Anderson 1

Jacob Anderson

Dr. Cassel

Eng 1201

18 October 2018

Annotated Bibliography

Computers are used everywhere with the technology behind

them improving constantly. As a result, computers will become

outdated and need to be replaced or updated while many people

have no clue what to look for. So an important question that

many people ask is, “what should I look for when buying a

computer?” which is why I am researching what buyers should look

for.

Abdurahman Baizal, Z. K., et al. “Factors Influencing User’s

Adoption of Conversational Recommender System Based on

Product Functional Requirements.” Telkomnika, vol. 14, no.

4, Dec. 2016, pp. 1575–1585. EBSCOhost,

doi:10.12928/TELKOMNIKA.v14i4.4234.

In this article by researchers from the School of Electrical

Engineering and Informatics in Indonesia, the researchers take a

look at methods of suggesting products to users. The experiment

is performed by asking users about what they are looking for

ranging from questions about brands to what they plan to use the

product for. After the information is inputted the computer

will recommend a product that matches what information was given

 Anderson 2

where the user can say if the recommendation meets what they

were looking for. If they answer no then the computer will ask

more questions to find a better match. Overall the results

showed that people with knowledge about computer components care

more about functionality while people who do not care more about

ease of use and brand recognition.

The article is reliable since it is a scientific study done by

researchers. Similarly, the article is accurate since it

involves studying many different types of buyers allowing for a

large range of data. This article is useful for my paper since

it gives a decent idea of what people are looking for when

buying a computer.

Kevin Brasler, and Washington Consumers’ Checkbook. “The Basics

of Buying a New Computer.” Washington Post, The, 2014 Aug.

1AD. EBSCOhost,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.

com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nfh&AN=wapo.2b119450-6f17-

11e3-aecc-85cb037b7236&site=ehost-live.

In this article Brasler starts by saying how as a society we

need to constantly keep updating our computers to keep up with

demands for work and school. The first step Brasler recommends

consists of looking at reviews for computers to find out what

others recommend and see their personal experience with

computers you are looking at. Another method to see what works
 Anderson 3

for you is to ask a salesperson what they would recommend or see

if a store allows a trial period so you can test out the

computer. The first major factor Brasler recommends looking at

is the operating system to make sure that you can use all the

programs you need for work and school. Next would be

portability to make sure you can carry the computer around and

have enough battery life for what you need. The CPU is a key

feature to look at with newer processors tending to be much

faster than older ones due to increased efficiency. For RAM

Brasler states that you should always buy more RAM then required

since too little RAM will cause the computer to freeze and RAM

is normally cheap to buy. Next is the GPU which is used for

processing videos and graphics; here the author recommends

buying as new a graphics card as you can since it will affect

the performance the most. In terms of hard drives most

computers come with what users will need so you do not need to

worry about them that much. Lastly, Brasler recommends treating

buying monitors like buying TVs since they are similarly priced.

This article is trustworthy since it was posted in a widly

trusted newspaper. I can use this article when talking about

what you should look for in GPUs and stability.

Mah Ung, Gprdon. “Should You Buy a Core I9 Laptop?” PCWorld,

vol. 36, no. 5, May 2018, p. 87. EBSCOhost,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.
 Anderson 4

com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=f5h&AN=129281379&site=eds-

live.

In this article Gordon Mah Ung talks about the advantages of

buying Intel’s new Core i9 processor as compared to buying an

older processor. The article starts out by explaining the key

differences between the i9 and Intel’s 7th and 8th generation

processors exemplifying the major increase in speed for

multithreading. His next talking point is how the processor

supports newer technologies that increases speed such as Optane

Memory. Next up Gordon discusses how the i9 supports

overclocking which would appeal to tech savvy individuals who

want to increase their speed even farther. Gordon then goes

into giving reasons why not to buy an i9 processor such as cost

and how there will not be much of an improvement if you already

own a high-end laptop that is still relatively new. He then

ends the article by mentioning how AMD also has a high-end

processor but it may take a while to come out and recommending

people to really think about their needs and budget before

buying an i9 processor while encouraging readers to buy an

eighth-generation processor at least. This article is reliable

since it is from a computer enthusiast and printed in a trusted

article. I can use this in my paper for what type of processor

is recommended.

Piltch, Avram. “Intel 8th Gen vs 7th Gen CPUs: Kaby Lake Refresh
 Anderson 5

Is a Lot Faster.” Laptopmag, Laptop Mag, 3 Nov. 2017,

www.laptopmag.com/articles/kaby-lake-refresh-8th-gen-vs-

7th-gen.

Avram starts out by saying how it feels like there is a multi-

year leap in performance with the new eight generation

processors. He then goes on to show how in every test he

performed the eight generation CPUs outperformed their

seventh-generation counterparts. He then concludes by

saying that the reader should buy an eigth generation

processor if they have the chance but does not recommend

the i7 model over the i5. This article is reputable since

the author has been working with computers for reviews for

over 10 years and has tested his information hands on. I

can use this article when talking about the different

models of CPUs to identify the advantages of an eight

generation CPU.

“The Top 10 Things to Consider When Buying a New Laptop.” PC

World, 15 Oct. 2018,

www.pcworld.idg.com.au/article/556585/top-10-things-

consider-when-buying-new-laptop/.

The writers for PC World start out their article Top 10 things

to consider when buying a laptop by talking about size as the

most important factor since it can’t be upgraded and will often

indicate what the computer is designed to do. Next up they

 Anderson 6

suggest looking at the screen since you will spend most of your

time looking at the screen while using a laptop. They recommend

at least a 1080p display which is common nowadays and say gamers

should look at higher refresh rates for games and artists should

look at 4k for making more detailed digital art. The keyboard

is their next recommendation where they more or less say to pick

whatever feels comfortable to you since you will spend large

amounts of time typing on it and they recommend you try it

before you buy it. For the processor they suggest i3 as an

entry model with i5 and i7 for regular users and i9 specifically

for gaming. Next is RAM where they recommend 8 GB as a minimum

due to rising needs and suggest a minimum 16 GB for gamers. In

terms of Hard Drives, the writers recommend SSDs due to their

increased speed and less heat and weight then traditional hard

drives but advise users that they cost a little more. When it

comes to battery life the authors advise looking at the capacity

listed on the battery since manufactures often overstate what

their laptops can actually do and recommend at least 44-watt

hours for a small laptop. Next, they recommend looking for

newer transfer ports on the computer such as usb 3.0 or

thunderbolt to allow for faster data transfer. Lastly, the

authors say to pay attention to how well the computer is built

so it does not break immediately. This article is reputable

since there are many authors to confirm with each other on what
 Anderson 7

is important. Also, every writer for this article is a computer

enthusiast that has a deep interest in computers instead of just

trying to sell one to a customer. I can use this article when

talking about the different parts of the computer as a general

idea of what to look for on top of what I already know.