Assessment
My family has outgrown our old computer system. The last one we purchased was in 1996. It was a Packard-Bell system with a Pentium I, 166 kHz processor. At that time our kids were 10 and 5 and my wife was a complete novice on the computer. When we purchased the Packard-Bell, it was state-of-the-art. I remember the salesman at Best Buy touting the benefits of MMX technology (something I had never heard of). The system came with speakers, sound and video cards, modem, 15-inch monitor, a mouse, a large software bundle, which included Windows 95, and a 1 GB hard drive. We also bought a Hewlett Packer printer with this package. The cost of this package was $1,800. Packard-Bell included a 1-year warranty on the system, HP provided a 1-year warranty on the printer, and we purchased an additional 1-year in-store warranty from Best Buy. We paid $1,800 for this package including the additional warranty.
English: Image of an ASUS CD-Rom Drive CD-S520/A4
Die Bewegung des Laserschlittens in einem CD-Rom L...
CD-ROM driveWe used this computer for a variety of things including home finances, word processing, email, Internet, education, game playing, and personal information management. For the first several years, this computer functioned very well for our family. It would run all of the new software that came out including some very innovative educational games for our children.
As time as gone by, it has become apparent that we need to upgrade this computer. New software will not run on the Windows 95 platform and the processor isn't fast enough to allow for multi-tasking. We now use the computer a little differently than we did when we first purchased it. My 2 children have become avid users doing homework, playing sophisticated games, and surfing the Internet. My wife uses the computer to do genealogy research and email relatives. I do the same things as before,
Computer Purchase
You've done a good job in detailing the process you went through to find a replacement computer. While it's always possible to find a better price, at some point the endless shopping around for the best deal must end. After all, one's time is valuable too. What's most important is that you obtained the features you wanted at a price you could afford. Many people could benefit by reviewing the systematic procedure you followed to find the right computer for you. Well done!
9 out of 9 people found this comment useful.