Recently, I decided to purchase a new computer. Buying a computer can be a complicated procedure. A number of decisions must be made before making this purchase. I must decide what type of software and hardware I need for my everyday use. Another decision that must be made is how much money do I want to spend. There is no real budget for this purchase. I am not really concerned with the price of the computer. I am not looking to cut corners. My main concern is that I purchase a reliable computer that can support all the necessary functions for my day-to-day business and personal affairs for an extended period of time. The basic need for this computer is for writing documents and reports for college. In addition, I need the computer for my financial accounts. The Internet is essential for research and for that occasional surf. I would also like to purchase a number of games to keep myself busy while I download files. I am not in favor of proprietary computer systems. It is not fair to consumers for a manufacturer to produce hardware and software that has built-in obsolescence. It is not very realistic for a consumer to have to purchase totally new software when he wants to switch compu

ter models or manufacturers. The only people who could ever be in favor of this type of manufacturing are the manufacturers themselves. Technology keeps changing and a lot of newer software is being developed which requires more powerful machines. Machines should be upgradable and not have this forced turnover feature. I must first determine what software I will need and then find hardware to match that software. I have a lot of experience with the Microsoft Office 97 software package and it supports all my word processing and spreadsheet needs. Although Office 2000 far surpasses Office 97, there is no real need to go for the upgrade at this particular time. Office 97 covers all my needs and it is takes time to learn to use the upgrade. Parenthetically, if I so require, I can always upgrade at a later time. This package requires a Windows operating system. I am familiar with Windows 95 and I am very satisfied with it. However, there are a number of improvements that were made by Windows 98, which would make my life easier. The improved startup, the faster startup speed, and the faster shutdown are features that I really appreciate. It is very annoying sitting there waiting to start work while your computer has to get its act together. It is even more annoying during the shutdown phase. Although this is only a matter of a number of minutes, I am a very big advocate of this feature. For my personal finances, Quicken would be the best. The new Quicken 2000 seems to be the best program to deal with my financial accounts. Quicken is easier, faster, and more accurate than taking care of my finances by hand. It gives me the ability to have a clear picture of what my financial standing is and therefore, worth the money. To cover my Internet needs, I would like to install the AOL software package. It is easy to use and I am already familiar with the way it works. It is a great investment and well worth the money. When the upgrades come out it is easy to implement them into your computer. This is a plus because they are always finding ways to better their software. Another positive note is that installation does not take too long. The games that I would like on my computer come with the software that I already decided to purchase. Solitaire and FreeCell are all that I need being that I will not being spending much time playing games on the new computer. Therefore, no special game software must be purchased. A digital camera allows you to take pictures and store the photographed images digitally instead of on film. Once the pictures are on your computer, they can be edited with photo-editing software. At this point I am going to remain old fashioned and not purchase any digital camera software. Although it may be very useful to have a digital camera, I do not take pictures that often and my traditional zoom camera works just fine. Therefore, the purchase of a digital camera is not needed at this point either. I am sure that if the need arises, I can purchase the software and have

Some common words found in the essay are:
PC's CPU, Pentium III, PURCHASE Recently, Solitaire FreeCell, Microsoft Office, DVD-ROM DVD-ROM, Quicken Quicken, Billing Act, digital camera, floppy disk, software installed, dot pitch, ink-jet printer, office 97, software hardware, disk drive, hard drive, purchase computer, resolution measured dots, floppy disk drive, dots inch dpi, hard drive space, measured dots inch,
Approximate Word count = 2016
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)