Desktop dilemma

TECHNO BEAT

Purchasing a desktop or a laptop today is both easy and complex.

You can walk into any big store and pick them off-the-shelf. But should you buy an Intel or AMD PC; a Celeron, Pentium D, Athlon, a dual core or Core 2 Duo; how much Random Access Memory (RAM) and the like?

Basic users who simply want to surf the Net, use Word and access email, can buy a machine with an Intel Celeron D (2.8 Ghz) or Pentium D (dual core) processor. There's hardly any configuration lower than this.

The price of such a PC (including a mouse, onboard integrated graphics, combo CD-DVD drive) would range anywhere between Rs 18,000 to Rs 25,000. On an average, laptops would range between Rs 25,000 and Rs 35,000.

Mid-level users may do with the same configuration or opt for a Core 2 Duo but they will need additional RAM (typically DDR2 "� at least 512 MB).

More RAM helps software applications to load faster on the machine and comes in very handy if you want to play games or use image-editing software like PhotoShop or drawing packages like CorelDraw. It also pays to have a good hard-drive.

A 60-80 GB drive with 7,200 RPM (loads data faster than a 5,200 RPM hard-drive) should do the trick. A decent branded machine with these specifications would cost around Rs 23,000-30,000. Laptops, with this configuration, would be priced anywhere between Rs 35,000 and Rs 55,000.

Advanced users are generally hardcore gamers, developers or users of 3D software. The RAM should always be 512 MB and above, the hard-disk capacity around 80-160 GB to store more multimedia files, a CD-DVD combo writer, a 17- or 19-inch TFT, 3 to 4 universal serial bus (USB) slots, a premium cabinet with extra fans to cool the advanced processors.

The high-end gaming cards themselves could cost anywhere from Rs 15,000 to Rs 40,000 taking the cost of such computers to up to Rs 100,000.

DUAL CORE

It is simply a generic term referring to any processor package with two physical central processing units or CPUs in one. It can smoothen your computing experience by running two different programs simultaneously instead of bogging up a single core with having to make those programs take turns.