IT
Tutorial
Page 1 Contents
~ What is a computer? ~ Hardware ~ Inside
the computer ~ Specifications
What is
a computer?
A machine. You enter information - INPUT
You get information out - OUTPUT. The computer
carries out a very simple task, very very quickly,
over and over again. It does exactly what you
tell it. Not what you think you tell it! Whatever
their size or function all computers have Hardware
& Software.
Hardware
Screen/Monitor:
- Displays the program
you are using – the bigger the screen
the better – 17" minimum (15"
flat screen)
CPU (Central
Processing Unit):
- Where the work is done,
contains ROM, RAM and the hard drive. This
is where the computer chip lives that is
the heart of the computer.
Keyboard:
- For entering data and
text.
Mouse:
- Allows you to navigate
around the screen
Floppy Disc:
- A method for storing
data – contains just over 1MB of data
CD/ DVD
Drive:
- CDs contain over 600
MB of data. You can now buy rewritable/
recordable CDs. DVDs contain over 4GB of
data, rewritable / recordable versions are
available
Inside the
computer
RAM:
Windows
XP
- Requires at least
256MB. Most computers will allow the user
to add more RAM. The area where the computer
actually does the work. RAM is volatile,
loosing all its information and data when
the power is turned off.
HD:
- Hard Drive or Hard
Disk. Again the bigger the better. 80GB
basic these days. This is where all the
data the computer needs to operate is stored,
it needs to be moved into RAM to actually
be used. Hard drives are non-volatile.
CHIP:
- Intel Pentium
III or 4 & Celerion. AMD Athol or Duron.
Although the computer is full of chips,
the Chip refers to the CPU where the main
work gets done. Measure by speed, normally
gigahertz (GHz) 2GHz normal these days,
over 2GHz (gigahertz) are available.
Bytes/kilobytes
and gigabytes
A byte
is the computers equivalent of a letter in
a word eg "Disc" contains 4 bytes.
A kilobyte
is around 1000 bytes which is an A4 page of
text.
A megabyte
is around 1000 kilobytes.
A gigabyte
is around 1000 megabytes.
Specifications
Buying a
computer depends on many factors.
The first
question you have to ask is "Why do
I want a computer?" Be honest, if you
really want to play games then it will be no
use buying a budget computer, on the other hand
if you really want just to write letters then
it is a complete waste of money buying a games
machine, money that could be better invested
in software, peripherals or a holiday!
The second
question is "What do I want to achieve
with my computer?" and "is
there any particular software I want to run?"
The last question,
or maybe it should be the first, is "How
much do I want to spend?"
Once you
have the answers to these questions you can
approach the stores - Be especially careful
of the software bundle, make sure it is really
useful to you.
An excellent
computer can be purchased for under £1000
which will include a printer and a scanner.
Look at
the computer magazines: Personal Computer World
and PC Pro are two good examples. Any magazine
with the word "buyer" or "shopper"
is useful as they will show up-to-date specifications
for different types of computer.
| Here are some sample specifications
for 2003. |
| |
Basic Office |
Family PC |
Power gamer |
| Typical Price |
£400-£700 |
From £700 |
£1400-£1800 |
| Processor |
2GHz Pentium 4 |
2.2GHz Athlon |
2.2GHz Athlon 64 |
| RAM |
512 MB |
512 MB |
1GB or more |
| HD |
80GB |
128GB |
400GB |
| Other Drives |
CD writer |
CD or DVD + CD writer |
DVD + CD writer or DVD writer
|
| Operating system |
Windows XP Pro |
Windows XP |
Windows XP |
| Monitor |
17" |
17" or 15" flat screen |
17" or 19" or 15" flatscreen
|
| Sound |
Yes, basic |
Multimedia |
Surround multimedia |
| Peripherals |
Ethernet networking |
Modem
Software
Printer
Scanner. |
Graphics cards
Joystick
Pedals
Game bundles |
| The pragmatic solution
for |
Basic workhorse, |
Good general-purpose machine
|
Gamers |
| What its not |
Suitable for real beginner
|
State-of-the-art |
Cost-effective. State of the
art comes at a cost. |
| Instant upgrades |
Software
Modem
Scanner
Printer |
Specialist software, better
quality peripherals |
The next thing out, a never-ending
race!! |
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