Samantha asked me to make a recommendation for a used laptop for her daughter so she can use iTunes and other basic functions.  Well Samantha, you’re asking a fairly common question which has several answers.  I’ll provide some basic guidelines to get you started.

I would suggest purchasing a laptop running no less than Windows XP.  As far as processor, I would also recommend purchasing a computer with no less than 1.6 GHZ of processor speed and 512MB of memory.  This combination will last her a few years and will handle the latest version of iTunes (used for her iPod).  Many machines will handle Windows XP fine; however, the boost in performance will allow your daughter to use the machine for a couple years until she leaves for college.

If you’ve been shopping already, then you’ve probably seen a huge disparity among used machines.  Aside from local merchants, eBay and Craigslist are reasonable places to look.  I did a search for a specific model which meets the requirements I outlined and found prices ranging from $100.00 to $400.00.  Be careful because many vendors will not list the condition accurately.

I am assuming your daughter will be attending post-secondary school or college in a couple years.  Most colleges will dictate the computer she will need.  Nine out of ten times the requirements are very specific and will most definitely be more than is currently available.  My opinion is to spend a few hundred dollars on a decent used machine with the specifications I’ve outlined and use it for  a couple years.

Chris asked me the differences between memory and storage space.  Well Chris, you’ve asked a question which we receive all the time at the shop.  Memory refers to the amount of random access memory (RAM) which the computer has installed.  Storage space refers to the hard drive capacity inside the computer.

The hard drive is permanent storage used to hold your operating system (Windows), files and other settings the computer needs to operate.  When the computer is powered on, Windows loads from the hard drive into RAM through the processor (or CPU).  All user files; such as documents and pictures are read from the hard drive.  When a document or setting is saved, it is then written back to the hard drive for permanent storage.

RAM is temporary storage – when the machine is on and running.  As Windows is being used, files are being created and other functions of the PC are executed, RAM is loaded and unloaded.  When the machine is off, RAM is unloaded and retains zero data.

If either the RAM or hard drive is missing or malfunctioning the machine will not work correctly.  Both are common failure modes for computers and both need to be inspected regularly.  Both failing RAM and hard drives will cause the computer to operate incorrectly; moreover, both present similarly during diagnostic tests and are sometimes hard to diagnose.

Tech-Tip of the week:  If you are going to have electronics repaired you should ask for details about the repair prior to signing any contracts.  This week we have seen three computers come into our shop which were all mistakes from other stores.  Unfortunately for the owners of the machines, the ‘fix of the fix’ required purchasing major new components which were damaged during the other stores’ repairs.  Although there may be recourse, the chances of collecting are limited.

(Jeromy Patriquin is the President of Laptop & Computer Repair, Inc. located at 509 Main St. in Gardner.  You can e-mail him at Jeromy@LocalComputerWiz.com or call him directly at (978) 919-8059.)