Tips to Find the Best Family-Friendly Desktop PC

What do gamers, cheerleaders, punks and Mom and Dad all have in common? They all live under the same roof and use the same computer. The gamer wants to level up his character on World of Warcraft.
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Written by Staff Writer • Posted on Nov 21, 2012

What do gamers, cheerleaders, punks and Mom and Dad all have in common? They all live under the same roof and use the same computer. The gamer wants to level up his character on World of Warcraft. The cheerleader wants to Facebook chat all her friends every day. The punk wants to download music. Mom and Dad feel like checking their email and ordering early gifts online. The key is getting a computer that can handle all of these things. If you don’t, there will be too many problems leading to too much conflict in your home. Avoid all that now by taking into careful consideration what every family member needs.

Identify needs

Pay attention to what your kids do on the computer. Find out what they’re doing and keep a careful list. If all they are doing is using the computer to chat on Facebook, do their homework and check their email, then you likely won’t need a computer with very specific features. Stop reading here, go to a nearby store and pick up a cheap stock computer. It will come with most of your basic needs—note: this could be missing Microsoft Office, so you might have to purchase that separately.

If your family tends to play a lot of games or downloads a lot of media, then you might want to look into a higher tech computer that will handle the performance requirements and protect your computer.

Identify specs

Take a look at your PC games’ minimum requirements to play, write those down, and then plan to buy a computer that is one step above those requirements. It’s best to stay ahead of the game if you want a computer that will meet your needs for several years. Should you buy a computer that only met the minimum standards and your son or daughter gets a new game with higher demands, you might find yourself buying another computer sooner than later. Be sure to check for RAM, Video Card and Processor specs to ensure you get the right computer.

If you don’t want to spend too much time doing research and just want a computer that can do a ton for any member of your family, then consider looking into the HP TouchSmart 600-1055 Desktop PC. This computer easily handles any task you send it and will stay usable for years to come.