Eugene's observations

I have recently received a mail out of the blue with a pointer to a hand held ?PC? and the one line question: ?Should I buy it?? This is an extreme case of a common situation where the potential buyer sees a tempting ad and then finds a reason to buy the object.

By not starting the process correctly ? i.e. asking ?what tasks do I want done? (trade description: requirements analysis), the chances of finding a suitable combination of components, price and after sales service are slim. In this case my correspondent wanted to run applications locally to write a letter or use instant messaging so the 2GB storage would have been inadequate and the 128MB volatile memory would make the device perform like a dog with no legs.

At £89.99 the ?portable mini? computer is certainly cheap, but would you really be comfortable squinting at a 7? screen or typing on an 8? keyboard for anything but occasional web based mail messages ?

The old adage ?you get what you pay for? really applies with computing, and as with all purchases of things you don?t fully understand, buying a little independent consultancy first will usually save big bucks over the lifetime of the product.