The biggest factor that a college student or a business executive should consider when shopping for a microcomputer is what that computer will be used for. For example, if the computer is going to be used primarily for data storage, then the hard drive is the most important component of the computer. However, if the computer will be used for internet research, then the CPU is the most important component. Another factor to take into consideration are how long the user will be sitting in front of the computer at each usage. If the user will be spending long hours staring at the monitor, an anti-glare LCD monitor would help prevent eye strain. Other questions to ask include: "Will the user need a laptop or a desktop?" "Does the user want a cordless mouse and keyboard?", and of course there is the question of the operating system - is the user more familiar with Windows, Mac OS, or UNIX? .

             There are new technologies being developed every day. Toshiba has just begun .

             shipping it's new 1.8 inch HDD with 40GB of memory. Small hard drives like this are ideal for portable devices, which can now hold as much information as many desktops. The Heliodisplay, an interactive 3-D display, has moved from science fiction to reality. It acts like a virtual touchscreen that can be controlled by a hand or a finger. Fujitsu has released a bendable electronic paper. Intel is planning to release their first CPUs based on a new architecture in 2006. These new processors will significantly improve performance per watt over the current processors. In the visual world of computers, there is a new standard, called DisplayPort, on the horizon that aims to enable more colors, higher resolutions and higher refresh rates, as well as simplify the way computers connect to LCD, plasma, CRT and projection displays.