 Shopping
for desktops for a business - even for a small one -
is a far different experience than shopping for a PC
for your home. When you're buying a home system, you
try to get the fastest, biggest, and best of everything,
adding on features, peripherals, and software until
your credit card will hold no more. But when you're
buying PCs for business, the question quickly becomes
"How much can I live without?" In other words,
you want a desktop that has everything you need and
nothing that you don't - at a competitive price.
The Basics
Most of the buying decision is a game of specs,
with processor, memory, and hard drive size being the
most prominent. Don't fall into the trap of paying for
too many megahertz. The latest Pentium 4 processors,
which boast speeds in excess of 3GHz, are overkill for
the vast majority of business applications (such as
Word Processing and Spreadsheets). In fact, many business
users will get by just fine with a slower Celeron chip,
even though these (along with AMD processors) tend to
be less popular in business.
Home PCs need large hard drives because
they rapidly become cluttered with MP3s, digital photos,
and home videos. But at work, a standard 20GB drive
offers plenty of space for most users. This is because
most standard business files are usually Word Processed
documents, Spreadsheets or Presentations, which even
if they have hundreds of pages, very rarely are above
1 to 5 MB in size. Also, if the Workstation is on a
network, it is more likely the files will be saved to
the Server rather than the Workstation.
If you're working with video or large
graphics files, however, you'll need a little more muscle
in your system. In addition to lots of memory, you'll
want a larger hard drive, FireWire and USB 2.0 connectors,
and a separate graphics card with its own memory as
opposed to one integrated on the motherboard.
Necessary extras
Regardless of the applications you're running, there
are a few features you'll want in any business PC. An
integrated Ethernet adapter (or NIC) to connect to networks
is a must-have, and you'll be hard-pressed to find a
desktop nowadays without one. We also recommend an LCD.
These flat panels are increasingly popular because they
use only a small amount of desk space, display sharp
images, and are easy on the eyes. If your budget doesn't
allow it, opt for a good 17- or 19-inch CRT display
instead.
If your business needs upwards of
100 desktops, you should consider a managed PC such
as the HP Compaq Evo, the Dell OptiPlex (our preferred
choice), or the IBM NetVista. These desktops include
several features designed to make them easier and less
expensive to deploy and manage. They use similar hardware
and software, which lasts for long periods of time,
minimizing the need to upgrade. The components are designed
so that you can swap them out quickly and easily. And
they can be monitored and managed remotely using included
software. Many managed PCs also come in small form-factor
designs--perfect when space is tight.
Buying advice
As important as what you buy is how you buy it. The
PC market changes at a blistering pace, so don't worry
too much about model numbers. Instead, buy from a vendor
you trust (we like to buy from Dell). The best thing
you can do when purchasing multiple PCs is buy them
all at once and get them from the same vendor (if you
can get servers and monitors from the same source, all
the better). Even better, purchase identical desktop
models. Not only will you get a discount, you'll have
interchangeable components when something falls apart
down the road and you can create identical images which
allow you to rebuild the Workstation in about 20 minutes!
If you would like us to buy and configure
workstations for your business please do not hesitate
to contact us.
For more advice on this subject
call 01386 792972 or e-mail info@it4homeandbusiness.co.uk |
