Mistakes many people make when buying computer

Buying at the wrong time There are a lot of factors to consider when figuring out when to buy a computer. The most important of course will be your need. If you need one right this minute, then your hands are tied. But if you can wait, or if you know your current computer is on its last leg, a bit of wiggle room can make a big difference in what you pay for your new computer. First off, there are tons of deals on computers all the time. Tech retailers and manufacturers have all sorts of deals and if you stay vigilante, you might see the PC you are hoping to buy on sale. Product cycles can also come into play. Just like with smartphones, there are constantly newer versions in series of computers coming out, or newer hardware surmounting the ever-so-slightly older hardware. If you do your homework, you may be able to figure out when something new is going to come out. If you buy right before it does, you’ll likely be wasting money. After that new device or hardware comes out, the older hardware should drop in price – leaving you with the option of buying the old hardware cheaper, or buying the new hardware at around the same price you’d have paid if you bought the old hardware too early. Not shopping around enough While there’s no one place you need to shop at, you do need to shop at many places – that is, if you want to get the best deal. Don’t just go into Best Buy and assume your options are limited to those devices at those prices. Shopping at a single retailers (especially a brick and mortar shop) will guarantee you miss out. As mentioned earlier, there are lots of deals out there. Pretty much every big retailer is going to have some deal going at any given time, so you have just got to hunt for the right one, which means checking way more than one place. Check the manufacturers’ websites. Check all the other retailers I cannot list here. If you shop around regularly, and are patient, you’ll probably get an excellent deal on a new computer. Not asking for free stuff Why would not you want free stuff? If you are buying on the Internet, you might have a harder time getting free stuff, since there’s no salesman to haggle with, but if you end up buying in a brick and mortar store, try to get something (or a few things) thrown into the bargain. If you are buying a desktop, you know you will need a keyboard, mouse, and monitor, so try to get them thrown into the deal for free or for a discount. Frequently, computers come with free printers. If you are not offered one, ask for one. Whatever you are trying to get with the computer, be sure it’s within reason (you’re not going to convince them to give you a second computer for free if you purchase one), and act like you are not quite sold on the machine unless you can get the free thing thrown in. Even if you do not actually get anything, it can’t hurt to ask, and you will probably getting offered some discounts at the very least. Letting the security trial expire Sure, I know, this comes a while after you buy the computer. But it is a mistake closely linked with your purchase. Why? Because letting your virus scanner expire puts that new purchase at a greater risk of going sour. A bad virus can turn a great computer into a great paper weight, so do keep yours machine protected. You can buy a subscription to the trial service that likely comes with your computer, or you can replace it with a free security system like AVG. Whatever you do, do not ignore the need for up-to-date security software.