Eddie Z is author of the popular web guide How to Buy a Trading Computer & Save Thousands. And since its release, the guide has been helping people do just that.
Stock Trading Computer Tips, By Eddie Z
Read any trading computer reviews, and you'll notice there a few common themes to the requisites of a quality machine. The most common question I'm asked is "What's the difference?" The short answer is A LOT.
I have been electronically trading the financial markets for more than 15 years. During my tenure, I've learned that being a successful online trader hinges on quality equipment. And the biggest mistake a day trader can make is being overconfident in an underachieving computer. Fact is, out-of-the-box-ready models, even the ones marketed as day trading computers, are not built to meet the capacity needs of a trader and his markets.
Trading computer reviews, when poor, are filled with complaints of slow speeds and limited space - two things that are absolutely crucial to a day traders daily operations. A stock trading computer needs a CPU with capabilities of running sophisticated software, multiple windows and monitors, quantitative computerized strategies, streaming videos, instant internet communication and more simultaneously.
Another reason trading computer reviews list machines as inadequate is that the user miscalculated (or simply didn't know) how much RAM he'd need. And trust me when I say you need lots of it.' Managing multiple software applications and complicated trading programs brings in tons of data. If the information is to stay useful to the operator, it must remain in the active memory. If not, the machine writes the data to the hard drive, populating valuable space that slows down every single process and diminishes its decision-making skills.
Desktop real estate, as I like to call it, is another big component for day traders. Between your charts, indicators, news feeds, and real-time price applications, it will usually take a minimum of three large flat-screens to get the job done.
I've seen some trading computer reviews out there that are disappointed with the internet speed experience. Instantaneous internet communication is vital to a day trader, and so a day trading computer MUST be equipped to handle high-speed internet connection. You can have the high-speed broadband provider, but if your Ethernet port is lacking, so will your speed.
And of course, the most important difference in a day trading computer is its dependability. A machine that is customized to handle the high intensity technological demands of stock trader will only ever be as good as its components. Finding a quality processor, motherboard, hard drive, and power supply are each essential to how your trading computer will perform.
