CIS 101A - Lab 1                Name ___________________________

Purchasing a Computer Worksheet

You have decided to buy a new computer. Using any materials available to the average consumer select the computer you will purchase using the worksheet below.

1) What do you want to do with the computer ? (Writing Documents, working with numbers, your bank account, play games, video messages, placing photographs in email or on the web, create and maintain a database, or anything else you can think of). list as many as you come up with.

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2) Using a catalog which contains software or by calling (or visiting) a local software store, list a piece of software for each of your needs in question 1 and the system requirements for each piece of software.

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3) Using a catalog which contains hardware or by calling (or visiting) a local computer store (or a store with a 1-800 number) pick out the computer you want and list it’s Attributes below:

Just about anything goes on this assignment. It is your chance to pick out a computer and have me look at it to see if you left anything out.

Realize that everyone you talk to on the phone at a computer and/or software store is not an expert (you may ask them a direct question, which they cannot answer). It is up to you to determine if their response is good enough for the computer you are going to give your money out to buy.

You may select used equipment for this assignment. This might make the assignment more difficult, since some of the parts may not have readily available information on them.

The easiest way to complete this assignment (but not the way I suggest that you do it) is to find a friend who has a computer you like and copy the attributes off of his/her sales receipt.

Remember, you get to be a "Joe/Joan J. Consumer" when you talk to someone on the phone. You are not required to know anything. (Some salesmen may take advantage of that.) Don’t tell them this is a school project. I assume that by taking this class you will at some point in the future want to buy a computer. The salesman does not need to know when you are going to buy, just say "as soon as I have the money" if they ask.

If you already own a computer that you like you can just list the information needed for this lab from your computer. However, remember this is your chance to have me look at a proposed purchase before you take the money out of you pocket. So if you are planning to buy something, use it in this lab assignment.