It’s time for my annual fall PC buyer’s guide. As always, this guide covers what average consumers doing typical tasks should look for in a desktop or laptop PC. That excludes heavy-duty gamers, corporate buyers, techies or enthusiasts.
But this autumn, we find ourselves in a serious global economic slowdown. So I will focus this edition of the guide on how folks whose PC budgets have shrunk can still get something adequate for light use.
The guide below applies to both desktops and laptops, since the latter, at least in the consumer market, has achieved rough parity in performance and versatility, and is now more popular than desktops.
Windows vs. Mac
I consider the Mac operating system, Leopard, to be faster, easier and more stable than Windows XP or Windows Vista. It isn’t susceptible to the vast majority of malicious software that circulates on the Internet. Macs also include Apple’s superb built-in iLife multimedia suite. Macs can even run Windows, though that costs extra.
Apple has consciously chosen not to offer machines in the bargain category, however. The cheapest Mac desktop, the Mac Mini, which doesn’t even include a monitor, speakers, keyboard or mouse, costs $650 for a model with a hard disk I consider adequate. The cheapest Mac laptop, the base model of the prior-generation MacBook (which Apple has retained in its lineup) is $999.
Both are good values, mainly because of the software. Macs also can save you money over time. But if the lowest upfront cost is your objective, you can pay hundreds less for desktops and laptops from Windows PC makers.
Which Windows
Windows Vista is too often slow and incompatible with older peripherals, such as the printers you might not want to replace in this economic climate. It also can cost more because it demands beefier, and thus costlier, hardware to run…