Ask An Expert: Buying a computer

At the moment I'm using my old PC at home, but I'm thinking of buying a computer that will help with running the pub. What do Ineed to consider when choosing a machine for business as opposed to one for personal use?

Savvy publicans can save money by choosing wisely. Ignore the sales pitch from most retailers and choose a low-specification machine. Back- office tasks aren't demanding, and most modern PCs can run Microsoft Office-type applications, surf the net, and send emails. Usually there are extras you can have removed from the deal to save money - sound cards, high-specification graphic cards, large hard disks and so forth aren't needed for typical office chores.

However, if this is going to be the only PC for business use there are a couple of things you must consider. A back-up strategy needs to be in place. The PC will hold mission-critical data, and if it suddenly becomes unavailable you're going to be in a whole world of hurt.

Including a second hard drive in the specification will avoid this.

Options include internal hard drives, which are generally cheaper, or external drives, which are portable and backed-up data can be moved to another PC. Other options include DVDs and USB keys but these hold less data than hard drives.

If you think you might want to use the PC for other roles in the future, don't get a small machine with little room inside to add expansion cards. If you're certain it will only ever be used for general office tasks, and you want to save a bit of desk space, buy a small unit. And lastly your choice of operating system is important. Windows XP is cheaper than Vista, and Linux is free, and neither is as demanding on your hardware.