No better time to buy
Servers
Gone are the days when a company’s servers required their own room with enough cabling to light up a house at Christmas.
Today, small firms can take the load off their client computers by networking in a cheap, powerful server, which sits quietly under a desk somewhere. (All prices quoted exclude Vat and delivery.)
HP ML110 G5
Backing off a little from the top dual core processing speeds, this basic workhorse gives a solid, powerful specification for a small, small price. That includes a 1.8Ghz dual core Intel chip, 1GB of Ram and a 160GB hard drive. It can also be used as a budget PC if necessary. Price: €181from laptopsdirect.ie
External hard drives
Whereas the storage and retrieval of data has traditionally been a server-room issue for Irish SMEs, hundreds of thousands of files can now be organised and stored on a simple small box.
The capacity of external hard drives has climbed to two terabytes (2,000 gigabytes) for a retail purchase of less than €150.
Hitachi Simple Drive
For the unsophisticated data user, this Hitachi hard drive offers a big chunk of back-up for the cost of lunch for two in a Dublin restaurant. The Windows-only SimpleDrive has a terabyte of space accessible at 7,200 revolutions-per-minute (RPM).With no CD-Rom to negotiate, it’s a plug-and-play device.
Price: €60 from dabs.ie Iomega Prestige Desktop
Iomega is the Audi of external hard drive devices: it pays a lot of attention to design, makes sure its machines are compatible with all systems and throws in additional software to help organise your files a little easier. This 1TB device is Mac and PC-friendly and has EMC software bundled for file organisation.
Price: €75 from Microaid.ie
Laptops
Last year, many thought that laptop pricing had reached its floor when it dipped under €500. As 2009 nears its end, it’s now clear that the sub€500 laptop was just a starting post. Today’s full-specification entry-level business laptops (as opposed to low-spec netbooks), now cost well under €400.
Acer eMachines €525
Any laptop with a dual core 2.2Ghz processor, 2GB of Ram and a15-inch screen should be capable of virtually the full range of applications an Irish company is likely to throw at it for several years. When you can kit out a travelling workforce of three for under €1,000, so much the better. Price: €330 from Komplett.ie
Samsung R510
Although completely suited for work applications, Samsung usually throws in a few fancy extras to sweeten the deal for those who like to use their laptops off the clock.
Hence this budget machine has a DVD rewriter and a HDMI-out port to act as a DVD player for HD televisions. It has 2GB of Ram, 160GB hard drive and a 1.83Ghz Intel dual core processor. Price: €340 from Dabs.ie
Printers and all-in-one devices
Whereas most firms have had a printer for 20 years, only larger organisations have gone looking for multitasking ‘all-in-one’ machines that print, copy, scan and fax from one device.
Such exclusivity was for good reason, as a ’four-in-one’ device meant a four-figure investment. But not any more. Because of convergence and mass-production, a basic four-in-one machine has crashed to as little as €100. Prices quoted exclude Vat and delivery.
Dell 968 All-In-One
Dell’s 968 all-in-one wireless inkjet printer is a good example of a high capacity machine at a f lea market price. It not only prints, scans, copies and faxes, it connects wirelessly to any computer in the building. It also automatically prints on both sides of the same sheet, saving paper.
Price: €110 from dell.ie
HP Photosmart 7280
Printing 34 pages per minute (ppm), HP’s four-in-one device is a workhorse disguised as an entry-level printer. It scans, copies, faxes and prints (doubleside pages) using an automatic document feeder. It also wirelessly connects to its computer clients.
Price: €132 from microaid.ie (Swords, Co Dublin)
Canon MX320
A four-in-one machine for under €75? That’s what Canon, one of the world’s biggest printer manufacturers, has for the struggling start-up or the downsizing corporation.
TheMX30 isn’t the fastest printer in the world, but it scans, copies, faxes and prints without any hassle. It also takes any kind of paper and can save to USB directly. Price: €72 from Misco.ie
PCs
The centerpiece of any office IT is the humble desktop computer. Today, an Irish company can get the blazing power of a dual-core processor, several gigabytes of muscular Ram and a massive well of internal storage space for well under €500.The actual computer element of the set-up – excluding the keyboard, mouse and monitor, bought separately – costs even less, starting at about €250.
Fujitsu Siemens Amilo
This tower PC has more than enough power, storage and functionality to meet the needs of almost any Irish company (outside very graphics-heavy sectors). It has a decent 2.5Ghz dual-core Intel processor, 2GB of Ram and a 320GB hard drive. It also comes with plenty of ports and a DVD re writer.
Price: €290 from dabs4work.ie
Dell Vostro 220
This basic PC tower is the archetypal computer desktop machine. At its most basic configuration, it has a 2.6Ghz dual-core Intel chip, a 160GB hard drive and 1GB of Ram. In truth, this is plenty to handle the needs of most Irish companies, especially if you take up the offer to ditch the onboard Windows Vista for the rather better Windows 7.
Price: €260 from dell.ie
Monitors
No piece of IT hardware kit has fallen as much in price as the PC monitor. The reason is obvious, with factories in Taiwan and China mass producing millions of LCD displays every month.
Because companies usually buy monitors as separate entities to computer stations, the savings are now significant. Especially with the price of a 17-inch TFT or LCD monitor falling below €100. Prices quoted exclude Vat and delivery unless indicated.
Hannspree 17 inch
Arguably Ireland’s best-value monitor, this Hannspree LCD display ticks all required boxes for a fully functional monitor without frills. Although limited to a standard VGA input, it comes with a three-year warranty and tilts for adjustment.
Price: €95 (includingVat) from www.laptopsdirect.ie
Acer 23 inch V233
Thought that fancy big monitors were the preserve of graphics firms with €1,000 to spend on a monitor? Think again.
Your paltry budget can now afford a full HD (1080p) 23-inch widescreen monitor. Despite its impressive specification, it probably won’t be the graphic designer’s first choice.
Price: €115 from Komplett.ie
