Home Office Essentials Part Two
By: Niall Roche
Welcome to Part Two of our series of articles on home office
essentials. The last article discussed ergonomics and office
furniture and your working environment. This next article will
take that a step further and also look at the computer aspect
of your home office.Decorate It
Some people design their home offices to be like a real world
office. They take it that step too far though and strip their
home office of all character and warmth. There's no need for
your home office to be sterile and boring. In fact it should
be just the opposite. Seriously consider adding plants. They're a healthy decoration
in so many ways. The colour green has a positive affect on
our thought patterns. This combined with the fact that plants
filter toxins from the air around us is another great reason
for having a "green" office. Hate those motivational posters you saw in work? Do you know
why? They never "spoke" to you as a person. They were just
corporate spindoctoring that meant nothing to you. Choose one
single motivational poster that speaks to you and put it
somewhere you can always see it. Even if it only makes you
smile once during a working day because it's cheesy that's a
positive influence on you. Last but not least consider having your mission statement
printed out, framed and on your desk in front of you. You
don't have a mission statement? Get one! Write it now!Your
mission statement is the reason you started your home business
- make sure you are reminded of this every single day. It will
push you forward when you need encouragement the most. Your Computer
Stop. This is the point where you need to be really, really
honest with yourself. Computers are expensive and tempting.
The question you need to ask yourself is "What do I need in my
computer?" and not "What kind of computer do I want?" Your home office does not *need* the latest superfast,
supercool computer, printer, scanner, digital camera and
external storage. You want this stuff. You don't necessarily
need it. Your business needs functionality. You business needs cost
effectiveness. Buy what you need for your business. Do not buy
what you want for yourself. Tips for buying your home office computer. * Mid-range processor power
Ignore the super poweful, super expensive next generation
processors.They won't help you type that document any faster. * 512MB of RAM
This is a minimum. If you can afford 1GB get it. If you can
afford more get it. More RAM is always better. * 40GB hard disk
What are you going to put on a 200GB hard disk? MP3s, movies
and games. In other words 200GB of distractions. 40GB - 80GB
is more than adequate for home office use. * 3D Graphic Accelerator
Next generation 3D chipsets are not essential business
equipment. Most modern computers will have a 3D chipset by
default. Simply don't go upgrading this because you're only
doing it to play the latest games. Don't buy a distraction. CDRW or DVDRW drive
If you value your business you'll value your data. A CD or DVD
writer/burner gives you the ability to safely and quickly
backup your data. Do not buy a PC without one. LCD/Flat screens
MTV Cribs has sold more flat screen tvs than any marketing
campaign could hope to. Will a 21" LCD screen make you work
faster or better? Nope. CRT monitors are cheaper and do the
same job. If its supplied as standard with the system then
that's fine. Don't go spending money on an LCD upgrade. Extended warranties
Sales people make large commissions from these. Do you really
need a 5 year warranty on your computer? Will you still own
the same computer in even 3 years? Never take these warranties
at face value. Generic Brand Computers
Just because it isn't Dell, IBM, HP or Compaq doesn't mean
it's cheap. Generic brands use the same components as and are
therefore equally as reliable as the big name brands like HP
and Dell. Buy smart. Refurbished systems
If the budget is tight and the spec is right then these are
well worth considering. Be certain of what your warranty cover
on such a system is though. Many refurbished systems only have
a 90-day warranty. Phone-A-Friend
Check with friends who have purchased computers recently. What
problems did they encounter when buying their PC? Who did they
buy from? What was the aftersales service like? Printer
Does your business really need a top-of-the-range color
laserjet that prints 7,000 pages per minute? Nope? Didn't
think so. Here's a brief list of questions you should ask yourself when
buying your printer: * Do you need color printing capabilities? * How many pages per minute do you actually need to print? * What is the cost per page for color and black printing? * How much does replacement ink/toner cost? * How many pages of black text can you get from each
cartridge? * How much desktop space will the printer require? * Are updated drivers and tech support for this model readily
available? Hopefully this set of articles has proven useful to you. Again
a few thousand words can't possibly encompass everything you
need to know about designing and operating a home office.
www.home-office-advisor.com is there for that purpose.
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About The Author
This article was provided courtesy of Home Office Advisor.com which contains tons of information on home office design
This article was posted on November 16, 2005
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