October 28, 2008
Military.com|by Ruthie Longley

It never fails – when my computer visits that hardware boneyard in the sky, my husband (the only person in our house not genetically technologically impaired) is somewhere dirty, ugly, and impossible to reach. This leaves me on my own and at the mercy of salesmen with a vested interest in getting me to buy whatever gives them the greatest commission for their paycheck. My ensuing meltdown is generally not pretty, but luckily you can learn from my misfortune. A friend of mine helped me come up with a checklist for computer emergencies – how to know what is needed and what to buy so that entering the computer store isn’t like walking into Mordor.

1) Make a list of what you want to do, then you will know what you need.

Has instant email access become your drug of choice or can you go a few days on vacation without forwarding those cute little chain emails? Do you like to play games with a bit more memory requirement than solitaire? Are you uploading every picture and video you’ve ever taken into an online album?

Each of these activities place different demands on your computer system. If you need computer access like an IV drip, you should probably be looking at laptops rather than desktop systems. Laptops generally do not have as much system “oomph” as desktops, but you’ll find it a heck of a lot easier to pack one along when you set off for Thanksgiving dinner at Grandma’s house.

If you’re just looking for basic web surfing and email along with the ability to type an angry letter to the editor, you might be able to get off very cheaply (under 400$). One example of this category would be the Asus Eee PC 2G Surf, bargain priced at 249$.

Another point about laptops – as a military family, sometimes the computer is the only way you hear from your spouse during deployments. You may want to consider the extra money spent to get a good quality laptop a necessity so that you can keep in touch with your spouse no matter where life happens to take you during their service. Thanks to my laptop and free programs like Google Talk and Skype, I was able to talk to my husband over the computer from New Jersey, California, Texas, Washington, D.C., and New York City while he was in Afghanistan.

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If you’re looking for a computer that the whole family can use for various activities, however, you will probably have to sacrifice portability for power and go the desktop route. A desktop generally has more power and better graphics capability. More people can use a desktop without causing significant slow-down. And you’re far less likely to drop it – so it may last a little longer - in my house full of kids, anyway.

And if you are still absolutely stumped as to what you need, companies like Dell and Apple have specialized help to build exactly what you need from the ground up. It may seem cheaper to go with the advertised special at an electronics store, but after adding all the necessary items you may actually end up spending a lot more. Dell and Apple also have customer support included on computer purchases – and as any military spouse familiar with Murphy’s effect on the military will tell you: if you don’t have it, you’ll need it. At the worst possible time.

Something else I highly recommend to military families – a machine that will allow you to use a decent quality webcam. Chatting online fills one void, but sometimes you just need to see your service-member, you know?

2) Programs? I need to add programs?

Well, yes, probably. You didn’t expect them to put the stuff you really need on the computer for free, did you?

Once again, if you’ve written down a list of what you need to do, you’ll know which programs you need to buy to accomplish those goals. Programs like Quicken or Money are good places to start if you are an obsessive budgeter (or if you really need to be) and they have the added advantage of working with many online bank sites. If you have children there are several programs, like the Reader Rabbit series from The Learning Company, that are educational and fun (and best of all – they keep the kids occupied for a half hour or so you can have some desperately needed peace). And, since pictures can be a lifeline for a military family, I really suggest that looking at photo software – the family may be counting on you to be their lifeline to a deployed loved one, it’s always good to have the ability to “fix” photo mistakes.

You should also plan on adding a virus protection program. There are many good ones out there, and some of them even offer free trials. If you want to know which one is best, well, that depends on who you ask. There are anti-virus groupies out there with even more emotional attachment to their program than a Deadhead has to a Jerry Garcia shrine. You can, however, start with three of the more well known names: Norton, McAfee, and AVG.

3) Don’t assume you can "do without" to save money

You need certain things for a reason, and that reason is that you use them regularly. It won’t save you any money to try and cut back in those areas. Sure, that 499$ advertised special at the mega retailer by your house looks great, but if it doesn’t have what you need it’s a very expensive paperweight. And it may cost more to add something than it would have cost to figure it into your original computer price.

I spent a year absolutely refusing on general principle to buy Microsoft Word for my computer because I felt like I was being subjected to technological blackmail, but sometimes there’s nothing you can do about that. Every document I was asked to email, or received in email, was in Word format. The money had to be spent. I should have just spent it right off instead of spending a year stomping my feet and railing at the heavens. It would have saved me quite a bit of stress and probably a few friends.

Another area you should not to try to scrimp in the computer buying process – memory. You will always need more memory than you think - plan ahead and you’ll save money in the long run because you won’t need to upgrade your machine as frequently.

Computer shopping is not for the weak-at-heart, that’s for sure. Luckily the research is easy to do and there are nearly unlimited options available. With a few hours of reading time and a good idea of what your requirements are, you should be able to get a great deal on your perfect machine.

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