by Ray Hunt, Reeded Edge Online Webmaster

    A friend of mine, who was a frequent eBay bidder, once told me how frustrating it was at times to operate in a competitive purchasing environment. He constantly complained about "snipers" and how many times an auction would grind down to the last remaining seconds with his high bid, only to be casually swept aside by another, more experienced eBayers last second entry. The list of infuriations continued, and I asked him, "Can't you just buy these things?" He replied, "I guess, but I love the thrill of winning an auction!"

   Whether you love the thrill of the auction, or the convenience of online purchasing, there are steps you can take to make you experience more comfortable, convenient, and enjoyable. The first thing we need to do is examine the components of the purchase and determine how we can improve or optimize each element.

    Your Computer. First and foremost, your computer is the most important piece of machinery in executing the transaction. This doesn't mean you have to own the most up-to-date high tech marvel available on the market, but it DOES mean that you should be aware of the age of your machine and how it can affect the quality of the purchasing process. Is your monitor and video card old or out-of-date? Is your processor slow by today's standards? Is your modem slow at transmitting and receiving data? The hardware that makes your computer the machine that it is could be your best friend or your worst enemy.

   The video card is one of the most crucial components, especially in reference to online auctioning. You could be mistakenly squandering a fortune because your video card cannot display enough colors to tell the difference between a maroon Lagonda Coupe or one that is fire engine red and still another that is purple! Almost 90% of Internet surfers use at least 16 bit color with a growing number utilizing 32 bit color. The difference between the two is in the number of colors your computer can "see" or interpret on a graphical display like a photo. For example, if you have 32 bit color, this section of text will appear to be slightly darker than this section here. The difference is slight, but that could also be the difference between say, a $5000 coin and a $1500 one.

   You can check your color depth by clicking start => settings => control panel => display then click on the "settings" tab. There you find a section called "colors" as well as "screen area". If it's possible, adjust the colors setting to 16 bit (or even better yet, 32 bit!) while maintaining at least an 800 by 600 screen area (1024 by 768 for 17 inch monitors or larger). If this isn't possible, consider upgrading to a better video card. A really good one can be had for under $100, possibly even less through eBay!

    Another important piece of the pie is your modem. Are you still using a 28.8K modem or a 33.6K because your waiting for high speed Internet access to reach your area? While it's true that 56K and 33.6K modems transmit at the same speed, the 56K modem receives much faster. If you're watching the seconds tick away in the last minute of an auction, a 56K modem will serve you better by retrieving a bid update much faster, giving you an opportunity to react.

    Finally, I'd like to address what most of equate to computer speed (almost erroneously), your processor. While there are many factors that contribute to your computer's perceived speed (which I won't explain here), the processor seems to be the common ground we can all relate to. In my humble opinion, if your computer has a Pentium II or III, or one of the AMD K-6 or K-7s, you're in fine shape. You don't have to have a 1 GHz monster residing in your tower to deliver the goods, but you could be hurting yourself if you're still using a 75 or 66 MHz dinosaur.

    The key here is to have a fairly modern processor with a commensurate amount of RAM to match your purposes. It's entirely possible that a slower processor could outperform a faster one that does not have enough RAM to support all the programs that are running. It all depends on how you operate your computer. If you like to run your e-mail program constantly while using a browser with an anti-virus program plus some relaxing music, you'll need a fast processor and a large amount of RAM to make them all function optimally. If you prefer to run "lean and mean" with just the browser program and nothing else, your resource requirements will be less.

    Of course there are other components to your computer, but I feel these items are key to online auctioning and shopping. Optimizing these components is just the beginning, and next month, we'll take a look at software and it's equally vital role. :-)