🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <2246@tekig5.TEK.COM> (Wayne Knapp) writes:
>     Well I saw Colorburst on the shelf Saturday and bought a copy.  That
>afternoon I played around with it.  Now I feel that all the talk about
>Colorburst is mostly hype.  I'll try to be polite, but the kindness thing
>I can say about it is that it is a ripoff.  If the program had only cost $10
>to $15 dollars I would have been pleased, but at $35 to $40 dollars I feel
>that some people are trying to make a fast buck.

Wayne goes on to describe the deficiencies of ColorBurst which have been 
deleted for brevity. His primary complaint is that all of the colors
other than the original 512 flicker, this is due to the ST's inability 
to display more than 512 colors without relying on aliasing effects of 
the CRT. Look at the schematic, it has a 9 bit DAC, that's 512 colors 
period. 

I can really sympathize with Wayne's complaints but I have to wonder about
the underlying reasons one would buy something like ColorBurst in the first
place. Over the past 15 years I have talked to a lot of people who have 
decided to 'take the plunge' and buy a personal computer. Many of the 
saddest tales I heard came from college students who wanted one thing but
could only afford another. The second saddest tales come from people who
bought a computer, only to find out that either it couldn't do what they
wanted, or once they had used it for a while they knew what they really 
wanted in a computer and it wasn't what they had bought. I don't know if
Wayne is in this situation, however I do know that some fraction of the
people reading this list are in the "I'm going to take the plunge" stage
and maybe some warning/information will help them.

So herein are some free guidelines for the computer buyer :

 * Write down on a piece of paper what you want your computer to do. Rank
   these in a priority order. Try to think of at least 10 different things.

 * Go out and look at as many computers that you can find, if you know 
   someone who owns a computer of the type you are considering, take your
   list and ask them if they *have programs* that will do any of those
   things. Computers have this wonderful *potential* but try to see what
   actually exists.

 * When you have limited your choices, check out the hardware specifications
   for the computers you are looking at. Look at CPU speed, graphics 
   resolution, disk capacity, expansion capability (check existence here
   too, since anyone can say "Sure you can plug an 8 meg board in this here
   plug." but what you need to know is "Manufacturer Glitz makes an 8 meg 
   board available *now* to plug into this here port.") Something to 
   remember is that if the computer you are looking at is new or an
   off brand the only expanision you may ever get for it is what is 
   available today. Also look at sound capabilities and alternative I/O
   devices (can it support a Joystick? a digitizer? a mouse?)

* Compare these things to what you want to do with your computer and
  see if those things require any "extra" options. Then price computers
  with similar capabilities. For instance if your list requires 640 X
  400 color displays don't compare a $500 monochrome PC clone to an
  Amiga, compare a $500 clone + VGA montor/interface to the Amiga. 
  Compare systems with as similar capabilities as possible. 

* Ask yourself, "How important is it that I have this computer now?" If
  you wait there will always be another computer or model that does more
  for the same price in about 6 months. If you can wait 6 months then do
  so, you will be happier. If you decide to buy a computer now, make sure
  your reasons are good ones, because if they evaporate under close scrutiny
  then when the new model comes out you will feel bad that you didn't wait.

* If there other people in your life that have a computer, check to see 
  how compatible your two machines are. If you like to program and share
  projects it is easier to do so if the your machine is compatible.

* Most importantly, if some computer is 'close' but not quite what you
  want then DONT BUY IT. You are asking for trouble later on, simply because
  you will have invested so much money in it. This is the root of a lot of
  flames here on Usenet. Did you ever get into arguments in high school about
  which kind of car was better, like Ford, Chevy, Nissan, etc? I remember
  arguments like that well. The biggest problem was that if you owned a Ford
  and were arguing with a Chevy owner, neither of you could back down in good
  concience because that would mean admitting you had spent two summers worth
  of savings on an inferior car. When in fact, you had done no such thing. 
  You had bought a car that you liked, and thus is the *best* in your 
  *opinion*. Since there isn't a Car in a vault somewhere certified as the
  absolute best car in the world there is no basis for a valued comparison.
  Understand this, and agree to disagree, and your blood pressure will stay
  a lot lower. 

Some Don'ts when buying a computer :

* Don't buy a computer on impulse, it is almost always the wrong computer
  for you.

* Don't believe anything that a salesman tells you about 'other' computers.
  They probably know less about them than you do.

* Don't buy a computer because someone says it can do something if there 
  isn't a program available that does it. 

* Don't lie to yourself about how you will use this wonderful machine to
  make your life easier. If all you want to do is play games then be up
  front about it. It will save a lot of guilt feelings later.

* Try not to buy a computer on credit, save your money and buy it with
  cash. Otherwise you may find yourself paying on the old one when the
  new model comes out. More guilt feelings.

* Don't buy a computer to learn programming. If you ever want to program
  a computer you own, learn programming *first*. Then you will know when 
  the programming environment a computer offers is usable.

Anyway, this is a boiled down version of much of the advice I give people
when they ask "Which computer should I buy?" Hope it helps someone out 
there from being burned.


--Chuck McManis
uucp: {anywhere}!sun!cmcmanis   BIX: cmcmanis  ARPAnet: cmcmanis@sun.com
These opinions are my own and no one elses, but you knew that didn't you.