Expert: Bobbert - 4/1/2011

Question
Hi

I am about to start a home based wedding planning business and I have a few questions on computers. I will be mostly using it for basic data and storage of photos. I currently have about 15,000 stored on my computer and that increases monthly. I will also be storing videos on the computer. I will also be installing a planning program and the requirements listed are:

Microsoft® Windows
1 GHz processor
512 megabytes of RAM
Microsoft® Internet Explorer 7
Microsoft® Word
Screen resolution of 1024 x 768

My questions are:

1. What brand do you think would be best?
2. How much memory should I get?
3. Is there anything else I should be looking for in the computer?

Thank you
Rae

Answer
Generally I suggest Dell and HP, as their customer service is generally top notch. In terms of actual hardware, the requirements you've listed for your application are incredibly low; so anything off the shelf (new) will meet your requirements and beyond.

Specifically to address your memory question, I don't suggest users purchase more than 4GB of memory (6GB if you're purchasing a system that uses triple channel DDR3 (Core i7 based systems, basically)); as extra memory is wasted for everything but server and DCC applications (neither of which sound like something you're doing).

Regarding your final question, I would ensure that you have a large hard disk - 750GB or greater, and some form of back-up solution for your data (an external hard-drive or NAS would be the easiest solution); just to ensure that if the computer is damaged, your photos and work are not lost entirely. I would also suggest looking at dual monitors, as they are very likely to increase your productivity, and they will make viewing calendars and other documents simultaneously much easier. Otherwise, I'd suggest (at minimum) a single large monitor (something in the 24-30" size class), but I'm guessing a pair of 19-22" monitors will probably be more cost effective.

-bob