5 Things to Consider When Buying a PC for Home Office

While having a home office can mean several things, in 2022, one thing that it almost always involves is a powerful PC as its centerpiece. Now, while a laptop gives you more maneuverability, getting a great desktop will give you more options, as well as more customizability in terms of your build.

Naturally, there’s no such thing as “the best” computer. It all comes down to what you’re working on, as well as what you can expect in the future.

With that in mind and without further ado, here are the top five things you need to consider when buying a PC for your home office.

1. The Budget

There are two schools of thought when it comes to the PC building budget. When you look at the PC from a perspective of the value, you’re going to generate from it. It’s really hard to find a figure that’s too high. If you’re a desktop type, you’re likely to play games, watch movies/shows, and use social media on your PC. In this scenario, you get an incredible amount of value for the investment.

In the real world, the budget will still be an issue. This is why you need to know where the funds are coming from, how much you’re willing to spend, and what your priorities are. Naturally, when building, you need to align your priorities based on your profession. A designer needs a powerful GPU and a processor. Someone handling administrative tasks, however, would do well to find a device with as big of an SSD as they can.

Also, keep in mind that the best way to save money is to buy when there are some great computer combo deals available, not when you’re in desperate need of a device. Therefore, it’s generally a good strategy to prepare your PC budget in advance and be on the lookout for deals.

2. OS

The choice of OS is a major issue that a lot of people tend to overlook. Now, generally speaking, you just can’t go wrong with MS Windows. When all OS are considered, Android and Windows are holding almost 80% of the market, which means that it meets all the industry standards. Most importantly, all the apps and platforms that you intend to use will be supported, which might not be the case with the alternative OS choices.

The UI of MS Windows is robust, the navigation is simple, and the task view allows for simple switching of multiple workspaces, even for those who don’t have a multiple-display setup. MS Windows is probably your best choice in general.

Then again, Ubuntu is an open-source OS that’s completely free of charge. It’s great for home use and supports several apps. In other words, it’s not a bad choice for those seeking an alternative.

3. Memory, GPU, and Storage

If you’re working from home, going for decent storage is simply pivotal. Sure, the majority of your data is in the cloud, but the problem is that switching between tasks may greatly vary depending on whether you have an SSD or HDD. Now, in this day and age, a 1TB of SSD as a basis for your PC is not that expensive. Still, if you feel like this is too much, you can just buy 100GB to 500GB of base SSD memory (for your OS) and add an extra 1TB (or more) of HDD for storage. Also, you can always buy more external memory at a later date.

The GPU that you should get mostly depends on what you intend to do with the computer in question. Designing complex animation may require a more powerful GPU. Still, if you’re not doing anything of the sort (or gaming), GPU is really where you can cut some costs. For teaching, for instance, hardware requirements are not that great.

Now, as far as the memory goes, anything between 4GB and 8GB is fairly standard. Still, in 2022, the majority of configurations won’t go below 8GB of RAM. Now, if you’re multimedia editing, 3D modeling, or designing, you may need more. Fortunately, it’s both simple and inexpensive to upgrade your PC’s ram at a later date.

4. Warranty

Warranty is a bit complex issue, seeing as how it does help you solve the problem inexpensively but may also tie your hands behind your back. Let’s say you buy a pre-made configuration and see that, in transportation, a graphic card has slightly exited its slot in the motherboard. Your choices are to either return the device and wait for days (maybe weeks) to get it back or just open the casing and slightly push it in (thus solving the issue). The problem is that the latter method may make your warranty null and void.

In other words, it’s usually best to buy a custom configuration and (if you can) get a warranty on individual parts than on your PC as a whole. Sure, getting a warranty is great but being without a PC for far longer than you have to is never a good idea.

5. Eco-Friendliness

You should never underestimate how much power your PC is using. Going with an eco-friendly variant will help you do the right thing and also reduce the cost of your power bill as a whole. In other words, by just looking up a bit greener option, you stand to harvest a long-term gain and benefit from a great ROI.

With the increase in crypto mining, keeping an eco-friendly home office PC is more than appreciated.

Wrap Up

The main reason why PC (desktop) is superior to all the other platforms is due to just how customizable and upgradable it is. You can buy one set up, add more RAM, add more HDD, and replace a graphic card within a year. This way, and provided that you have a decent motherboard, you can perpetually upgrade the device to meet your needs. Also, the process of slotting in more RAM or just replacing a graphic card is so simple (not to mention that drivers mostly get upgraded automatically nowadays). In other words,