Save content
Have you found this content useful? Use the button above to save it to your profile.
AIA

Equip your practice, part 3: hardware and peripherals

by
16th Apr 2008
Save content
Have you found this content useful? Use the button above to save it to your profile.

To conclude his series on kitting out a new practice, Simon Hurst discusses the hardware, printers, scanners and other office equipment you will need to operate effectively.

The story so far

This is the concluding part of our "Equipping your practice" trilogy. Part one considered some of the overall software choices including just how far you could get with internet-based on-demand solutions and the best-of-breed versus integrated suite dilemma. Part two went on to look at choosing your network infrastructure and the many data security issues involved. We're going to conclude by looking at the user end of the equipment equation - the computers themselves and the peripherals that go with them.

Computers

When it comes to deciding on any hardware purchases, as accountants, no doubt we would all look carefully at the cost/benefit analysis. How much should you spend on IT? considered this issue and the wide range of possible answers. The article suggested a shortcut to assessing the value of an investment - the construction of a table comparing various levels of investment showing the minutes per day, across a range of charge out rates, that would be required to recoup that investment within the year. It might make it easier to write the cheque for the £500 computer once you realise it only needs to save you just over a minute a day to pay for itself inside a year:

Minutes per day

Charge out rate £

Investment
value £

30

60

120

250

2.50

1.25

0.63

500

5.00

2.50

1.25

1,000

10.00

5.00

2.50

Windows Vista has increased hardware specification requirements, particularly for graphics processing when implementing some of its more advanced features. However, it's still the case that 'entry level' computers are likely to be powerful enough, and come with adequate hard disk storage, for most business applications, especially now that 2GB of memory seems to be the standard for all but the cheapest models.

The issue of laptop versus desktop computers has provoked some surprisingly heated debates on AccountingWeb. A relatively innocuous summary article entitled Never buy a laptop when a desktop will do resulted in a "fundamental disagreement", though this did seem to boil down to differences over just when a desktop would do. Certainly the cost and performance gap between laptops and desktops has narrowed considerably with a laptop, capable of running Windows Vista and with 120GB of hard disk space and 2GB of memory, costing under £250 before VAT and delivery - very little different from an 'entry-level' desktop. Laptops come in many shapes, sizes and costs. One of the biggest technology hits of recent months has been the Asus EEE PC notable for its radically different approach: tiny size, open source software, solid state storage and a price of around £200.

Many of the laptop v desktop considerations are now practical rather than financial ones. A laptop is definitely more susceptible to being dropped or otherwise damaged - a teacher at my children's primary school managed to drive a car over his, and even dropping a cup of coffee over the keyboard can have worse consequences for a laptop than a desktop with its separate keyboard. Perhaps even more of a problem is that of loss or theft. Because laptops are going to be removed from the relative security of the office environment, the risk of important and confidential data being lost or stolen increases and steps need to be taken to encrypt and secure the data. Another key issue is the working environment. For people who are going to spend long periods of time sitting at their desk, working on a computer, the size and position of the monitor(s) and quality of keyboard and mouse are going to be crucial, and it's this area of user comfort that we'll look at next.

Are you sitting comfortably?

Although we dismissed agonising over computer specifications by saying that all but the very cheapest is likely to be adequate for business use these days, there are some areas where it is definitely worth spending more. User comfort can have a far greater effect on productivity than just processor power, so make sure that your IT budget has room for high quality keyboards and mice as well as suitable desks and chairs and appropriate lighting.

For many users, the single biggest hardware-based productivity boost is to invest in more screen space – usually in the form of a second, or even third, monitor.

Peripherals vision

The most obvious bit of hardware you'll need apart from the computer itself is some sort of printer. Nigel Harris has contributed articles to IT Zone covering printers and multifunction devices. Part 1 of the IT Zone guide to printers included a wealth of practical advice, enhanced by many members contributing their own experiences and advice. Part 2 looked in more detail at printers for workgroups and networks. Running costs are generally a far more significant element of the total cost of ownership of a printer than the initial capital cost - particularly now so many manufacturers manipulate costs by shipping new printers with reduced capacity toner cartridges, or using the printer as a loss leader for sales of consumables. Tirades on this issue such as Why a £520 colour laser printer is cheaper than a £199 one have struck a chord with many.

Of course, where space is an issue, multi-function devices that combine the roles of printers, scanners, copiers and even faxes can justify their cost in floor and desk space savings as much as on initial cost and running expenses.

As practices explore the possibilities of becoming more paperless so the importance of a scanner increases. Judging from the responses to a recent Any Answers question on purchasing a scanner the Fujitsu ScanSnap has a large and devoted following. More general paperless office considerations are covered by an extensive range of IT Zone Expert Guides on the subject. If you are just setting up a practice then it is the ideal time to consider how paperless you can be - before you complicate the whole process by building up a backlog of hard copy documentation and processes.

Not so obvious

You've bought everything you think you might need, and you've still got a few thousand of the hardware budget left, what should you spend it on? Kevin Salter's Accountant's PowerTools site was reviewed by Nigel Harris. As a practising accountant himself, Kevin brings a lot of personal experience to his gadget recommendations.

I do quite a lot of lecturing and training so for me a data projector is indispensable, but they are now so small, cheap and efficient that most practices are likely to benefit from the ability to display information to a few individuals or small groups either in their office or at the clients' own premises. Nigel Harris provides some excellent practical suggestions on choosing and using data projectors within a practising firm.

Of course with all this computer equipment and electronic gadgetry you might be concerned about prolonging the life of the planet, and saving a bit on the electric bills. An anti-standby device might be the answer.

Replies (1)

Please login or register to join the discussion.

avatar
By torma
24th Feb 2010 17:01

Laptops

I use a loptop, but when comes to entering numbers they are very inefficient. Why can't they have a simple number key pad. Plugging in a separate number does not slolve the problem when entering a mixture of alpha numeric. Anyway why should we have to use a separate pad?. My first laptop had one, but not now, thats real technological progress

Thanks (0)