Don’t get caught up in the Sales Talk – Part 1

Most people get sold on numbers and sales people know this. Often they will push a product in a certain way to make it seem better; and because of the jargon they use, the average person will just assume that a larger number means “better”. In the tech world that’s not always the case. 

Classic examples are buying a computer with a larger hard drive and upgrading the RAM. Is this really necessary in every case?  

Hard Drive (HDD) 

An average computer getting sold today will have 500GB of storage space. That’s roughly enough for 238,000 photos, or 119,000 songs, or 950 film-length movies.  

When they offer you a 1TB drive, that’s double the capacity again. While many people will and do fill this up, the majority of people won’t. Look at how much space you use on your current computer, and even double it; you may still not even use 500GB.   

If it is speed you are after with your computer then you should potentially look at having a Solid State hard drive (SSD). The average storage size is 120GB, but they are super-fast. Size isn’t everything if you don’t use or need it, speed however is what stops the frustration when using your computer. 

RAM 

Most computers have minimum of 4GB ram with the option to upgrade.  Having 16GB of RAM may not make your computer faster than having 4GB; it depends how much you load into it. Typically, the average user will need 4GB, a gamer will need 8GB, and extreme users more. 

It’s like a fuel tank on a car: having a 100L petrol tank won’t get you anywhere further if you only ever put 10L into it. In the same way, if you’re not an extreme PC user, you may not get any reward from having more RAM.  

So don’t get caught up in the numbers, make a list of what you currently have and what you really need in your computer.  Then go and talk to your local computer store who can make sure you won’t be overbuying for your needs. 

Remember bigger isn’t better.