Shopping for a personal computer (PC) can be enjoyable, or it can be frustrating. Unfortunately, some shoppers believe all personal computers are alike so their main objective is to find the cheapest one. Doing so can be a mistake. The old saying "You get what you pay for" is true. Many buyers have later discovered the computer they purchased lacked important components and features. What should we consider when buying PC.

1. The first thing that most of us are constrained to is budget so this is the first thing you should consider. We always want the best but we need to be grounded on what we can afford. So Get a budget and stick to it.

2. The next thing you should be looking at is your requirements. Do you need a laptop or desktop? What is the machine going to be used for? Once you have done this go back to number one and see if these are compatible often they are not first time round. You either need to adjust your budget or adjust your goals to make them more compatible with each other.

3. Hardware.
Processor and Speed: Essentially the brain of a computer, a processor is the logic circuitry that responds to and processes the basic instructions that drive a computer. Instructions are the orders given to a processor by a computer program. The term processor has generally replaced the term central processing unit (CPU).

RAM memory: RAM (random access memory) is the place in a computer where the operating system, application programs, and data in current use are kept so that they can be quickly reached by the computer's processor. RAM is much faster to read from and write to than the other kinds of storage in a computer, the hard disk, floppy disk, and CD-ROM. However, the data in RAM stays there only as long as your computer is running. When you turn the computer off, RAM loses its data. When you turn your computer on again, your operating system and other files are once again loaded into RAM, usually from your hard disk.

Monitor: Does your job require you to have a screen that has a high resolution or will a lower resolution suffice? For word processing or spreadsheets and lower screen quality is adequate, while the highest resolution is preferred for graphics work.

4. Now that should be your main considerations when thinking of the hardware. The next thing to think about is software now many computers come with windows vista as standard, this should be premium at least I wouldn't even think about basic.

5. The last thing to do with the actual computer is a good virus and spy ware package. Don't be under any illusion this is possibly the most important part of protecting your computer. It will get attacked at some point be prepared when it does.