There is talk of an implosion in the United States consumer personal computer market but the picture here, and in the rest of Europe, is quite different. Some 22 per cent of Irish households own a home computer with Internet access, leaving plenty of room for growth in sales.

So is now a good time to buy a PC? Well prices for last year were stable and there was even a slight rise in retail prices from September, brought about by the weakness of the euro.

Most computer components are bought in dollars and, allowing for order and delivery time, currency fluctuations are passed on to the consumer in six to eight weeks.

Mr Thomas Reuner, PC market analyst with Gartner Dataquest, predicts that we should see basic prices coming down in the near future as a knock-on effect of the partial recovery of the euro.

Gartner Dataquest figures show 6 per cent growth in the European PC market in 2000, with a slight slowdown in sales of entry-level consumer PCs towards the end of the year. However, shipments for higher-priced consumer PCs grew. Sales in the Republic grew by 11 per cent in the last three months of 2000, with Dell in first place and Compaq second. The basic entry-level PC is priced at just under £500 (€635) in retailers such as PC World but the best selection begins at around £1,000.

Some potential customers are put off by the rapid pace of technological advances and fear a purchase today might be out of date in a year's time.

In choosing a particular computer or deciding whether to buy one at all, the only issue that really matters is what do you want to use it for. If it's just for word processing, Internet surfing and e-mailing, a basic model will suffice, although the speed of the processor - the chip at the heart of the computer - will determine how fast pages download from the Internet. In any case, make sure the computer is upgradable in case your needs change in the future.

Mr Noel Kelly of Compaq Ireland says the only difference between a newer model and an older one in general is that the newer one will run a little faster.

"All units have expansion ports on the back to add in the latest and greatest upgrades as required."

Mr Kelly said that Compaq tends to change its product range every six to eight weeks and tries to pack more technology in for the same price.

Most of the main manufacturers pick a price point for their standard personal computer between £1,000 and £1,200, and try to fit in as much technology as possible at that price.

Mr Kelly advises consumers to shop around as soon as they have decided on their budget. He said there were some very good bundling deals going, with computer, printer, scanner and digital camera sold as a discounted package. But consumers should check carefully as bundled packages often contain components - such as printers or scanners - that are outdated.

Dell has embarked on a price-cutting offensive so it's worth keeping an eye on its prices. The company sells direct to the consumer and builds PCs to order.