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Both PCs and Macs are fine for office tasks. Whether to equip your home office with
a desktop or notebook computer depends mostly on whether you’ll need to use your
machine outside office. You don’t have to travel very much to justify a notebook .You can
take it to a client’s office, to the library, or even the backyard or another room in the house.
If the space is right, you’ll benefit by having less stuff on or under your desk. You can also
hook up a larger monitor to it when you are in the office.
But, notebook computers cost considerably more than equivalent
desktop systems and worse, are generally harder and more expensive
to upgrade. One argument in favor of the laptop is you will be getting
three computers in one especially if you commute between a home,
office and an outside workplace. You get a home computer, office
computer and one for the road. If you opt for a desktop, you will face another decision
—
whether to go for a traditional, fully-loaded computer or one of the new low-priced
models.The recent PC price wars unleashed by computer majors have come as a blessing
for consumers and have brought the cost of a decent PC to below Rs.40,000!
While these machines are typically configured with some multimedia features for family
use, they can serve as a way to get started if you are just setting up a home office. Another
important trend for the home office this year is to combine five or six key functions
—
printing, scanning, faxing and others
—
into a single machine. Open a newspaper and you
will see the ads of a number of companies marketing MFDs (multi-function devices).
Each promises color printing (inkjet), scanning, faxing in a single unit. The advantages
are clear
—
you’ll save money and space buying one machine instead of three or four,
there’s only one manual to read, one software package to install, and one technical support
number if and when you get into trouble.
The drawbacks, however, are obvious too. If you need to send your all
purpose digital home office away for repairs, you have a problem. It’s
one thing to live without a printer, scanner, copier or a fax machine, but
to give up all at once could cripple your productivity.
The mantra, therefore, is to go for a vendor who offers you an exchange program if your
product needs servicing.
n
Considering that millions of Americans
work in small offices/home offices
(
SOHOs), this market is one of the
computer industry’s hottest sectors.
