From Spare Room to Office - Fast!

Vendor

The second decision is who to buy the machine from. The keyword here is reliable, reliable, reliable. If you buy a Mac, purchase straight from Apple. If you purchase a PC, make your purchase from Dell or one of the other big names in the business. You may be tempted to buy from a no-name supplier because the price is mouth watering. But it's your eyes that will be watering when your computer breaks down at 1am when you're at work on a project with a looming deadline. You want good support, and Dell has been rated as the best on this front many times.

Support

As we're on the topic of support: buy the service contract. If you buy a Mac, that support contract is currently for three years of "Applecare". If you don't buy straight from Apple, your reseller may try to convince you that their private support is as good as, or even better than Apple's. To keep it short, they're wrong! I am yet to find third party support that beats Apple's: I've always found their support to be worth the money. As for a name brand PC, purchase three years of onsite support. If you can afford to be without your computer for a few days, you can save a little by opting for mail in support... but who can really afford to lose those days?

Configuration

Finally we're left with the computer's configuration. This was probably your first question, but for most of you it is probably the least important. For the most part computer power is far superior to the software that can run on it right now. Since new systems are constantly brought to the fore we can't give specific numbers here. The best buy for your money is usually going to be a based on the supplier's mid-level offering. The cheapest way to increase power in your system is to add RAM, but make sure the computer you purchase has at least 256mb to begin with. If you are a designer that minimum jumps to 512mb.

Your New Office

Once you've purchased all necessary items, move them on in and start your freelance business. I hope this article has helped you plan out and design your office. Good Luck!