Holiday Desktop Shopping: What to Look For

Shopping for a new PC for the family, for the kids, or for yourself this holiday season? Don't get stuck with a boat anchor that you won't be happy with. Here's what to consider when shopping for a new desktop for 2007 and beyond.

• CPU - In stark contrast to recent years, CPUs have suddenly gotten a lot more competitive and interesting. In a new PC, you basically have two main choices: AMD Athlon X2 (various versions) or Intel Core 2 Duo. You can get a reasonably high-end version of either CPU for about $300, and both will serve you well. I wouldn't lose much sleep choosing between the two, but if it comes down to one or the other, go with the Core 2 Duo.
• Memory - Nothing much changing here. Get as much RAM as you can afford, at least 1GB. Vista is going to require a ton of it.
• Operating System - Assuming you want Windows Vista, make sure it's pre-installed. Don't go for any of this "free upgrade" or "Vista coupon" nonsense. You are paying for a new PC, and you want to make sure Vista is going to work with all the components it has installed. Don't settle for what will undoubtedly be a headache down the road with missing drivers and installation errors, and don't settle for "upgrade later." (Also, I wouldn't bother with any version of Vista aside from the Ultimate Edition; most of those upgrade coupons will likely be for the stripped-down Home Premium or, worse, Home Basic versions.) Tragically, this one issue will probably mean not buying a new PC this year if you want Vista. But those willing to settle for XP should find some insane deals come December.
• Hard Drive - These are now available in 500GB and even 750GB versions. 500GB really ought to be enough for you to last a couple of years. Or consider two smaller drives, using one as a real-time backup or mirror, so you're never at risk of data loss.
• Optical Drive - Dual-layer DVD (with nearly 9GB capacities) is still the standard, but writeable Blu-ray drives are now on the market if you need 25GB or 50GB on a disc. These writers are extremely expensive, though, so I would recommend sticking with the DL-DVD for now, as the capacity jump just isn't that extreme and doesn't merit the extra cost.
• Graphics Card - Again, Vista requires a heavy-duty graphics card if you want to run the high-end Aero GUI, and you're shooting yourself in the foot if you don't add a nice GPU to your rig. I've read a few reviews that say, for the absolute best graphics experience, dual-card solutions are the best way to go, actually outpacing quad-card systems in many benchmarks. But most users will be fine with only one graphics card, as long as it's a good one. At the high end, this means a card using the ATI Radeon X1900 or the Nvidia GeForce 7900 or 7950. Expect to pay $300 to $500 for one of these cards.
• Monitor - Get the largest LCD you can afford, and make sure it's widescreen. More and more apps are going to be optimized for widescreen displays, and standard format displays will soon be vanishing from the market.

That ought to cover it. Any extras you might need like a media card reader, built-in wireless networking, or a fancy mouse and/or keyboard are easily resolved during the purchase and configuration process. As always, if you have a specific rig in mind and you'd like my take on it, send me the specs and price (or a link to the PC) via email and I'll respond with my assessment!