HANG OUT YOUR SHINGLE

Article Tools

Image Gallery

Print

E-mail

Comments

RSS

To locate a commercial outlet, look in the computer magazines and in the local Yellow Pages for a "computer recycler" near you. You can get a fully reconditioned and guaranteed Apple SE-30 or an IBM PS2 for about $500. Either machine is built like a truck, and can handle most any small business for its first few years. Younger IBM-style models with 38386 CPUs and Macs with faster 68030s are more up-to-date and more expensive at around $1,000-while the still younger -486/-040 versions are faster yet-and costing $1,500 or so-and necessary if you want to run the newest software.

Used computers come with RAM memory of one or two megabytes and hard drives holding as few as 20 megs. This is gargantuan compared to the early days when we measured memory in kilobytes (thousands) rather than megs (millions). Still, 20-meg hard discs sound puny compared to the 120-to-250-meg drives that are standard today. But, most of that space is taken up by seldom-used features of the latest memory-gobbling software (do you really need footnotes, an index, a variety of page formats, and a choice of 50 typefaces in your word processor?) A 20meg drive running memory-efficient software can hold 10,000 book-sized pages of text or figures. If you need more space, you can store seldom used programs or data you don't use every day on a floppy disc.

Be sure any used machine comes "bundled" with appropriate versions of all the software you expect to need. Get the software data discs and instruction manuals complete-or don't purchase the equipment. You can obtain copies of obsolete programs from resellers or through user groups, but copying them is theoretically illegal-even if the makers have stopped distributing old versions such as the Microsoft Word version 2 that I used happily for years and wish I had back again.

Don't expect to use the latest software on an older machine. Mail-order catalogs and magazine ads-even the promotional blurbs on software packaging itself-too often fail to disclose minimum processor/memory requirements. If you order blind, you can be stuck with software your computer can't use.

Mail-order has become more ethical than it was a decade ago. But, returning goods can be as difficult as the sellers can make it. You see, once opened, returns are a total loss. It costs more to test and repack discs and documentation and replastic wrap the packages than the paper and plastic inside are worth. Be sure you keep copies of all orders and other paperwork. Phone for a return invoice number before sending off a return and mail it with a return receipt or send by courier.

Service, Service, Service

Whatever machinery you get, keeping it up-and-running is the single most important consideration for any computer dependent business. Don't try to service any electronic equipment yourself and don't let the hacker down the road get his paws on it. If you so much as touch a delicate microcircuit without being properly wired to an electrical ground, static electricity on your body can zap through the spiderweb—thin connectors inside chips and fry the computer for good. If it's new enough to be on manufacturer's warranty, simply opening the case may void the guarantee. Find a qualified, established service firm that is officially franchised by the manufacturer.

RSS | Comments | E-mail | Print