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Pathfinder: Purchasing a Home Computer

General Information

This guide provides a number of resources that may be helpful when making decisions regarding the purchase of a home computer. There are both print-based and Internet-based resources that provide such information as buying guides, product reviews, price trackers, discussion groups and other general information about home computers. Consumers should be aware that some of these resources may have biases, often related to their financial sponsors. There is also no guarantee that the information contained within these resources is always accurate or up-to-date. Therefore, it is important to review and compare a number of information resources before making any important decisions regarding the purchase of a home computer.

Consumers should also be aware that for most home computer buyers there are only two computing platforms from which to choose: Microsoft Windows-based systems or Apple Macintosh systems. This dichotomy is reflected in many of the relevant information resources - some are more Windows-oriented and some are more Macintosh-oriented. This guide has attempted to exclude most resources with obvious platform biases, though some such resources have been included due to their information value and their biases are noted within this guide.

Internet Resources

IPL

The Internet Public Library (http://www.ipl.org/) has a number of areas where one may find information sources relevant to purchasing a home computer.

Yahoo!

Yahoo! (http://www.yahoo.com/) is a directory of sites on the Internet. You can perform a search of Yahoo! in order to find relevant Web sites. The following areas of Yahoo! may also be helpful:

Other Internet Resources

Buying Guides

Buying guides assist consumers in understanding their choices and how their needs fit those choices. Many also have additional information, such as product reviews and links to computer manufacturers.

Price Trackers

Price tracking sites attempt to list the best, current prices for computer products. However, many of these sites are not comprehensive, and the consumer is advised to shop around carefully in order to find the best prices available.

Usenet

Usenet is a collection of online discussion groups on a huge variety of subjects. The discussion groups allow users to post messages to the groups and to read previous posts. There are many computer-related Usenet groups.

Miscellaneous Internet Resources

Print Resources

One of the drawbacks of using print resources for information about purchasing home computers is that the pace of change in the computing world is so great that print resources can quickly become out-of-date and obsolete. One way to minimize this problem is to use online book sellers in order to keep track of the latest print publications. Other potentially useful resources are periodicals. Both books and periodicals can be found at local public libraries. You can find books and periodicals based on their Dewey Decimal or Library of Congress call numbers. You will find the periodicals mentioned below within the Dewey Decimal system under the call number 381.33 ("consumer information") or under the call number 004.165 ("specific digital microcomputers"). The Library of Congress call numbers for these periodicals are listed below. The staff at your local library can always help you find what you are looking for.

Books

Periodicals

This pathfinder was created by Yitzhak Gitelman

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the Internet Public Library - = - http://www.ipl.org/ - = - ipl@ipl.org
Last updated Oct 31, 2000