Desktop Computers

System Specifications:

Advances in processor design have led to a situation where leading-edge PC technology offers  far more power than is actually needed for typical office tasks. Reliability has also advanced to the point where most computer troubles are software-oriented. System hardware failure is rare.

That said, problems of unresponsiveness and slow performance still abound, although these are generally down-to software bloat, substandard antivirus products, excessive RAM requirements, and  excessive LAN traffic caused by unsuitable network configurations rather than a lack of hardware performance. These are separate issues which we shall deal with elsewhere. 

The industry standard is for processors to have 64-bit architecture. A 64-bit processor is capable of running  either a 32-bit or a 64-bit operating system, so there is no disadvantage in this route.

Memory (RAM) allocations will typically be at least a gigabyte (GB) up to several gigabytes. The key difference here is that whilst Windows XP will run satisfactorily in a gigabyte of RAM, Windows 7 will be very sluggish in this limited amount. Look for at least 2GB of RAM, preferably 4GB,  if you intend to run Windows 7.

A point which I cannnot overstress is that when adding computers to an existing network, is that if the new computers use a different operating system, they may not coexist well. Therefore, do ask an IT guy first if you intend to buy computers preinstalled with Windows 7, and your existing computers run earlier versions such as XP.

Hard-disks of a Terabyte capacity (1,000GB) are no longer expensive items, and in general have a far greater capacity than the typical office user requires. That said, networked computers should not generally be storing large amounts of data locally. The data should be on servers.

As far as performance goes, processor speeds seem to have stabilised within to 2.5-3.5GHz range, with the price and performance premium consisting of processors having multiple cores. Dual-core processors are probably the de-facto standard these days, with quad-core being within the range of most budgets. That said, for the majority of purposes even a single-core processor will prove adequate, provided that the installed software uses this power efficiently.

Because machines sell "by specification rather than performance" stores will often urge you to buy the highest spec system-unit within your budget.  At the same time, because peripherals like monitors, keyboards and printers don't "push the figures upward"  you may find that paying for a top-spec processor doesn't necessarily guarantee quality peripherals being supplied along with it.

A few guidelines to choosing equipment:

Displays - in may ways the most important piece of kit.

Look for a quality display. Image quality matters. A slightly higher spend here will reap huge benefits in terms of user-satisfaction. All too often large amounts of cash are spent on an over-specified system box, coupled with a mediocre display. The display is in many ways more important, and a quality model will probably last through one or more system-box upgrades, so a good display is a wise investment, whereas an expensive system-unit will be worth beer-money two years from now. 

Modern panels are (or should be) quoted as the actual diagonal of the viewable area.  It is no longer accepted practice for a manufacturer to exaggerate this figure or, for example, to include the bezel in the measurement.

As well as the screen size, three other important considerations are the aspect ratio, native resolution and interface type.

Aspect ratio refers-to the ratio of width to height.  The choice here will depend on the principal use of the display. Those primarily intended for viewing film or video content will typically have an aspect-ratio approaching that of a cinema screen. For office use, this shape of display might not be ideal, a nearer-to square presentation allowing a much larger vertical section of a document to be viewed.  Basically  it's down-to personal preferences  though.

Native Resolution refers-to the number of pixels in each row and column of the display's matrix.  Some typical examples might be:

15"  - 1024x768
19" - 1440x960
20" - 1440x1280

While higher figures are in principle better, an issue which arises here is that the higher the resolution, the smaller the proportion of screen occupied by any individual graphic. In principle this should not be an issue, however it may result in a presentation which is too small for easy viewing.  Thus in real life, it pays to choose a screen with a resolution suitably matched-to its size.  A large panel with a low resolution will look 'jaggy' however a very high resolution on a small panel is a recipe for cross-eyedness, as everything will be tiny.

Interface Type - Currently this will be either analog VGA via a 15-pin D connector, or Digital Video.  In principle, the HDMI connector found on digital televisions could also be used, but has not so far appeared on any current brand.  Arguably the DV output provides a slightly sharper image, though the difference is not greatly noticeable.

The important point here are that an analog VGA computer output cannot feed a display which has only a DV input. Meanwhile, a computer with a DV output can generally feed either,  a DV-to-VGA adaptor being available.  There are however a few computers around which provide DV output only, and on which the adaptor cannot be used.  By-and-large the analog VGA connector still dominates the market, though digital outputs are becoming more common. Thus, it is important to check type of connector(s) provided before buying.

AMD Athlon, or Intel Pentium? 

For desktop use both are good choices, though Intel products tend to offer better battery life on notebooks.

Sourcing Computers:

In general it's more economic to buy prebuilt than to build to-order, though the later may be an option for top-end workstations.  In view of our experiences of reliability and build-quality issues with some other manufacturers, we tend to stick to Dell or HP computers as safe and dependable buys. We can advise on the best sources for these items, having established a working relationship with a number of larger wholesaolers.

A point which we would stress is that brands specific to highstreet computer-shops are generally not an advisable purchase for business use, being aimed mainly at the home/gaming user.  No names, therefore no lawsuits against us, but the quality office-equipment brand is called Hewlett Packard, or HP. Note: Packard is the second word. Not the first.

Understanding OEM software:

An area which is often poorly-understood is that of  the licensing arrangements on software supplied with a new computer.

If  a new computer is supplied with software which is either pre-installed or comes-on discs in the computer box, then this is termed OEM, or  'Original Equipment Manufacturer' software. The terms of supply and use for OEM software are often very different from those which apply to software bought at retail.

Taking Microsoft products as a typical example, the license terms dictate that an OEM product can only be used on the computer with which it is supplied. Or, if the OEM product is bought as part of a bulk purchase of parts and software, can only be used on the first computer to which it is subsequently installed. Thus, since the vast majority of copies of Windows are OEM, in the general case a Windows license cannot be transferred from an old computer to a new one.

Windows 7, or Windows XP?

The standard operating-system on OEM computers these days is Windows 7.  Windows 7 is a breath of fresh air after the crawling perfomance of Vista,  and is a perfectly serviceable platform for the typical home or standalone user.  The issue for business users, though, is quite simply that it is a very different animal from Windows XP, both in terms of user-interaction and internal workings. Many feel that  Microsoft would have been better to offer an incremental upgrade over XP as a replacement fort the defunct Vista, rather than turning-out yet another different class of OS, one which although more satisfactory, still has major compatibility and upgrade-path issues. These differences create issues with integrating Windows 7 computers into a network of Windows XP computers, which need to be carefully considered.  In principle it is better for an office to be all-Windows7 or all-Windows XP. It's the mixture of the two, on the same cabling, which gives-rise to issues.  Since few small businesses can afford -or even want to- replace every single computer in one go, this is an important consideration for any business buying new computers.

Do I need a Pro/Business version of Windows?    - Many business users just assume yes, and pay the extra regardless.  The lowdown is that Home editions cannot join an Active Directory Domain.  Thus, if your office network employs the Active Directory type of infrastructure, then you do need Pro. Otherwise you probably don't, and can thus save perhaps £30-50 per computer.  In fact, Home versions of Windows can participate in a network with a the addition of small utility, MyLogon. Although this does not provide all of the remote-management options of the Active Directory, in a small-business environment it will most likely be more than sufficient, and has the advantage of being much less complex  to setup and maintain than an Active Directory site.