As part of my job at Puget Systems, I speak with many of our customers at various stages of ownership that range from about a week to a couple of years. These customers often share feedback that we use to improve our products and services.
Occasionally customers share what they wish they had done differently when they were configuring their computers. I share this information with our sales team, and figured it might be helpful to those of you considering a new computer today.
So in the vein of "If I could do it all over again…" here are a number of items our customers would change if they could turn back time:
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"I wish I had a larger SSD" – Far and away, this is the choice customers wish they had made. That 120GB or 256GB SSD might sound like a lot space today, but even Windows, Office and a game or two can take up a good portion of those smaller drives. There's also a mental tax a small drive inacts on the user when you're constantly asking yourself, "Do I have enough room?"
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"I wish I had more RAM" – RAM is easy to upgrade, and many customers are comfortable installing it themselves. But RAM can be finicky when not installed properly or matched up with what's currently installed on your board. Not everyone needs 64GB or 32GB of RAM. But given its low cost, it might be worth going with a bit more than you need today to reduce future hassles.
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"I wish I had a better video card" – This is a tough one because both NVIDIA and AMD update their line of video cards each year. Gamers understand that a better video card will result in a better gaming experience. But I often hear from business professionals, day traders and those in video production wish they had selected a better performing card with more ports to support multiple monitors.
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"I wish I had organized my files" – Moving all your files from your old PC to your new PC can be a daunting task. I often hear from customers who spend weeks organizing their pictures, music and video, and wish they had done a better job using the Windows Libraries to keep their files organized and off the dekstop.
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"I wish I had implemented a backup procedure" – Unfortunately I speak with people who purchased a new computer because their old one died unexpectedly. All hard drives will eventually die, and many people learn this the hard way without having a backup solution in place. At the very least, purchase an external drive and backup your most important files to it. Having an online backup process in place such as Crashplan is even better.
- "I wish I had found Puget Systems first" – A number of our customers find us after having a poor experience with bargain builders who promise more than they can deliver. A customer recently compared Puget Systems with a less expensive option. He told me, "The cost difference is inconsequential when they aren't around when I need them." We aim to provide quality computers that will last for many years, and we price them to ensure we'll be around when you need us.
Is there anything you wish you had known when you were building or configuring your current computer?