Before you buy a computer, you should know (or guesstimate) the most demanding tasks and applications for which you’ll use this hardware in the next year. Any software you own or intend to buy will have information about it’s minimum and recommended “system requirements”. Generally, especially if you’ll use this software with any frequency, or at all intensively, you want a computer which at least meets the recommended system requirements of your most demanding software.
On the other hand — unless you have money to burn*, or anticipate great difficulty getting future spending approval at work — don’t buy a computer much more powerful than you need today. You may be tempted to buy a top-of-the-line model, because of something you think maybe you might do with it in a year or two. But this is usually a waste of money. Put the extra money in the bank. If you really need a better computer next year, the same money will buy you much more computer when the time comes. You pay a premium for today’s top-of-the-line computer; in about 18 months, the same power will come standard in the mid-priced model. Plus any glitches in the latest whiz-bang technology should have been ironed out by then.
(* And if you’ve got that kind of money sizzling holes through your pockets, perhaps you should hire me as a consultant, and I’ll make sure you spend as much money as you want with maximum style and results! Come on, it’ll be fun!)
