​CPU:
Minimum i3 (AMD laptop CPUs are very disappointing for everyday tasks tried and tested many times).
For a full service home/business computer i5 (and above) are highly recommended.
Pentiums and Celerons will work just for typing Torah, for internet minimum i3.
For Otzar Hachoma use, again i5 is highly recommended.
If you want to install a frum filter like Natv, Techloq Livigent-Gentech you really want an i5.
For graphics i5 is minimum, i7 is recommended, and in those there are higher and lower end CPUs too. 


RAM/Memory:
Minimum 4GB RAM preferably 8GB RAM, for real internet use 8GB is necessary.

Hard drive/SSD:
Preferably with SSD for writing Torah 64GB can be usable but for a desktop replacement 120GB minimum is needed, and 240 preferred. 

SSD is preferable to other upgrades i.e. its first thing to spend more on. If I had choice between SSD or 8GB RAM, SSD wins hands down

Brand:
There are literally thousands of options. Based on these specs pick one and then lookup reviews
I mostly have had better luck with the top brands, Dell especially, then HP Lenovo. These are have decent follow support, meaning they look for issues and post updates for years to come on their support sites.

Acers are usually fine, but parts are unavailable if anything breaks. Little to no post manufacture driver support.
Asus are usually cheaper, I find them to have parts issues, light bleeding in the screens and extremely dishonest warranty support. Little to no post manufacture driver support.

We are dealers in Israel for all the brand name computers. We offer a fully setup computer, with Hebrew letters on the keys (no stickers), Israeli warranty by the manufacturer, set up with registered Windows and Office, and whatever basic programs you need.
Our Windows installs are up to date, clean , run fast and have no extra unnecessary junk on it to slow you down.

Contact us for a current list of the laptops we have in stock. 

Forget inkjet.
They are expensive to operate.
Slow to print.
Jam all the time.
The ink runs when it gets wet.
The ink cartridges dry out all the time if not used often.
The cartridges run you in circle trying to get them recognized.
Generic cartridges are not nearly the same quality as the originals, at best are hit and miss.

Basically a white elephant, cheap to buy but a huge pain in the long run.

In laser printers though there is still a range. 
Hp M130

The small HP is not junk, but its not meant for a full size office or a heavy gan use

The M227 is a much higher quality machine starts at 800 shek toners still give 1500 but the machine is faster and higher quality. 

The M426 is a bigger jump starts at 1400, it starts at a higher initial investment at approx 1400 shek, but the toner is only a little more and prints 9000 pages, you covered the cost in six months, and the machine jams much less, prints faster, holds more paper etc.

For commercial use it usually makes sense to have a heavier BW machine like the M426 and color separate, its long term cheaper and lasts longer as color lasers toners only give 1000 pages. If you use that machine for every day it would cost a bomb.

Once you go into the color machines your prices start going up. A 1400 machine is baseline so you are getting a 1,000-1500 pages a toner as opposed to a black and white machine in that price range you getting 9,000 Pages a toner. It's a much more commercial machine and much  cheaper to operate so it's usually cheaper and more efficient and longer-lasting to have two separate machines.

Note all these machines are plastic, the fully commercial machines are 3000+

Its a question of when you will lose your data, not if.

Cloud Sync vs. Backup
People always confuse Cloud Sync and Backup
​Here is a great article to clear up the confusion.
​www.backblaze.com/online-storage-vs-online-backup.html

Backup in a nutshell:
Whatever backup options you choose, remember to follow the 3-2-1 rule of backups: 3 – Keep 3 copies of any important file: 1 primary and 2 backups. 2 – Keep the files on 2 different media types to protect against different types of hazards. 1 – Store 1 copy offsite (e.g., outside your home or business facility). 

Backup not in a nutshell:
There are two base options. Local backup and Cloud backup.
Let’s go through the pros and cons of local and cloud backups though you should be using both. 
Pros of Local:  Fast to recover from and fast to backup to and recover from  
Independent of internet speed, availability and stability.  
Cons of Local:  
Vulnerable to the same issues as the computer its backing up; Such as in the event of theft, fire, flood, general drive failures, viruses.  
Pros of cloud:  
Cloud is not affected by any of these physical issues, in addition, cloud backup isn’t prone to viruses etc.  
Proper versioning and file history- so if you change or delete a file and you need to retrieve the version before it.   
Cons of cloud:  
Backing up and recovering all the data from the cloud can take time and depends on network stability in case of a catastrophic failure, so for individuals or business where full quick recovery is essential local is necessary too.   ​


Backblaze Personal Free Trial 

Backblaze Business Free Trial 

Comparing Backup Services

For serious backups We have semi managed backups through Backblaze Groups $8 a month per device, and fully managed backup solutions through MSP360/Wasabi where we can overview and manage your backups for a monthly fee, obviously this is more suitable for businesses than private users, pricing starts at $15 a month for the first device and $8 per additional device using the same cloud storage quota.
All managed backups have a one time setup fee