Accelerator HD (score 236)--This was an update to the Intel media accelerator line, but still was considered poor

Some older dedicated graphics cards included...
Apple's NVidea GeForce 9600m 512MB (score 347)--found in the high end 2008-9 15 and 17" MacBook Pro
GeForce GT 330M (score 330) MacBook Pro 2010

I did see that several 2011 processors have Intel graphics built into them and their speed depends on the processor. I think a lot of the low end laptops and even $900 desktops use these integrated graphics, and I'm not impressed. In my mind, desktops should outperform laptops since they can use more power and have the inconvenience of not being mobile.
Do not purchase a computer with a non HD Intel graphics card. The general Intel HD graphics like the ones listed below (not the 3000 or 4000) cards are baseline basic.
Intel HD Celeron B810 (score 174)--tested 2011-10-18 
Intel HD i5-2557M (score 224) --2011-06-21 *probably a common speed... for a desktop with Intel HD... and it's poor
Intel HD i7-2600S (score 297)-tested 2011-2-3 
Intel HD (score 306)---not sure what this is since it isn't tied to a processor


Intel has significantly improved integrated cards out, but they aren't in all low end computers.

2011 Intel HD 3000 (score 326)-Used in the 2011 13" MacBook Pro
2012 Intel HD 4000 (score 498).  This is used in the 2012 13" MacBook Pros and several Windows laptops.

Integrated graphics are generally criticized for poor performance, ghosting, and low frame rates when playing games. I wouldn't recommend anything slower than the Intel HD 3000. The 4000 seems fine for mid grade use.

Dedicated video cards will almost always have better performance than the Intel graphics made in that year. But watch out and run the score on the chart because some old 2009-2010 dedicated graphics cards are worse than the Intel HD 3000 and 4000. The Intel HD 3000 (circa 2011) is on par with and the Intel HD 4000 (circa 2012) is better than many of the dedicated video cards of 2010, when the the first gen i3, i5, and i7 processors came out. So you will see computers with i5 processors and poor video cards. Also, even in 2012, several laptops are not using the Intel 300 or 400 series. They're using general Intel HD graphics, which are below par. Newer dedicated graphics (2011-12) can be pretty great, and are generally worth some extra cash if you'll use your computer for video and larger programs. 256MB and 512MB are on the low-mid-range scale. 1-2GB videocards are in the mid-upper performance range. DDR5 is much better than DDR3. There are high end video cards like the 4GB DDR5 Quadro K5000M with a graphics benchmark score of 2,433, high for a laptop.

Just for perspective...

This is a computer with a slow i3 processor (Geekbench score under 4000), so I'd be hesitant to buy it. It may be ok for super basic stuff, but it may lag.
-2010 Toshiba Satellite core i3-m350 2.27GHz  (geekbench 3531) NVidia GeForce GTS 350M 2781MB total: 1GB GDDR3 discrete memory + up to 1757MB shared memory w/NVIDIA® TurboCache™ technology (score 567)

Some fine cheap computers

-December 2009 Dell Studio 14 Core i5-520M (geekbench 4257) ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4530 512MB (DDR3?) (score 259 or 330) (Rated as a low end graphics adapter http://www.notebookcheck.net/AMD-ATI-Mobility-Radeon-HD-4530.13972.0.html) Good school computer and you can play mid-level games on it. I bought this for my sister and she loves it. It can be bought with a backlit keyboard which my sister and I like. $389 on ebay.

Good mid grade options

-HP ENVY 15-1055SE Beats edition 1.6 GHz i7-720QM (Geekbench 4782) Mobility Radeon HD 4830 (Graphics 674) 1920x1080 screen :) $500 Great screen, good audio, backlit keyboard...

-late 2010 Dell Studio 16 i7 720QM 1.6GHz (Geekbench 4782) ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5730 - 1GB (video card score (score 694)--this slow i7 is slower than some newer i5s with faster clock speeds $510 ebay 12-12-12

Good mid-high options

-HP Envy 17 1012NR Mobility Radeon HD 5850 1GB DDR5 (graphics score 744) i5-3210M  (geekbench 5769)-$630 ebay and comes with improved speakers. Increasing to an i7 for a real power user would be cool if you can afford even more and want to run virtual machines. Good speakers.
-2011 Samsung 7 series with an AMD Radeon HD 6490M with 512 MB DDR5 RAM (score 645).
This is 29% faster than the Intel 4000 series. i7-2675QM 2.2 GHz (geekbench 7461) $580 ebay +$30 VGA adapter = $610. Seems like a pretty good choice. It has better than average screen resolution for a 15".


-A 2011 MacBook Pro has the 6770M 1GB DDR5 (score 1,359, may be lower since graphics cards may be clocked down in Apple products, maybe to save on battery life)-This score is probably a 2 GB version
-The 2012 15" MacBook Pro has a 1GB GeForce GT 650M (score 1,247?)-comes in 1gb and 2gb


Top end computers (more for reference)

One of the laptops with the best hardware I've seen so far is the Dell Precision line targeting professionals who need high graphic performance such as when using Auto CAD in designing complex things and such. I don't know what's stopping gamers from getting their hands on this, other than it looks more utilitarian and probably doesn't have amazing speakers. 17" laptops tend to handle more powerful graphics cards and sometimes a second hard drive.
http://www.dell.com/us/enterprise/p/precision-m6700/pd 
This computer has some pretty great specs and it can be bought used for $1,300-1,600.

Up to 16GB⁵ DDR3 SDRAM at 1866Mhz - 4 DIMMS

Up to 32GB⁵ DDR3 SDRAM at 1600Mhz - 4 DIMMS

Intel^® Core^TM i7 (3940XM, 3920XM)..

Intel^® Core^TM i7 (3520M, 3840QM, quad core 2.7 GHz 3820QM (Geekbench of 10,780), 

Intel^® Core^TM i5 (3360M, 3320M)

AMD FirePro M6000 Mobility Pro with 2GB GDDR5 dedicated memory (graphics 1,820)
NVIDIA Quadro K3000M with 2GB GDDR5 dedicated memory
NVIDIA Quadro K4000M with 4GB GDDR5 dedicated memory
NVIDIA Quadro K5000M with 4GB GDDR5 dedicated memory (graphics 2,433)

Here are some computers that use the high end NVidia graphics

http://www.nvidia.com/object/mobile-workstation-notebooks.html

Another place to check out graphics card performance is the last column in http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html

--- Processors Celeron - dual core 2.4 GHz rvv      3915 1.2 dual core 1491  single coreIntel Celeron-900-2200MHz1752 Pentium