Talking Business
While the PC Authority Labs traditionally holds raw speed as one of the primary deciding factors in a PC's overall score, this formula is not all together appropriate for the business world. One reaso
While the PC Authority Labs traditionally holds raw speed as one of the primary deciding factors in a PC's overall score, this formula is not all together appropriate for the business world. One reason that performance is generally emphasised, is because it is often simply easier to quantify and report in terms of megahertz, gigabytes and frames per second, and partly because the industry itself is a moving target with nothing staying still, and therefore ways of quantifying the value in a piece of technology have to be made up as time goes on.
For the business user, however, there are other things to consider. We might have harped about TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) before but we cannot stress its importance enough. TCO affects home users as well, but comes into its element when you start talking about a networked environment with even the most basic of configurations of more than one client PC. While it might not be flashy to talk about managing clients on the network, security issues and asset management, all of these features need to be taken into account when buying one or more PCs.
This month the PC Authority Labs looks at all these issues, and more, as we cast our discerning eye over the world of business PCs. We have nine systems on test, with a basic specification of 64Mb RAM, 3Gb or larger hard disk, network card and Windows 98 installed. There is a mix of desktop and tower configurations, but, interestingly, no desktop 'pizza boxes' - small NLX-style systems - like our last look at the corporate desktop (issue 23, p46). This is a disappointment as we have been impressed by their sleek form factor and highly economical design.
In keeping with the business orientation of this Labs, we have de-emphasised the performance factor, although each machine has still been benchmarked with our brand new Benchmark suite. Quality and value are the mantras recited in the business world, and as such, constitute the two awards that we are offering this month. So if you are looking for the best in terms of quality, warranty, serviceability and upgradeability, then read on.
Labs Editor David Lin
Contributors Tim Dean, Tremayne Sargeant
This article appeared in the May, 2000 issue of PC Authority.
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