Heading: Budget PC

SME IT: COST CUTTING

Try these solutions and own a low-cost PC.

It's stating the obvious that small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have shoe-string budgets. However, as the saying goes: Necessity is the mother of invention. So, this month, I will highlight a few things that can reduce the cost of operations in an SME set-up.

Let's start with the humble personal computer (PC). Today, any computer worth talking about will be of a dual core variety (Intel) or 64-bit (AMD). A majority of the new machines start with this configuration. But herein lies a catch.

First, would an SME need a high-end machine such as this? Why not, instead, buy a second-hand Pentium IV or AMD (lower configuration) machine? These machines would work efficiently for word processing, basic presentation, spreadsheet work and surfing the net.

Besides, they would still come with around 40GB of hard disk capacity. What would they lack? Maybe the capacity to copy files or copy from a DVD (they may work with CDs). You would get these machines for anywhere between Rs 6,000 to Rs 10,000 (depending on their configurations).

If you still insist on a new, high-end configuration machine "� even though your tasks generally hover around typing letters, basic spreadsheet work and presentations "� there's a solution. Instead of buying a branded computer, you can opt for an assembled machine. Further, you can choose AMD over Intel (for the processor) since it's much cheaper, and as effective. This should easily chip off Rs 3,000-5,000 from the overall cost of the PC.

There's more! You can use Linux as an operating system (OS) instead of Microsoft OS. The reason is simple "� Linux (regardless of whether it's from Red Hat or Novell or any of the 300-odd versions) is free! And the latest versions are user-friendly too. It's a fallacy that the learning curve is higher with Linux. This will save you anywhere between Rs 2,500 and Rs 5,000 (and more, if you opt for Microsoft Vista).

Next, you can download OpenOffice from openoffice.org. This is a suite which can rival Microsoft Office. It includes a word processor, presentation package, spreadsheet and drawing package. Since this is free software, you again save a further Rs 2,000-4,000 and still enjoy all the functionality that you enjoyed in Microsoft Office.

If you package all this together, a new machine should cost you around Rs 16,000-20,000. Besides, you will still be able to have about 512MB of random access memory (RAM), a decent hard disk with around 60-80GB storage capacity and a CD-DVD writer. You, of course, may not have the thrills of Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and infrared. However, this will more than suffice.

Once you've got your machine, you need not buy anti-virus software that can set you back by a couple of thousands. Instead, you can download free anti-virus software from the Net like AVG. They are quite effective for basic security requirements (especially if there's no real sensitive data on your machine). Moreover, the basic version of a good firewall like ZoneAlarm comes free of charge.

Last, but not the least, you have excellent web browsers like FireFox that can easily rival even IE 7.0 (in fact, many features have been cloned from FireFox). Of course, the list is not exhaustive. I will qualify my observations, though, by admitting that these free or low-cost solutions may not be applicable (in entirety) for organisations that have very sensitive data. However, in the case of most low-end users, they should fill the gap.