Re: Buying my Own Hardware (Long Reply)

[Steve Fouts <sfouts -at- ELLISON -dot- SC -dot- TI -dot- COM>]

 Jane S Torpie writes:
|}
|} I'm considering buying my own hardware and need some guidance from you in
|} the field.    Step One:  How do I figure out what I need?
|}
|}  - Currently I'm a contractor, doing course deveopment & video scripting,
|}    and investigating careers that all have writing as a part of them,
|}    but are not 100% writing.

Video scripting as in story boards, or are you actually planning to assemble
multimedia stuff on your machine?

|}  - I may do some layout & artwork (not a lot) and will almost certainly have
|}    to use multiple applications at once.
|}  - My home office is small and has a largish, much-used desk.
|}  - I have small hands and am a techie who can take care of most of my own hw
|}    & sw.
|}  - I'll use my computer for access to the Internet & e-mail.
[snip]
|} Could you help me answer some questions?
|}
|} 1.  Laptop or desktop?

You need to buy all of the speed, power, and space that you can afford. In
blunt terms, that means buy a desktop. You can buy a custom keyboard a lot
cheaper than you can beef up a laptop with all the horse-power you need.

|} 2.  Processor & speed?

I won't get into this argument, except to say, 486DX 100, Pentium, or PowerMac.
These are the computers on the market today with the horses to do a lot of
graphics quickly.

|} 3.  Amount of memory?

As much as you can afford. There's a gotcha here that you should watch for.
Each machine will have a certain number of RAM slots. If the machine you
buy already has those slots filled, then in order to upgrade you will have
to throw memory away. So the strategy is, if you can find a machine that
has a standard configuration that you are comfortable with, buy the max
standard configuration. If not, buy the minimum standard configuration so
that the memory you will discard is small and cheap. Macintosh or PowerMac
12 Mb minimum. Windoze PC, 16Mb minimum.

|} 4.  Disk size?

Big. If you are doing graphics, sound, multimedia, or some combination, you
need disk space. At least a Half a Gig on your main disk, then you might look
into a removable or something like that so that you can archive old jobs.

|} 5.  Modem or Fax Modem?  Wait & buy it later?

It is darn difficult to find a modem these days that doesn't include fax.
The price difference isn't enough for most companies to offer w/fax and
w/o fax. Buy a high speed modem if you plan to connect to an online service.
14.4 minimum these days.

|} 6.  What size monitor?  If laptop, wait & buy it later?

My favorite configuration here for publishing is a small (13" or 14") color
monitor and a page size greyscale. If you do a lot of 8 1/2 x 11 layouts,
you'll really appreciate a monitor that can show you a full page that you
don't have to sqint at. A 15" portrait can do this, as can a 16" or larger
landscape. Don't forget the ever popular Radius Pivot for its versatility.

|} 7.  If laptop, Color or Black & White?

Are you going to do color work for your clients?

|} 8.  CD or no?  Wait & buy it later?
|}

The big advantage of the CD-ROM in your situtation is Clip Art. Tons of it
not a lot of dough. If you need it, buy it.
    _______________   _____
   /  ___  __/__\  \ /  / _\    Steve Fouts
  /___ \|  |  ___\  |  /  __\   sfouts -at- ellison -dot- sc -dot- ti -dot- com
 /   /  \  |      \   /      \
/_______/__|_______\_/________\ "She understood, as he did, that all writing
was infernally boring and futile, but that it had to be done out of respect
for tradition"                  --Stanislaw Lem