First, Learn the Hardware and the Software

                        The Hardware           

   In today’s market a five hundred dollar computer will zoom any law shop application in competition with machines that the government is buying from its cronies for two thousand dollars. To round out a small office computer environment, the computer hardware set-up needs a laptop in the possession of each person at the shop, a scanner, a good fast laser printer, a router to share the Internet connection with each computer in the office, a switch  to establish a network, a back-up power supply for each of the computers that stores data and a fast broadband Internet connection.

   This paper is not written to teach the basics of computer hardware, as there are ten dollar books that can do this job and even better web sites that do this free of charge. For example, see http://www.pcmech.com/byopc/index.htm.

    Relevant to the hardware considerations is cost. Persons representing indigent persons must know how to be cost conscious to stretch the hardware budget in order that the most technically advanced hardware for the buck is available. A good method for purchasing computers to use is the hand-me-down system. With that system, you periodically buy a new computer as the prime workhorse and use the older computers for tasks which can be performed by thin client boxes. Practically any computer can hook up to the Internet and most computers can run word processing programs.

    A good source to determine computer component prices is http://www.pricewatch.com. A good start to determining the specification for each of the components is  http://www.anandtech.com/.

    There are numerous other good places to determine prices at our http://www.goextranet.net or http://www.millardfarmer.com/ sites, under the “Shopping” column.

 It is only a spendthrift who picks up the phone and orders a computer from Gateway, Dell, Compaq or IBM. At times, each of these companies has bargains; but, as a rule, you will pay over-market for a computer, which in some respect contains substandard components. The advantage of purchasing from these companies is the tech support which they provide; however, these tech support services have been so curtailed that they are almost useless except for assistance to a person with the most limited of computer skills. Bare Bone computer boxes are usually a good buy after you obtain basic hardware skills and learn how to transfer usable components from outdated boxes.

       If you wish to give your computer a free check-up, check out http://www.pcpitstop.com/ . This is not a half-bad site.