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Computer Hardware And Peripherals video

VideoJug: Computer Hardware And Peripherals

What is a "peripheral"?
A peripheral is any device that you hook up to your computer. Examples of peripherals are: a printer, a USB hub, or a keyboard and a mouse.
What peripherals and software do I need to buy with my new computer system?
Typically, when you buy a new machine, the peripherals that you need to buy with the computer are a printer, a surge protector, CD's, DVDs, ink cartridges for your printer and USB hubs to expand the amount of ports you have on your computer.
What components should get the bulk of my computer investment?
You shouldn't skimp on your monitor; you shouldn't skimp on your printer. Those are the two items you are going to be sitting in front of looking at the screen. You want to make sure you get a really nice one. And when you print out your pictures or your documents you want to get sharp crisp results. And you don't want to skimp on the printer either.
Why is it a good idea to buy an extra hard drive?
Extra hard drives have a couple of benefits. One is that you have a lot more storage space for the multimedia rich applications nowadays; videos, music, and mp3's, which all take up a lot of hard drive space. If you have two hard drives you can offload all your multimedia data on to that hard drive or you can use that other hard drive as a back up medium.
Do I need to purchase additional software with a CD/DVD burner?
Generally speaking, you do not need to purchase additional software with a CD/DVD burner. Most current operating systems will be able to load the drivers for the optical drive that you buy. Some of the more advanced CD/DVD burners have some custom applications that do require specialized software and you can either buy that software on after market programs or the software will be included with the optical drive when you buy it.
When considering a hard drive, how important is speed?
The speed of the hard drive really only comes into play if you're using applications that demand high-intensive disk access. For video editing, for gaming and for databases that need to be accessed really quickly, you'd want to get a 720 RPM hard drive. Other than that, for general office applications, internet browsing and email, a 540 RPM drive is just fine.
Which peripherals have the most mark-up?
Peripherals that carry the most mark-up are definitely cables. In all varities, not just USB cables or Firewire cables. Even surge-protectors and UPS back-up systems carry pretty hefty mark-ups.