Brief Introduction to Personal Computers:

Whatever you may have heard to the contrary, insurance companies are in the business of dealing with your claim on a fair and even handed basis. Computer technology is constantly advancing and, sometimes, at such a speed that equipment which you bought only one week ago has subsequently been superseded by a newer model!  
 
 
 
 
How then can an insurance company deal with a claim for equipment that is sometimes two or three years old and is no longer available in the market place?  
 

By and large, insurers adopt the attitude that they will pay for the nearest current equipment model that is available. Inevitably, this will have a superior specification and may often incorporate additional functionality over and above the original. Therefore, you may sometimes be asked to make a contribution against the cost of the new machine which reflects this area of “betterment”. In order that your insurance company, and their appointed representatives, can deal with your claim as fairly as possible, there is certain fundamental information which will assist their enquiries –
 

How can they decide what I had in the first instance?

It is of vital importance that your insurance company are able to determine the specification of the original machine and any subsequent upgrades which you may have purchased. Therefore, you will almost certainly be asked to produce either the original purchase invoice since that will detail the specification. For such an expensive item as a computer, it would be very unusual if you are not able to produce this document.  
 

When you talk about specification, what do you mean?
 

In lay terms, we are referring to the make-up of the computer. More correctly, a specification, in computer terms, will include a description of the business process that is to be automated, the equipment that will be needed to do the job, the interfaces through which computers and people will communicate, and a step-by-step breakdown of the logic that the programme will follow. For the purposes of making an insurance claim as a householder, all you will need to worry about is the components that make up your computer.  
 

What are the sorts of things that you need to know about my computer?
 

In order to deal with your claim fairly, we will need to know the technical specification of your computer including details of the processor, the RAM, the size of hard drive, the graphics and sound cards, details of any ancillary drives, such as CD and DVD, the size and type of monitor, and details of any peripherals including printers, scanners, joysticks, web cams and the like.
 

What do you mean by processor?
 

Inside your computer there is a motherboard. This is the place where the central processing unit (CPU) and all other electrical PC components live. The CPU plugs into the motherboard as do the video card, sound card and every other type of card. The CPU or processor is the brains of your PC. The speed and type of processor will have a distinct effect on the value of your PC.
 

What do you mean by a graphics card and a sound card?
 

A graphics card allows the CPU to display images on your monitor. It converts data into something that the monitor can display. As the monitor cannot plug straight into a CPU, a converter is needed. That is the function of the video or graphics card. There are two basic functions that a graphics card performs – 2D and 3D. For example, 2D functions are for displaying images in a word processing programme. 3D functions are used in games to provide realism. Again there are many variations of graphics cards available and these too can have a marked effect on price. Sound cards, simply put, convert digital data into analogue data that our ears can hear. Modern sound cards are also 3D. This means that they are designed to re-create sounds coming from all directions, as in real life. They can often drive a number of separate speakers to help with this effect. Do not confuse a sound card with the built-in speaker which is contained in many PC’s, these being to generate basic sounds such as “beeps”.  
 

What do you mean by RAM?
 

RAM sounds for Random Access Memory. Think of this as short term rather than long term memory. RAM is the place where the PC holds all the information that you are currently working with. When you shut down your PC, this memory is erased. The more memory your PC has, the more things it can do at the same time. Since the data that each programme uses is stored in RAM, in general terms, the more RAM the better. Again, the amount of RAM within your PC will affect it’s value.  
 

What do you mean by hard drive?  
 

A hard disk drive is the place where the PC stores it’s data. Whereas RAM is used mostly for things the PC is working on at any one moment, the hard disk is where the PC stores it’s data (programmes, images, sound files, movies, etc) in a more permanent place. When the PC is shut down, the hard disk, unlike RAM, does not lose it’s data.
 

Why doesn’t the PC store all it’s data in the hard drive instead of RAM?
 

Simply stated, accessing data from RAM is fast (no moving parts) whilst accessing data from a hard disk is, relatively speaking, slow. Also, hard disk space is relatively cheap compared to an equal amount of memory. Hard drives can be interfaced with the PC in a number of different ways but, in simple terms, all you will need to tell us the make and size of hard drive.
 

What size and type of monitor did you have?
 

Monitors are where you view the data you are working on. Broadly speaking monitors fall into two categories, CRT (cathode ray tube) and LCD (liquid crystal display). CRT monitors resemble older style television sets whilst LCD screens are flat and thin. LCD screens are more expensive, at the moment, than CRT monitors but prices are coming down. We will need to know the make, model and size of your monitor to judge a fair replacement value.