What you should know about buying a new or used computer.  This little article will list some of the pro's and con's of each choice to help you better decide how you should make your purchace. 

A lot of people come to me for computer buying help.  There's a lot to think about when buying a new computer, especially obsellecene!  The last thing you want is to buy a computer that will become obsolete in short while or even worse, is already obsolete!

Much of my experience is in the Apple Macintosh world, but much of this advice will be true to other brands of computers as well.  I will refer to Macs and Mac models in this article only.

You'll first need to think about what your needs are going to be for this new computer.  If you're going to be writing, e-mailing and web surfing only, then you really don't need the latest and greatest out there.  A simple Mac model will serve all your needs.  If however you are going to be playing games, or using photoshop to edit photos regularly then you may want to think about something more powerful.  

Even if you're building a complex website or writing a book, the basics will do you just fine.  The speed becomes necessary for advanced rendering of graphics or compiling large amounts of data.  If basic photo editing like making a family photo album is the most you're doing, then save your money.  

I would say that about 75% of computer users won't need the latest and greatest Mac computer.  If you've got kids however and they play computer games, speed will become a requirement.  The most intensive software on your computer by far will be the popular 3D games.  You really have no other choice there if you don't want to hear your kids complaining about the new dinasor computer.

So, you're part of the 75% that does not require a blazing fast $3000 new computer.  Most of us can get away with $800 or less on a new Mac or even a used Mac.  So that's what I will write about.  Also, the new vs. used debate - which way should you go?

With a used computer you're really going to have to think about repairs.  Once upon a time the old PPC beige computer would give you 10 years of life without any issues.  Hard drives don't always last the 10 years, but all the guts of the computer would.  These days, you'll start to run into serious issues within the 5 year mark.  The computer I'm writing this article on is the Power Mac G5 Tower Dual 1.8G and it's been doing great since 2003/4.  It's showing little signs of aging or speed slow downs.  But there are always risks with a 5 year old computer, this is why I have a backup computer beside me - a new MacBook.  My work depends on the computer to be working, or I don't work.  So two is good insurance for that.  

If you are on a super tight budget you can pick up a 5 year old Mac, but I would stay away from the cheeper versions (iMac and MacBook), stick with the Pro Series computers like the Tower computers or MacBook Pro.  They contain better components then their cheeper cousins.  I would HIGHLY recommend you buy a new internal hard drive right off the bat - you can use the stock drive as a secondary drive, but hard drives SHOULD be replaced every 3-5 years if your data is important to you.

A simple upgrade that will get you a nice speed boost is RAM.  RAM these days is so cheep it's crazy.  Boost your computer two 2 gigs at least and if you really want a little more speed, upgrade your hard drive to a faster one.  This will max out the preformance of your computer.  The stock versions of most computers sold do not max out their performance - they expect you to upgrade your machine later, keeps them making money.

If you're not sure and just want to stick to a new computer because you don't want to deal with repairs or servicing, new Macs come with a 1 year warranty with the option to extend to three years.  You don't have to buy the extended warranty right away, you have until the last day of your current warranty - but don't forget, if you go over 1 day, they won't honer it and you'll waste your money.  I HIGHLY suggest getting the extended warranty, it might be expensive, but if there is a repair it will make your life so much easier and less stressful.  

Well, that's just a brief talk about new vs. used.  I hope you can glean something out of it when making your choice of buying a new mac vs. an used mac.