If only I got paid every time I heard this. In fact, this seems to be the single greatest contributer to frustrated computer users and, subsequently, junked computers. I am confident that I will never be short of customers who stand in my office and tell me they don't need upgrades because they only use their machine for e-mail. Meanwhile, I am looking at their computer and discovering a plethora of pictures, maybe a weather program, advanced screen savers, videos, hordes of music files and a system tray filled to the brim with miscellaneous programs. Of course, this doesn't mean that people aren't being honest with me. It probably just means that they don't understand the work load these added items place upon their machine. It could mean that they are just not being honest with themselves.

As an attempt to clear the air and quell the mysteries let me explain the hierarchy of computer functions. If you truly only use your computer for e-mail and some light word processing then you should be able to find a computer capable of this at a very low cost. Personally I would't spend more than $100, no matter what. "Where can I find a computer for $100 or less?", you ask. I recommend garage/rummage sales, local non-profits (and not just goodwill) and schools or businesses that are upgrading to more powerful systems. All of these options should be fine for a do-it yourselfer. If you need a little more direction then please feel free to call me so we can discuss your needs and options. The consultation is always free and almost all of my services only incur our standard rate of $20/hour.

The next level of computing will include functions such as a small handful of programs that run in the system tray (weather apps, anti-virus/Internet security, IM program, etc.). It will also include enough machine to surf the Internet without major hangups. In this price range you can also view .pdf files with ease and do some intermediate word processing. All this added functionality is going to bring the price up to a $200-$400 range including a monitor and printer. Computers in this category are probably still going to be used machines found in your local paper or at an on-line auction site.

Spending between $400 and $700 should buy you a machine capable of a few small future upgrades. This means you will buy yourself a degree of longevity with your new machine. It should be able to store and play music, store and view photos, perform some very minor photo editing (such as red-eye removal), play videos and burn cd's.

The next price range is large due to the fact that it shows only a few improvements concerning the types of tasks it can perform from it's low end to it's high end. This isn't to say there is no performance difference at all, but that is not what this blog is about. A budget of $750 to $1800 should put a computer capable of most tasks with the only exceptions being running the latest and most robust PC games at their highest settings, editing professional level photo or video content, burning Blu-Ray or HD DVD's or designing professional level print and web content. Obviously, in this range, the more you spend the greater the performance of your machine, the larger the monitor size and the presence of more connections to ease the use of multimedia devices.

The idea of spending more than $1800 on a computer feels a little out of place in this article. Because of this I will only give abbreviated explanations concerning the upper echelon of computer systems. At $1800-$2800 a machine is going to obviously have some bells and whistles. It will allow you to play current games at very high, if not the highest, settings. Every component will provide enough technology to perform almost any task you can through at it. So, why spend more than $2800?

Enter the hardcore gamer. Systems above $2800 are for enthusiasts. In this range cases are almost always windowed with glowing cables and tubes lighting up the computer's interior. Painting and airbrushing customize not only the case, but often color match the monitor, speakers, keyboard and mouse. Liquid cooling is sometimes applied to allow for maximum overclocking. These customizations are only the beginning.

In conclusion I would like to reiterate the importance of taking the time to realize the truth about what you are looking for in a computer. Of course, I am always available to correspond with you using e-mail at jmaurer@yourtechworks.com and I can often be reached by phone here in the office.

Yes, Yes... Our Blog section is finally getting an update. We have had a lot going on with web sites and Windows Vista upgrades. That's right, there actually are some people upgrading to Vista even after all the reviews. The bulk of us here at The Technology Works have had plenty of time to formulate our own opinions about the new operating system... even with the time change.

Our experience with Vista has brought us to the same conclusion as most everyone else who has cared to express their epinions and that is that once you get past the "G-Wiz" of the updated look and feel there is really nothing solid to warrant an upgrade at this time. I mean, it is true that if you have the hardware to support it, the 64-bit version of Vista can be more efficient than the 32-bit version of XP that most of us use. Well, DUH, right? The issue with this is that most of the hardware and applications currently available to the mainstream are developed or written for a 32-bit operating system. This makes compatability an issue. I know, I know... most of the upgrades being done are using the 32-bit version of Windows Vista that most hardware and even some software are becoming more compatable with. IMO, though, this only makes the upgrade even more trivial. Especially when all the reviews from tech sites are reporting that Vista is actually slower than XP in almost every benchmark when comparing 32-bit versions.

So why all the hype and hoop-lah with the release of Windows Vista? Honestly, we don't know. On one hand, if forced to produce a positive comment for the new OS, we would mention the cleaner look and feel. Truthfully the new look is very nice and regardless of what the benchmarks depict Vista does feel faster when navigating the internet or local files and folders. We just aren't sure if these "features" warrant a $100-$280 price tag at this time.

Generally a good policy concerning the early adoption of new technology is simply, "If it isn't broken, then don't fix it." ... which leads me to my comments on the recent time change.

Yikes.

I have had a lot of questions about how to fix the time on computers since the time change. The fix can be easy and by now most computers have probably sorted themselves out. What an incredible amount of nearsightedness ran rampant with the recent time change, though! Did we not learn anything from Y2K or are we not able to remember that far back? Seriously, in about mid 1998 we started preparing for the computers limitations in handling a 4-digit expression of the current year. By the time we neared the end of 1999 we had become obsessed with what seemed like a disastorous technological  limitation. The rollover came and went and we managed to keep things under control. Well, aside from the massive amounts of money the government and corporations spent on preparedness.

Now, enter spring 2007. It seems that in a blatant laugh into the face of reason we as a country actually caused an event similar to what we worried about with the approach of the year 2000. By mod'ing the date of the time change without letting our computers know we actually tricked them into a time challenged stupor. Bravo!

So, if your computer has not sorted out what time it is yet then you should open the control panel for "date and time" and force it to update with the time server of your choice. Once you do this you should double check your time zone settings to make sure they havent been altered.

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