Buying a Computer to use with a digital camera

If you’re about to buy a new computer, here’s what I’d recommend:

• Windows based computers should have the Windows XP operating system. It handles photos very well. Vista will be here soon and should be even better.

• CPU - avoid the Intel Celeron and choose a Pentium or AMD Athlon, they are better for manipulating images than the lesser versions.

• RAM – get lots. At the very least 512MB, more is better. When Microsoft VISTA replaces the XP operating system, you'll want to have at least 1GB of memory.

• Built-in card readers are a convenient way to get your photos into the computer.

• Hard Drive – photo files are big. Today an 80GB drive is standard, but you may want to upgrade to a 160GB or bigger drive.

• Get a CD or DVD drive that can write disks as well as read them - a "burner"

• Video or Graphics card. Most computers use integrated graphics, where the motherboard of the computer itself handles the display output. A separate graphics card provides better images and rewrites to the screen faster.

• Get a big monitor, our eyes aren't as young as they used to be.

Great Photo Prints from Digital

You can make good prints at home with a photo-quality ink jet printer by using special photo-quality paper, although those home prints usually fade faster than “real” photos.

It’s fun to print your own photos, but you’ll get consistently better photos at a lower price by bringing them to us.