Choosing a Computer; Laptop, Notebook or Desktop

Choosing a computer can be a difficult task if technology is not your thing. Yes, you could ask a salesman, but you could end up spending much more money than you need. Remember, the salesman has a commission to make.

Now I do not want to promote a business here, but this site is all about doing what is best for insurance adjusters, and sometimes than means mentioning a business by name. As most of you know, most places that sell computers will permit you to return it within 30 days if it is defective. They will also let you return it if it is not defective, but you will have to pay a 15% restocking fee. The only company I have found that has a much better return policy is Sam's Club. The Sam's Club return policy on electronics, at the time of this writing, is you may return any electronic device you purchase for a period of six months for whatever reason you may have. You might decide that you don't like the color. As long as you made that decision within six months of the purchase date, that is okay. Return it. I have purchased my last three computers and TV from Sam's for this very reason. No, we re not getting any compensation for this advertising. We only advertise things you get for free on this site, and the return policy is free.

Now that we know where we are going to buy a computer, let's talk about what to buy. Before we can talk much about what to buy, we should have a discussion about the most important components of a computer. These are the things to primarily consider.

Memory

Memory comes in many different flavors. Some are faster than others. For our practical purposes, we do not need to get into the different types of memory like DRAM (Dual Random Access Memory), SDRAM (Static Dual Random Access Memory) or whether or not it has ECC (Error Correction Code). With the type of work you will be doing, how much is the most important aspect about memory to concern yourself with.

At the time of this writing, most computers are selling with 1 Gigabyte of memory and some are starting to come out with 2 gigabytes of memory. It is not necessary to get the most that is available at the time, but get as much as you can. It is more important to get the mot processing speed and storage space you can as the memory can usually be easily expanded later. ( I just added 2 gigabytes, or GB to my desktop computer that had 1 GB for around $280.) There is some that costs less and some that costs more, but it is important to match what you already have. Don't let some salesperson convince you to buy memrory that is "faster" than what you have, because your computer can only process it as fast as the front side buss will permit.

Memory is where the code written to your computer hard drive is held while you are using a program. There is also what is called "virtual memory". Virtual memory is your computer's way of making more memory available when you need more than you have. If for example you open several programs, all of them get loaded into memory. While you are typing, more space is being taken in memory. Of course you would have to type for a very long time before you use all of your memory. It is mostly the programs that you are using, graphics or video and operations that manipulate them that use most of your memory. Eventually, you will have your adjusting software, email client, digtial camera program and whatever else open at the same time, because it is faster to leave them open than to open and close them as you need them.

Virtual memory, however, is just space on your hard drive, so for your computer to use it, it has to write data not required for immediate use to the hard drive and read and load it back into main memory from the hard drive again when it is needed. This writing to and from the hard drive is a much slower process than reading and writing to memory. That is why is it important to have enough memory. When adjusting claims in a catastrophe, time is of the essence and truely is money. Make sure you have enough memory.

Processor Speed

The processor is basically the brain of the computer. It processes all of the acrtivities that take place on the computer when you are usin it. The speed is basically the number of calculations it can perform per second. This can be misleading, however, since AMD, for example will list a processor as a 4400+ but it does not process at that spped. The reason they do this is so that people can compare them to the Intel Pentuim™. Intel might have a processor rated for 4400 HZ per second, but it performs no better than the AMD processor at a slower speed. The Intel also runs hotter than an equivilant AMD processor.

You will also have to choose between 32 bit and 64 bit processor. The 64 bit processor do twice the work as the 32 bit and have been around for a couple fo years now, so finding programs that are "ported" for use on a 64 bit system should be a problem. You can also run 32 bit programs on a 64 bit platform, they just run at 32 bits. My recommendation is to go with 64 bit.

It is now fairly common place to find what is referred to as "dual core" systems.This just means that the system has two processors instead of one. The system I am using right now has a dual core AMD 64 motherboard. (The motherboard is the main borad that everything else plugs into.) It is a 4400+. This mean it actually has two 2200+ processors. It split the load on one processor to two which is less work than there would be on a single processor system.

Get the fastest processor you can for the money, but you don't have to buy leading edge. Besides, leading edge usually means all of the bugs haven't been worked out. (You don't want to get stuck with a bunch of video disk.) You can plan on spending $800 to $1,000 for a decent computer and should have to spend more than about $1,300 on a good one. More than that is more than you need unless you like to play resource intensive games in your off time.

The only thing you should absolutely avoid are single function processors. Make sure you get a multi-function processor like the Pentium or AMD Athlon. As the name implies, the single function processor can only perform one task at a time, so if you are doing more than one thing at a time, the two or three things have to take turns at the processor. This results in a much slower computer. There is a reason that computers with an Intel Celeron are so much cheaper than the Pentium.

Storage Space

The hard drive is where all of your programs and data is stored. They are measured in bytes. Storage space on a notebook computer cost more than on a desktop or tower computer, but you also have to consider portablity. The bigger the storage space the better. You will be importing many photos and will need the space to store them. You don't need to worry about running out of space dyring a catastrophe. One the other hand, you can burn a storm or season to a dvd at the end of the season, so you don't have to have enough room to store your claims for more than one season.I do recommend having at least 80 GBs.

You might want to also consider the speed of the hard drive. This is the speed measured in revolutions per minute or RPMs. Notebook computer tend to lag behind the curve compare to desktops, because it costs more to downsize eveything to fit. You should have at least a hard drive that runs 5400 rpm. If you can get 7200, that is better. The faster the speed of the hard drive, the faster the computer can read from and write to it.

Notebook (Laptop) or Desktop/Tower?

When deciding between a notebook (they aren't typically referred to as laptops in the industry anymore, because the processor run to hot to sit on your lap now.) space and portablility is probably your primary concern. Most adjusters use notebook computer, because they have to be portable. If you will be using a sizable travel trailer or RV, then you could consider a desktop or tower computer. You will typically get more computer for you money when buying a desktop or tower, but you may land a job working for a vendor or carrier who wants you to bring your computer with you to a class or seminar. A notebook is probably the best bet.

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by Michael R. Hamilton