Choosing the Right Computer for Home, Office, and Field Use

There have been many articles lately about cheap computers and the value proposition of a higher-priced option like a Mac mini or an iMac (or a premium model PC) compared to the ultra-cheap offerings.

In other articles and in many email discussions among Low End Mac's contributing authors and regular readers, the value and performance of used Macs are often compared to the cost and performance of newer Macs and cheap PCs.

A current topic of discussion started by Dan Knight, Low End Mac's publisher, asked for recommendations of used bargain Macs for various types of users, which again drifted to include comparison costs with newer models and with cheap PCs.

I've been a computer hobbyist for almost three decades and usually believe in buying the best products for a given task, but as I've expanded my office and purchased computers for office work, I've twice now bought super-cheap PCs for that role. Right next to one of those super-cheap PCs I have a 7-year-old Power Mac G4 that continues to perform extremely well and do everything I ask of it.

With that in mind, here's a subjective look what I consider the best options for a variety of users, though not restricted to the used Mac options. I'll look at the technophobic home user (think grandma), the typical office worker (secretary), the road warrior on a budget (student), and finally family computer, a machine likely to be shared by many users of varying skill levels and performance requirements.

The Technophobe

Let's start with the technophobe. There are many computer-savvy grandmothers out there, but there are also many people old and young who simply are not interested at all in computers per se; they just want to send email, get directions, and share photos over the Internet.

I honestly think that a Mac is the best computer for such people if and only if they're not already experienced Windows users.

The Mac is simpler to use than Windows XP or the upcoming Vista, but only in the context of a new user or existing Mac user - and these days new users are a rapidly shrinking group that will soon be confined almost exclusively to newborn babies.

Many of these users are not computer literate, but they can get their work done on a Mac or PC with very little fuss simply because they know where everything is. Sit one of them in front of the other platform and things look and feel different enough that productivity will drop. Yes, the difference can probably be learned in fairly short time, but for the very modest needs of word processing, email, and getting directions to a restaurant, the differences are minor at best.

There is also the question of software. Perhaps this user has a three-year-old (current until next week) copy of Microsoft Office for Windows and a two-year-old copy of Adobe Photoshop for Windows on their 3-year-old PC. Between those two packages, she gets 90% of her work done in a way that she knows.

To switch to a Mac will require repurchasing software that she already owns and learning how to use it on a new platform. (If this home user currently has a Mac, the same arguments apply against buying a cheap PC. She knows where everything is on the Mac, and no amount of 3 GHz processing on the PC will change the efficiency that comes from familiarity.)

The Office Worker

Lets move on to the secretary. The needs here are perhaps even more modest than for the home user.

...familiarity is more important than performance....

The home user might retouch photographs or watch downloaded movies and TV shows, but the secretary will typically work in documents, perhaps light graphics, spreadsheets, email, and viewing websites. Again, this is a role where familiarity is more important than performance as almost any computer from the last five years is already far more powerful than this user needs.

Many professionals will fall into this category. I have an attorney in my office who spends a lot of time researching cases online and writing legal briefs - demanding work no doubt - performed on a pair of high-resolution 19" LCD monitors. While her video requirements are fairly high, driving those twin 19" panels is too much for the lowbrow integrated graphics in many cheap PCs (and cheap Macs), but offloaded to a 5-year-old midrange graphics card performance is terrific even on a 6-year-old PC with a "slow" 1.8 GHz Pentium 4.

The trick here is that the computer is really only handling Word, Outlook, and Firefox, nothing too demanding, while the ATI Radeon 8500 with 64 MB of dedicated video RAM and dual outputs handles the twin monitors without sucking performance from the main processor or memory. The 7-year-old Power Mac G4 in the office did the same job before its role was changed to video, photography, and Web work, again the modest 1 GHz G4 was free to handle the OS and applications while a pair of modest 32 MB graphics cards drove the twin monitors.

The Road Warrior

For the road warrior on a budget or the student, I recommend setting a firm budget and then buying the highest quality new or used laptop you can afford.

Highest quality does not mean highest performance or newest.

Highest quality does not mean highest performance or newest. Size and weight are more important than processor power, while other factors like battery life, screen size, and keyboard quality also figure very heavily in the equation.

Unless you are doing high-end video work (this include high-end games), the small and light machine with integrated graphics is better than the monster desktop replacement, which explains why iBooks and MacBooks are so popular with students.

My daughter is 12, and her school permits laptops for some class projects. I bought her a 5-year-old ThinkPad X22, which is the envy of her class despite most kids having brand-new MacBooks, Inspirons, and even a Gateway Tablet PC. Despite its age, the ThinkPad still weighs only 3.5 lb., runs 4 hours on batteries, and is smaller than most textbooks, none of which can be equaled by any other laptop in the class.

That it also has one of the best keyboards and may very well be the toughest machine there are also strong advantages in this market segment. Total cost: $250 with wireless PC card (retractable antenna - very nice). To avoid the risks of Windows and careless downloads (its used by a 12-year-old), I plan on installing Ubuntu Linux, which is already installed in a dual boot configuration (with Windows XP) on my own ThinkPad X22.

The Family Computer

My last segment, the family computer, is by far the most demanding, at least for a desktop computer. While it will likely have the email-only technophobe using it, it will also be called on for multimedia student projects, high-end games, and everything in between.

This computer needs a massive hard drive to store many users' files, must be very fast and have fast graphics to handle those games, and be reliable so that junior's Internet adventures don't ruin mom or dad's work projects.

Here a high-end Mac or PC is the only way to go, with the Mac the preference when nobody in the family is diligent about computer security (the topic of an upcoming article). My family has a 20" iMac G5 in this role, and it does a terrific job at everything except high-end gaming, which is just not a priority in my family. Part entertainment center, part work machine, and part study-tool, the main thing with a family computer is that it just works - and that means having enough muscle to do whatever is asked of it.

Suggested Computers

So back to Dan's question, what is recommended for these users?

Well, for grandma I recommend consistency. If she is currently doing her email on a Mac, keep her on a Mac. Likewise, if she is sending those emails on a PC, stick with what is working. She has better things to do than fight with a new interface or try to find work arounds to programs that she had on the old platform but doesn't have on the new one. If grandma is currently using a Mac passed down from your last upgrade, pass down again the next time you upgrade. If she is using an old PC, a newer one will be appreciated.

For the office worker, cheap PCs are a great way to go for the simple reason that they are really cheap. I have a $300 PC from last March and a $250 PC from December, and either one of them can blow the doors off of the highest-end workstation of four-years-ago. They really are that fast - and upgradable, too!

Don't forget the older computers you already have.

Don't forget the older computers you already have. Any Mac or PC from the last five years or so remains a very powerful and capable computer.

It's funny how in so many articles on the Mac Web writers talk about replacing older PCs that have slowed to a crawl with equally old Macs. Guess what - Macs slow down with use just like PCs do. No, they don't get gummed up with malware, but neither do well-maintained PCs. The simple fact is that using your computer fragments files, bloats the OS, adds all sorts of crud into hidden places of both Windows (registry) and OS X (libraries) that they literally have far more things on their minds than when they were new.

Take an older Mac, wipe the drive, and do a clean OS X install, then leave off every application except for those you need, and you'll be rewarded with a massive speed boost. Likewise with a PC. Wipe the drive, do a clean install (without the manufacturer's crudware) of Windows 2000 or XP, install only the applications you need, and even an old 400 MHz Pentium II will be a fast and efficient office computer.

I have a 400 MHz Pentium II box with 320 MB of RAM at home that I recently tested as an office machine. With Windows 2000 Professional and Office 2003 Professional, it booted in 37 seconds and launched Word in 6 seconds the first time instantly thereafter. Firefox takes about 8 seconds to load the first time, and it's fast after that. This is a 9-year-old PC folks - nine years old - and it's almost identical in function to new and fast systems in the office context.

For students, I like MacBooks, iBooks, and ThinkPads, because they are durable and compact. Tablets are also terrific for students, as drawing on class notes is an amazing boost in efficiency. Price, age, and performance aren't terribly important; look instead at the feel of the keyboard, the battery life, and how well a portable is built.

For the family, the larger iMacs are about perfect. Even when Windows applications or games are required, modern Intel Macs run Windows natively and have you covered. For a desktop in a demanding environment, these are truly the best of the best.

I left out creative workers' machines, because those are selected almost entirely based on the applications needed and the strong preference of the user, and any recommendation would have to be confined to a specific user, not a broad category.

Whatever you use, use it behind a good firewall (included in most routers these days), don't open weird attachments in email, and remember that your bank doesn't need you to correct an account problem through an email link (phishing). Avoid the scams on either a Mac or a PC, and you'll have a healthier and happier online and financial life. 

Further Reading

• ThinkPads.com - new open forum is a great place to find used ThinkPads