There is never a good time to buy a new computer and a computer usually breaks at the most inconvenient time.

What is a good time then?

Usually a PC or a laptop is good for 3 to 4 years after which it becomes obvious that without significant hardware upgrades it may be difficult to operate. The life span of the hard drives (these days) is a couple of years if not shorter, so you are lucky if your PC has not required any hardware replacements during the past couple of years. So, after your computer has been worked for 3-4 years it’s time to look for a good replacment.

What to buy, a PC or a laptop? It all depends on a couple of following factors:
– your computer working environment
– your work office location (office/home)
– your work habits (desk/chair/sofa/bed)
– your projects (engineering & heavy computing/graphic design/internet browsing)
– your travel frequency

I prefer a laptop, a powerful, with 15-16″ display and light. I buy the top of the line so it helps me to stay on top of the performance for good 4 years without too much upgrading.

I can work with on my laptop at my office at my desk, in my house on my bed or sofa, on the airplane or in the cab when I ma traveling. I can connect an external monitor and make my desktop 2-3 time bigger. I can take my laptop to a customer to demo a new product or a presentation. That’s why I like to have a laptop.

When to Buy? On my opinion there is a couple dates when you can save a few bucks on shopping for a computer:
– End of August – go to school sales
– End of November – Thanksgiving sales
– End of December – Christmas sales

At that time all computer manufacturers, online stores and retail stores will be running various sales and it’s time to shop for a new computer.

A couple of suggestions on brands and prices.

First of all don’t buy the cheapest item. There must be something, it’s so cheap. However, there is always an exception. Shop for a good hardware specification such as CPU type, RAM memory, hard drive, video memory and  of course the brand of the laptop is very important