ANCHOR LEAD
IN THE MARKET FOR A NEW HIGH-TECH TOY?
YOU MAY BE TEMPTED BY ALL THE COMMERCIALS AND ADS FOR LOW-COST COMPUTERS.
BUT WHAT ARE YOU GETTING FOR YOUR MONEY?
AND ARE THERE HIDDEN COSTS?
________________ TELLS US EVERYTHING WE NEED TO KNOW BEFORE HEADING OUT TO THE STORES.

TRACK ONE Length: 06
THESE DAYS, IT'S NO LONGER A LUXURY TO HAVE A COMPUTER GRACING YOUR DESK-FOR MOST, IT'S A NECESSITY.

SOT
KEY @:08 Andrew Tolentino, Computer buyer
"It came with the computer, speakers, key board... and mouse."

TRACK TWO Length: 07
ANDREW TOLENTINO RECENTLY BOUGHT A NEW COMPUTER.
FOR ALL HE GOT-YOU'D THINK HE SPENT A COUPLE OF GRAND, RIGHT?
THINK AGAIN-

SOT
KEY @: 19 ( QUICK) Robert Frick, Kiplinger's Personal Finance
"You can get a basic computer for 300 dollars."

TRACK THREE Length: 11
AND BY BASIC-WE'RE TALKING
A HARD DRIVE...
MONITOR...
KEYBOARD...PRINTER...
ROBERT FRICK, SENIOR EDITOR AT KIPLINGER'S, RECENTLY TESTED SEVERAL LOW-COST COMPUTERS SOLD AT ALL THE BIG-NAME STORES.

SOT
KEY @: 35 Robert Frick, Kiplinger's Personal Finance
"You can email...you can do word processing...you can have a spreadsheet, you can do all the basic functions."

TRACK FOUR Length: 02
BUT WHAT IF YOU NEED MORE FROM A COMPUTER?

SOT
NO KEY
"These things come with basic memory."

TRACK FIVE Length: 07
TRANSLATION:
YOU PROBABLY CAN'T BURN CD'S...
YOU CAN'T RUN MULTIPLE PROGRAMS.
AND THE HOTTEST NEW GAMES?
DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT IT.

SOT
KEY @:51 Robert Frick, Kiplinger's Personal Finance
"You're not going to be able to do any of the real graphic intensive games."

SOT
NO KEY
"It wasn't as powerful as I thought it would be."

TRACK SIX Length: 05
THAT'S WHY ANDREW WAS FORCED TO MAKE SOME UPGRADES--
LIKE ADDING MORE MEMORY AND GETTING A CD WRITER.

SOT
KEY @: 1:03 Andrew Tolentino, Computer Buyer
"Some of the newer programs were more demanding than, and the computer couldn't handle it."

TRACK SEVEN Length: 06
SO HIS FEW-HUNDRED DOLLAR COMPUTER SUDDENLY BECAME MORE EXPENSIVE!
THE EXPERTS SAY THAT'S OFTEN THE CASE.

SOT
NO KEY
"If you want a full fledged
computer...you're looking at 14 hundred dollars."

TRACK EIGHT Length: 05
SOMETHING ANDREW LEARNED THE TOUGH WAY. NEXT TIME HE SAYS PRICE WON'T BE HIS TOP PRIORITY.

SOT
NO KEY
"I'm gonna probably go for features more."

ANCHOR TAG
SOME ADVICE FROM THE EXPERTS...MAKE A LIST OF ALL THE THINGS YOU WANT AND THEN GO SHOPPING.
WE MENTIONED KIPLINGER'S TESTED SOME OF THE CHEAPER COMPUTERS.
THEIR FAVORITES?
THE 547-DOLLAR DELL DIMENSION
AND THE 500-DOLLAR E-MACHINES BY GATEWAY.

SOURCE LIST

Robert Frick
Kiplinger
1729 H Street NW
Washington, DC
202-887-6528

Robert Frick is the Senior Editor at Kiplinger's Personal Finance, a monthly magainze devoted to articles on smart spending.
His magazine recently testing a number of low-cost computers and published its findings.