IT 100
Recommending a Computer for Purchase
The goal of this assignment is to:
 help demystify the process of recommending and purchasing a computer for different users through the use
of computer ads, web resources, and personal knowledge
 afford each class member time to practice features of the word processing.
This assignment is divided into four parts or components. Please work in groups of two to complete this
assignment.
1. Do some thinking about the computer needs and wants of these four groups - heavy duty gamers; beginning
college students on a tight budget; parents with three children (all ages at home); and a retiree. Create a table
with two columns and at least 12 rows in ‘Landscape’ view. Summarize the perceived needs and wants of each
group in separate bulleted lists in column one of the table.
Your table should begin to look like this:
User Groups
Heavy duty gamer
 Oversized monitor
 400 GB hard drive


College Student
 etc
2. Next, select from ads or web resources, four computers, one for each user group identified above. Each
computer must be from a different manufacturer. For example, two or more selected computers cannot be from
Dell. Copy the information or ad for each computer and paste it into a single word processing document. Save
this document.
3. Summarize the specs for each of the four computers identified above in another table. The table should have
at minimum five columns and at minimum 15 rows and be placed on a page using the ‘Landscape’ page view.
List the specifications identified below in column one, starting on row two. Place at the top of table columns
two, three, four, five the names of the computers identified in the ads you selected. Locate the related
information from each ad and place it in the appropriate area in the table. If the information cannot be found in
the ad, indicate NA. The specifications should include these factors but you may choose to add more:
 Desktop or laptop
 Size of hard drive
 Manufacturer
 Storage media supported (disk drive, CD, DVD etc)
 Warranty
 Operating system
 Processor
 Application software included
 Processor speed
 Size of screen and resolution, if known
 Clock speed
 Wireless or wired
 Amount of RAM
 Price
Your table should look something like this:
Toshiba 1500X
Dell XPS 5689
HP 4500
Compaq 3126
Desktop or laptop
Manufacturer
Warranty
etc
Center and bold column and row headings and demonstrate the use of borders and shading in the table.
4. Use a bulleted list to summarize the reasons why you selected a particular computer for each group. Place
this list in column two of the table created in number 1 above and directly across from the corresponding user
group. When finished, you should have four bulleted lists identifying each group’s possible needs and wants
and four related bulleted lists that justify you computer selection for each group. Hide all table borders as shown
below and save this document. The table should look something like this:
User Groups
Heavy duty gamer
 Oversized monitor
 100 GB hard drive


College Student
 etc
Computer Selection
Toshiba 1500X




HP 4500

5. Final submission of this document should include: four ads, a computer summary specification table, and a
table with bulleted lists. Additionally, please make sure that you have demonstrated your use of these word
processing features:
 Insert a graphic
 Table
 Word art
 Borders and shading
 Bold, center, indents, bullets
Your lab instructor will present ideas as to how to include these components and perhaps others in your
assignment.
Please use Times New Roman 10 pt font throughout your documents.