My kids are enrolled in a parent-cooperative nursery in Sweden, so all parents have roles in the running of the nursery. My role is responsibility for IT, and over the past few years, I have been slowly updating and improving all the hardware and software. Now it's time for the desktop PC to be replaced, and this is where I am at a bit of a loss. As a Mac user, I have little knowledge of what would be suitable. However, I know that the staff – capable as they are – couldn't cope with a switch to Mac.
The main requirements for the hardware are:
- A good financial investment - reliable quality - takes care of itself.
- Future proof/upgradeable (three years or more).
- Can handle images, and Microsoft Office for documents, posters, forms etc.
For software, I'm also looking for a backup system similar to Time Machine on the Mac, and for newsletters, software that can simply edit photos from iPads and digital cameras. Also, I want an email client to let each staff member log into their own account from the same user profile.
Matthew
There are two ways to approach the hardware. Either you can buy from a global giant that specialises in supplying small businesses and offers on-site service, or you can buy from a small, local shop that also specialises in looking after small businesses. The former is probably the safest course, but the latter is worth considering if you are close to a really good local supplier.
If you decide to go with a global giant, both HP and Dell supply cheap, reliable, small-tower desktop computers that are easy to repair and upgrade. Their desktops should easily last three years, and six years is more likely. Indeed, I think you should buy a machine that you expect to run until 14 January, 2020, which is when Microsoft will stop supporting Windows 7. This means you can amortise the cost over 300 weeks or 72 months.
HP or Dell?
From HP's range, I would go for the HP 3500 Pro Microtower PC & HP 23bw IPS LED backlit monitor. This has a third generation Intel Core i5-3470 quad-core processor with 4GB of memory, a 500GB hard drive, and 64-bit Windows 7. The closest I can find after wrestling with HP's Swedish site is the HP Pro 3500 MT (C5X65EA). Note that you will want to add a Care Pack to provide three years of next business day on-site service.
"Defective Media Retention" means you get to keep the hard drive if something goes wrong with it. This is highly recommended for data protection purposes. It's even more recommended if the drive contains data about nursery school children.
The third-generation Core i5-3470 is quite a bit faster than, for example, a fourth-generation Haswell Core i7-4600U. Being in a desktop tower, it can run hotter than would be possible in a thin laptop (in this case, 77 Watts vs 15 Watts).
"Defective Media Retention" means you get to keep the hard drive if something goes wrong with it. This is highly recommended for data protection purposes. It's even more recommended if the drive contains data about nursery school children.
The third-generation Core i5-3470 is quite a bit faster than, for example, a fourth-generation Haswell Core i7-4600U. Being in a desktop tower, it can run hotter than would be possible in a thin laptop (in this case, 77 Watts vs 15 Watts).
From Dell's range, I would go for the Vostro 270MT. This has the same specification as the HP machine, including the Core i5-3470 processor. Again, go for three years of Pro (rather than Basic) support. I bought a similar but slightly bigger machine two years ago -- a Dell Vostro 460DT with a Core i5-2500 -- but included an Nvidia GeForce GT 420 graphics card. The 270MT lacks this and will use main memory for graphics, but it should not be a problem for your purposes. In any case, it's easy to add a cheap graphics card or extra memory later.