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.

Today’s article is going to be on a program that I use to write all my blog posts. When I first started blogging I was using Microsoft Word to write my articles. Microsoft Word is a good product but I have been using one that has taken its place. The program is called Windows Live Writer. Windows Live Writer is easy to setup and best of all is free to use.

Windows Live Writer is a little program that is used to do multiple things with your blog. When Windows Live Writer is setup, it will look exactly like your blog page and it’s easy to see how your post will look when someone is reading it. It is also easy to add pictures, video, and keywords.  Windows Live Writer also has the ability to check for grammar and spelling errors, and the ability to check the word count of the article.  Here are the features of the program

• New border treatments (including Instant Photo)
• Crop and tilt photos
• Insert multiple photos
• Toolbar alignment commands enabled for images
• Insert and upload Windows Live photo albums
• Insert and publish video to YouTube
• Additional spell checking languages: Arabic, Basque, Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, English (Australia), Estonian, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Indonesian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Malay, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Slovak, Slovenian, Turkish, and Ukrainian
• Server-side tagging (for supported blogs)
• Type-down filtering in the Open dialog
• Twitter, Digg and Flickr Plug-ins
• Improved blog account setup
• Lightbox and Windows Live Spaces inline preview support
• Improved category control: adding categories, type-down filtering
• Tabbed view switching
• AutoLink glossary
• Smart quotes/typographic characters
• Word count
• Support for bidirectional languages (like Hebrew and Arabic)
• Tabs for view switching
• Updated look and feel

Windows Live Writer also has a ton of plug-ins that will help Live Writer be more efficient for you. I have been using Windows Live Writer for a few weeks now and have found it to be very useful when I want to publish a blog post. I am still in the process of downloading plug-ins that will fit my needs. This is a very good free program that I will definitely be using on a regular basis. If you are a dedicated blogger and likes to be able to publish posts quickly, then this is the program for you.  Windows Live Writer can be downloaded from HERE.