The document discusses important factors to consider when purchasing a new computer: 1) Determine your purpose or intended uses for the computer as this will guide the necessary processing power, memory, and storage needed. 2) Consider the processing power or "grade" - budget/entry (Aveo), mid-range (Impala), or high-end (Corvette) - to ensure it can handle your intended tasks smoothly. 3) Ensure sufficient memory and disk storage is available based on your software needs and files. 4) Consider the operating system and included software, as well as expandability, to fully meet your purposes.

1. Purchasing Power What you need to know before you buy your next computer

2. The Three P’s Your Purpose will guide your Price. If you haven’t determined a Purpose, Price will then dictate it for you.

6. Aveo/Impala/Corvette Experience tells you that these three Chevy vehicles have different features for different purposes. We also know that the differences between a Corvette and a Model T are major. Yet when it comes to our computers, we still tend to see them as all the same – and as glorified hybrids of calculators and typewriters.

7. Parts is Parts, Right?

14. System Bus What's a bus? “ To get anything done with a computer you have to get the information you input to the CPU and then to any attached devices such as cards, displays, and other output devices. Inside the computer itself, this information travels in the form of signals over what is known as a bus. You can think of a bus as a road and the signals as cars. A wide road (bus) can support more cars (signals), and a smaller road (bus) supports less. The cars (signals) on the road (bus) have a speed limit (the bus speed). Going along with this analogy: A computer is like a small city. You do not have just one road, but instead you have several different roads with different names and speeds.” Lee Penrod, Directron.org