Buyers Checklist

64bit computing looms ever closer even if Windows Vista has been shelved to 2007.   It makes sense to buy a system that is capable of unlocking the power of a future 64bit operating environment so look out for the latest generation of processors offering 64bit trimmings.   Windows XP x64 should be the best windows to date finally offering support for more than 2Gb of system memory.   It's also fully backward compatible although driver issues for early adopters might be a problem in the short term. 

Buying from a reputable company is ultra important these days.   User recommendations are the best way of making sure the company you are buying from offer bona fide levels of support should you have a problem with your kit.   Head on down to the MaXit consumer revenge forums and hear what others have to say.

• Processor - dual core systems offering all the benefits of two processors in a single cpu are the current flavour.   Our current favourite are the Core 2 Duo processors that offer fantastic peformance.   Apple Macs now offer Intel processor solutions too.
• Graphics cards are an essential item if you want to play the latest games in all their glory. Skimp here and you won't be playing the next generation games in all their glory. Expect to pay at least £200 to £300 for a really good graphics card such as a Geforce 7900 GTX.  nVidias and ATIs SLI combos (thats two cards running in tandem) offer insane levels of performance at a price.
  
• Storage is essential is you want to download mountains of mp3's and video clips.   Factor in a digital camera and a subscription to Playboy.com and you'll want at least a 250Gb hard drive.   Serial ATA are the choice of champs.   Look out for raid 0 (speed) or 1 (backup security) options offering extra performance or increased storage security by combining two hard disks together.
  
• Connectivity is an important factor to consider with peripherals eating up USB ports like PAC man on steroids.   A USB keyboard, mouse, printer and scanner and you have already blown four ports.   USB 2.0 is essential for maximum speed.   Lookout for Firewire 800 and eSATA external ports for better connectivity on external storage devices.
• Monitors are just as important as the rest of the system. A good LCD display with a sub 16ms response time should be considered a minimal choice if you plan on using your PC for games. Look at getting at least a 17" monitor capable of displaying a resolution of 1280 by 1024 pixels.