When it comes time to buy that special computer you want, there are a few things to take into consideration.  Buying a computer is an investment and taking the time to answer a few questions can eliminate any problems after the purchase.  Here are a few questions that should be answered.

1.  What’s the computer for?

This is the most important question that needs to be answered.  Computers are used for various things to include gaming, school, downloading, business etc.  Determining the main purpose can narrow down the price and specifications of the computer.  If the computer will be used for school, the price will probably be lower than a high-end gaming computer.

2.  Specifications

Once we determine what the computer is going to be used for, we need to determine what types of specifications will suit us best.  Let’s say we are planning on doing some high end gaming, we plan on playing Call of Duty.  The first thing that we should consider is if the computer has the ability to run this game at full speed.  Today’s games require a decent video card in order for them to run without a hitch.  Now, we know we need a computer with a good video card, what about RAM/Memory?  We are going to need this computer to be fast so a considerable amount of memory is also essential.  Therefore, it’s safe to say that we might need to shell out some money for the perfect gaming computer.  On the other hand, the computer that is going to be used for school will not cost quite as much as that gaming computer.  A computer with a marginal hard drive, at least 2GB of memory (this is the standard for all my computers), and maybe Microsoft Office pre-installed.

3.  Price

This is an important step and could be at the top of the list.  We know that a gaming computer is going to be much pricier than a computer used for doing schoolwork.  I conducted a little research on finding a gaming laptop for under a grand and turned up one that is not bad.  It’s a Sony VAIO NW180J/S.  According to the review, the laptop can run newer games at a comfortable frame rate, but the resolution can’t be cranked up like dedicated gaming laptops.  For more information about the Sony VAIO, click HERE.  I found tons of laptops on the Websites of Wal-Mart and Best Buy that were under $500 that would fit any student’s needs.  (The price section was based off on new computers only)

4.  Portability

If we plan to stay home, playing our video games then a desktop computer would most likely be a good choice.  Those who are computer savvy can build a decent gaming desktop for under a grand.  If we like to do our gaming on the go then a laptop is the way to go.  When it comes to schoolwork, I think a laptop is necessary.  The ability to bring the computer to class could save a lot of time.

Conclusion

The next time I am looking into another computer, I will follow these steps.  I’ve made the mistake of getting any old computer just because I wanted one badly and regretted it later.  Learn from my mistakes and really look at what the computers main purpose is.  I didn’t do this step and now I am stuck with a Dell laptop that I don’t want.

Over the past few months I have been having driver issues with my Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop.  The problems have mainly been with my network drivers.  I would boot up my laptop and I would be greeted with a message saying that my Dell wireless adapter has malfunctioned, if the problem keeps happening please contact technical support blah blah blah.  I then would have to run a diagnostic on my driver just to connect to the Internet.

This can be very annoying if it happens frequently (this was me).  I got sick of this error so I went on mission to find a program that would update my drivers (for free of course).  I came across a free program called Device Doctor.  Device Doctor is a program that will allow a user to update any of the drivers on the installed computer.

There is no need to go searching for unknown drivers anymore.  Once the user creates a free account, the program can search the computer for known drivers and proceed to tell the user what drivers need to be updated.  Here are some of the key features of Device Doctor:

Device Driver Database

• Provides drivers for every major computer hardware and device manufacturer
• More than 3 terabytes (3,000 GB) of drivers currently in the database
• We cache all drivers so downloads are quick and work every time
• Fast hardware scan takes mere seconds

Consistent Updating

• Constantly updated to include new driver versions as soon as released
• Every driver is human reviewed using specialized compatibility tools
• Learns from other users to recommend better drivers every day

Future-proof with Windows 7 and 64-bit Support

• Designed for Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7
• Thousands of drivers coming in weekly for Windows 7
• Full support for 64-bit systems, as well as 32-bit systems

Other Big Deal Functionality

• Provides device names for unknown devices before updating drivers
• Can be used offline – scan results are saved so you can move them to a connected computer and download there
• Updates WHQL (Microsoft certified) and non-WHQL drivers
• Yes, it is completely free with no adware or malware!

After installing the program, I proceeded to scan my computer drivers to check and see if I needed to update any.  Low and behold, the network adapters needed to be updated.  After I updated the driver I no longer received the annoying wireless driver error.  This program is extremely helpful and most importantly the program is free.

If you need to update any drivers this program is the way to go.  My main reason for downloading the program was to try and get rid of the wireless adapter error.  I found out that I needed to update other drivers and Device Doctor has made this process very easy.  Device Doctor can be downloaded from HERE.