When purchasing a Computer, Which things have to keep in mind?

the purpose of use

the cost

brand name

aaaaaaand specifications

1. Good Brand Reputation

2. CPU & Its Clock Speed (CPU should have latest technology & virtualization) (at-least Intel Core i5 or Core i74th Generation)

3. RAM Capacity & Its BUS Speed (at-least4 -8GB)

4. Hard Drive Capacity & Its Baud Rate / RPM (at-least500GB)

5. Motherboard should have support for additional CPU, GPU & RAM upgrades in the future

6. GPU memory size (at-least1 -2GB)

7. At least2 -4 latest USB Ports3.0

8. Connectivity options such as WiFi, Bluetooth & Ethernet port

9. Should have video out / HDMI ports for projecters & LED TVs

10. Good number of cooling fans in the CPU casing.

11. Super Drive that supports DVD Writing & BlueRay Reading.

12. Good quality speakers

13. A high resolution LED display.

Overall its game of : Budget and Requirement.

Depends on what u wants it for. Graphic and gaming computer mostly focus on the GPU and CPU.

Office computer mostly need a good range CPU and ram and not focusing on the GPU.

Sound editors and musicians focus on the Sound Card. 

Auditors focus on how big the screen is. 

It also depends on the Brand and the Software u want to run. 

So find the reason then choose wisely. 

I should ask first myself 

What is the purpose I want from the computer

then computer options are based on the answer, that's it

the most important thing is for how long this computer will be up to dated and keep still with technology devolopment every year .

in another meaning for how many years it can be operate ( no need to buy new computer every year)

needs

For me this how I decide which computer I need to buy or provide the user.

1. Who will use the new computer?

Graphics Artist Employee

2. How they tend to use it?

For Designing purposes

3. What application he needs to run on it?

Adobe Illustrator CC

Adobe Photoshop CC

4. Application Operating System Requirements?

Both applicaiton can run on Windows7 with Service Pack1, Windows8, or Windows8.1*

5. Application Hardware minimum requirements?

Both applicaiton needs the following:

Processor: Intel® Pentium®4 or AMD Athlon®64 (2GHz or faster)

RAM:1GB of RAM

HD:2.5GB of available hard-disk space for installation; additional free space required during installation

Video:1GB recommended with1024x768 display (1280x800 recommended)

6. Budget?

Base on my budget I will try to find a computer that meets the minimum or recommended Hardware requirements to run those application that the user needs to run on the new computer.  

If I have a big budget where I can afford to buy higher performance computer more than they need ill buy it base on the importance of the user, user application and computer use.

If I need to buy computer to a secretary I will med level computer that can handle MS office or other kind of office application they will daily open. 

Note: Remember there will always be a higher application that will come out anytime with higher system requirements so when you’re buying new computers think2 or3 years ahead on time.   

First thing is to determine your needs (softwares to install on your computer and the amount of data to be treated), then the following things can indicate the performance of the computer:

- Processor: it determine the speed of calculations made during a period of time, Intel are mostly performant for graphic treatments (the last one is i75th generation) . and i5 is currently well performant for an accountant. AMD processors are better for mathematic calculations even if most of computers contain Intel.

- The RAM memory: more it's big more the computer will not be slow, really it's the most important thing for me: an I3 with8Mo RAM DDR is more quickt than an I7 with4Mo as I7 work at100% with +8Mo RAM.

- the graphic card must be performant also as most of softwares need it. but a standard recent one can be sufficient for accountants.

- If it's a laptop: check that the electric alimentation port is strong (i recommand HP for that and some of Sony Vaio) because those cables get early problems in general and the port get damaged quickly because they are small.

- I advise to buy also what we call in french "onduleur" if it happen that electricity cut often in your firm: this will damage the hard dick if the computer shut down suddenly without an onduleur.

- be attentive to buy an authentic windows7 or others..as hacked versions will be blocked soon and it will make many problems on the computer + I advice Kaspersky as antivirus: very efficient and not making the computer slow.

- Most of problems come from the fact that our computers work a lot without a powerful heat system that make the processor cold, and because of that many problems come out and informaticians don't detect the reason. Standard PC contain standard aeration systems (cheap ones) , so u can pay a small extra amount and ask ur supplier to add a powerful system.

the first important thing when purchasing a computer is the memory (RAM ), you have to look8gb memory if u want to have a hi-speed pc , then second is a quad core processor

RAM,Graphic Card,Hard Disk & Processor