Development Computer

I recently decided to buy my father a new computer (his was a dinosaur). Like most people in the market for a new computer, I wanted one that didn’t cost a small fortune, but was still “good” and would hopefully last a couple of years. Instead, what I found was quite a bit of stress and a LOT of hype. Everyone claims to be the best computer for your money, so how do you know if its true or not without being a computer genius? I decided to write this article with the hopes of saving you some time and tears when searching for the best computer for you. It is a simple list of my pick for the top 5 best computer buys of 2009.

Please note that I am not a computer guru and this was not written for computer gurus. It is a quick overview for the average Joe. There are some specs for each computer, and a link in my bio to find out more information about each model if you desire.

5. HP Pavilion s3500f Desktop

HP has always been a trusted favorite of mine. The Pavilion is a well-established product, and for good reason. This particular model comes with:
-AMD Sempron
-4GB DDR2 SDRAM memory
-a 500GB hard drive
-Windows Vista Home Basic 32 bit
-and a whole lot more.
A great computer for home use and is an excellent deal.

4. Acer Aspire M3201

Acer is a brand I personally have not owned before. However, the brand gets great reviews and the prices are unbeatable for computers. I’ve been hearing nothing but good things about it from friends and family members that own Acer computers, as well as the professionals. This particular model has:
-AMD Athlon processor
-3GB DDR2 SDRAM
-320GB Hard Drive
-and Windows Vista Home Premium 32 bit

3. Gateway DX4200-11

I think that the greatest thing about this computer is simply that it is backed by Gateway. They’ve always been very good with technical support and customer service for their products. I’ve always had very happy dealings with Gateway. The computer is a bit higher in price, but comes with:
-AMD

A computer’s software refers to a program (or a group of programs) which give a computer instructions on what to do and how to operate. Software programs can provide one main task, or multiple main tasks.

As an example, a program designed to edit digital photographs has one key task (i.e. to allow for editing of photos) – naturally it would have numerous sub-tasks though (i.e. red eye removal, color correction features, resizing and cropping/cutting of an image).

On the other hand, a computer’s operating system (a complex piece of software which basically handles and runs the entire computer) would carry out many main tasks – for example handling input and output (i.e. the user typing in with a keyword, or audio coming out of speakers), memory allocation, managing the computer’s hardware components (these are the electrical components which power a computer) and much more.

Software can be grouped into roughly two groups: application software and systems software. Essentially, software which facilitates just one main task (for example, photo editing software as in the above example) would be counted as application software. This is contrasted to systems software which refers to complex, multi-task programs which help to run the entire system – such as an operating system.

These two main groups of software are discussed in more detail below:

Application Software

This is software which is installed on an operating system (See “Systems Software” below for more information). As mentioned above, this type of software tends to perform just one main task. Another example of application software would be a website browser: this is the program which you are probably using right now to view this article. Examples of a browser include Internet Explorer, Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox. In short, their main task/function is to facilitate you in surfing the internet.

Other types of application software are as follows:

Word Processing – this type of software allows you to type up documents and letters. Examples include Microsoft Office Word and Open Office. Antivirus Software – this type of software helps protect your computer system against malicious threats such as viruses and malware. Examples include Norton Antivirus, Kaspersky Antivirus and AVG Anti-virus. Photo Editing – this type of software can be used to edit and manipulate photos and other digital images in various ways. Examples include Paint.net, Corel PaintShop Pro and Adobe Photoshop.

Systems Software

This type of software is quite accurately described as being at the very core of any computer system. Without systems software, a computer could not really function. In short, it manages every aspect of a computer system – from how the hardware interacts with the software (‘drivers’) to giving the user an interface and platform to interact with the system (‘operating system’). The operating system – or ‘OS’ – is the software that loads up after your computer is switched on. It’s where all application software is installed on. Examples of an OS include Microsoft Windows (XP, Vista, 7 etc), Linux (Ubuntu, CentOS) and Apple Mac OS X.

Other types of systems software include device drives (these make the hardware components function correctly with the software and computer system) and utilities (these are also called ‘utility tools’ and they help monitor, maintain, check and analyze different parts of a computer; such as ‘Task Manager’ and ‘Disk Defragment on Windows OSes).

Computer games have become a popular childhood spare-time activity. But research indicates that kids’ computer games adversely affect children’s physical and mental health. The games featuring excessive violence are actually doing more harm to the kids. Even children have developed a definite liking for those games. A recent study published on the web has revealed that 32% prefer to play violent computer games. Not only that, but 29% of the kids like sports games with violent themes. Only 2% want to play games with educational content. The statistics are quite alarming.

The supporters of video games may reason that computer games are phenomenal in enhancing hand-eye coordination. But the staggering statistics suggest otherwise. They show that kids are fast becoming violent thanks to those brutal kids’ computer games. Computer games have become an integral part of childhood. Most kids now play computer games on a daily basis. Kids’ computer games have been instrumental in injecting violent behavior into children. They tend to react aggressively if something annoys them. The connection between playing kids’ computer games and aggressive behavior has become so obvious that parents have started thinking about how to keep their kids away from those harmful computer games.

The theme of kids’ computer games is the same – an anonymous person brutally fights an anonymous enemy. This type of kids’ computer game infuses violent behavior into kids. Playing computer games has become the biggest addiction among kids. They even save money to buy the latest game titles. The kids’ computer game developers are trying to hard to cash in on their increasing popularity. They post advertisements on the Internet and show ads on TV to catch their attention. However, kids still prefer the Internet to find out more on their favorite computer games.