Expert: Karl Zick - 4/1/2011

Question
Hi

I am about to start a homebased 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
Hi Rae,

If I were you I would buy a Lenovo Ideacentre H405.  Amazon has them for $350 and the reviews are great.  Also, Lenovo is an IBM product and has excellent support.

By memory, if you are talking about RAM, the PC comes with 2GB which should run fine for your purposes.  However, if you want to upgrade it is a simple process and you can get additional boards for around $25/Gig.  If you are talking about storage, it comes with a 500GB hard drive which will hold tons of photo's and video's.  I always recommend buying an external hard drive though for backup and in case you need extra storage.  I like the Western Digital externals or the Toshiba USB compact drives (check out http://www.toshibadirect.com/td/b2c/adet.to?poid=494663)

One of the reviews I read recommended a larger power supply which you might consider.  They are easy to install and you can buy them for around $25.  I think the one that Lenovo supplies will do the job though.