This week I had a story to share that is so controversial and politically sensitive there might be legal ramifications should it go public. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to share it, though I do have a backup story; full of unbridled passion, international intrigue and page-turning action. Sadly, that's my latest novel and printing it here would void my six-figure publishing deal so, in staying with my shtick of writing boring computer stuff, I will instead relate a tale that involves a beautiful blonde, industrial espionage and millions of dollars.

It was a dark, stormy night in Taiwan a while back when the office of one of the major electronics factories was infiltrated by a team of highly trained foreign agents. These agents stole the blueprints for a new type of capacitor, designed especially for the high-stress environment of computer motherboards. Unknown to them the design for the component was not yet finalised and contained serious flaws. No matter, factories in China, like the Sing Wah Tractor Factory Number Four (name changed to protect the guilty), began churning out capacitors by the trillions. Many of the big name brands, sourcing their wares as cheaply as possible from these factories in order to wring every drop of profit, ended up selling millions of computers containing the faulty components.

The majority of these capacitors (or 'caps' as we techs call them) didn't fail right away; most lasted until the machine was a day or two out of warranty. Of course, even if a company was aware of the problem, they weren't about to admit liability; doing so might cost them a whole week's profit or cause some middle-order manager to miss an important golf game. How does this affect us? Our old friend Joe Lunchbox goes down to his local washing machine/vacuum cleaner/ computer retailer, who has advertised a cheap computer. Joe thinks this is a pretty good deal; after all, it has a nice black case, a flat panel monitor and a DVD burner. He can even take it home right now with no deposit paid. He falls for an age-old sales ploy; advertise the cheapest box to get the punters in then use slick sales techniques to up-sell to the more expensive model. Even then Joe doesn't realise he may be buying a time bomb, and, even though he is talked into an extended warranty (what I call "thin air") he probably isn't covered. It's no secret to those who have been down that road. Many dealers like to wriggle out of warranties, such as those printer manufacturers who only cover "non-moving" parts. Like what, the case? Anyway, the repair agent opens up Joe's computer, notes the blown caps and diagnoses "power event" or "wear and tear", which are likely not covered by his warranty. That means Joe has to shell out for a new motherboard, or hit his insurance company up for it, and, depending on the other hardware in his machine, sometimes that's difficult. OK, I concede, I'm laying on a worst-case scenario, but my point is that you get what you pay for.

Macintosh computers are expensive, but (I really hate admitting this) overall they are pretty good. Most cheap PCs though, are rubbish, and I don't care if I offend by saying that. If we buy a cheap car, we half-expect it to break down and cause us grief. Why should a cheap computer be any different? That said, you don't have to buy a Mac, or a multi-thousand dollar PC, to get a good computer. At the end of the day, a little research should tell you what type of hardware is in the machine you want to buy. Ask the hard questions. If the motherboard uses "solid" capacitors, it is likely a more expensive model and shouldn't have any of those dodgy components. You may pay more initially, but you end up with better hardware that is way more reliable. While there are literally dozens of things to go wrong with a computer, at least you can avoid this issue by checking it out first. Buying a purpose-made machine from a trusted and reputable computer dealer can also reduce the chances of getting some horribly nasty hardware that is sure to let you down. So did agents steal capacitor blueprints? I have it on good authority that it is possibly true. But I know that I have seen a lot of motherboards with blown caps through our workshop.