Return To Spring 1996 Index
Gosh, there are some good offers about!
Look at this - Dirty Den's Dodgy PC's - Deal of the Day - Super Multimedia Pentium, bags of free software, only £699.00! So get your sticky fingers on that dial, whip out the plastic and off you go!
Hang On A Minute!Whilst a puppy as a Christmas present is not quite the same as a PC, there are similarities. This computer is going to be with you for a while, and it will probably grow over the years, so stop and answer one question - just one!
What do you want to do with it?I guess that I am running a pretty typical small business. I want to produce good looking letters, do calculations and hold data which can be found easily. This all needs to be secure so five year old letters and accounts are as easy to find as yesterdays'.
And I don't want to have walk round the block whilst software loads.
I reckon that I spend about 2-3 hours a day using the computer. Using the current UK average salary, this means that about £20,000 worth of time is spent over five years in using the computer, and hopefully that saved far more than if traditional paper, pencil and typewriter methods had been in use.
Hopefully?Those 2-3 hours per day need to be hours spent producing money earning work. This shouldn't be time wasted trying to stop the computer crashing, understanding the software, or worse, struggling to use the wrong software.
Computers are complex things, and although a good one running well appears user friendly, the moment something goes wrong they turn into obdurate fiends!
Even the basic Windows operating system takes time to learn when you are new to it. Unless you are already a qualified anorak wearer, GET SOME HELP!
Golden RuleDecide what you want to do. This means deciding on the software you will run, and any specialised equipment such as scanners and the like, which may be connected to the computer. Then, and only then, specify the computer.
Most of the attractive offers with their bundled software are, reasonably enough from marketing viewpoints, designed to please all the people all the time. That may not include you!
Let's Talk Dirty!Well, just for a moment, and think about what's inside a computer, and what you need.
Staying with my prototype small business person; he, or she wants to run a general office suite of software; to do the jobs I mentioned before. A popular package chosen by many business people is Microsoft Office Pro or something similar, and probably an accounts package. (If you want to compose music, edit graphics, do Computer Aided Design or whatever different things -you need a specialist to design your computer around the software to do these tasks)
The processor is the engine of a computer. Minimum required is a 486DX4-100 or Pentium 75.
The RAM is the short term memory of the computer. Don't even think about less than 16 MB (Megabytes) unless you really like tea drinking.
The hard drive is the permanent memory of the computer. The starting point is 500MB, and a bit more won't do any harm.
Go for a 37cm (15 inch) Monitor. It is only slightly bigger that the usual 34cm (14 inch), but much better at allowing the screen to be refreshed quickly. Not everybody is susceptible to screen flicker, but many are, and a minimum of 70Hz is a really good idea.
Think seriously about a backup system. I suggest a tape streamer. They are not too expensive and allow you to back-up all your valuable data (letters, spreadsheets, databases) onto a removable tape. Do a back-up daily or at least weekly, then take the tape and hide it somewhere. If your computer gets stolen or just breaks down, you can restore your data onto another computer and carry on working.
A CD-ROM is virtually a necessity. All the best software is available on CD as is a lot of other useful information. (Need convincing? - try loading MS Office Pro from it's 31 floppy disks!)
If you live in a country where power supply is not constant, an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) is almost a necessity. If the power fails, your computer will stop working. Worse the sudden closedown sometimes rubbish's your files. The UPS keeps power up for 10 minutes or so; which gives you time to save all your work and closedown the computer safely.
You will need a printer, and for normal black & white you cannot beat the smaller laser printers.
This lot will cost you about £2500 (assuming a Pentium 100 processor) from a decent manufacturer with on-site warranty for the first year. (or about £2000 from a Box-Shifter, see our Horror Story)
How Not To Be Soft On Software.Always make sure you get original disks and manuals, and the ability to register your software with the supplier. This keeps you legal, and you might even get software upgrades, and free access to the telephone help lines.
Sooner or later you will have to reload the software, or it will ask for a disk to be inserted when you add a new printer or special card. Bundled software is pre-loaded by the manufacturer and usually the firm will not supply original disks - so what will you do when you need them?!
And In Conclusion The message is that to get a computer and software which really does what you need requires :Well, now you stand a chance of happy and productive computing!
Er, may be! - Ed.
