Grundig Consulting

As the holiday season approaches, more and more people are asking for my advice on which computer system to purchase this year? This pertains to home users as well as those in a business environment. In my opinion, there are two major choices which must be made: PC or Mac? Desktop or laptop?

PC or Mac? There are a lot of great systems available right now are very good prices, especially on the PC side, made by manufacturers such as Dell and and other. I recommend purchasing one of the midrange systems when shopping for a PC, whether a desktop or laptop. More installed memory, as always, improves performance. However, the extremely versatile lineup of Macintosh computers from Apple always begs inspection. The iMac, Macbook and Macbook Pro models which are available are suitable for most home or small business users. Keep in mind that by using Bootcamp, which is built into the newest version of the Mac operating systems, you can run Windows XP or Vista on a Mac without sacrificing any performance.

Desktop or laptop? These days, the price difference between laptops and desktops has narrowed, while laptops are are also nearing desktop systems in performance. Laptops can be used at home, at work or on the road. As a result, more laptops are now being sold worldwide than desktops. I recommend that you seriously consider a laptop in any debate between a laptop and desktop system. Port replicators, external monitors, keyboards and mice can be attached to a laptop systems to give it a more ergonomic feel which being used in the laptop or at home. The easy portability of a laptop is usually worth the extra cost.

What do you think are the best computer systems available this holiday season? We’d love to hear your input or answer any questions that you have.

Best wishes for a happy and productive holiday season.

There has been plenty of debate regarding the relative merits of Window XP vs. Windows Vista in residential and business environments since Vista was released in early 2007, as evidenced by many discussions and articles which are available on the Internet and in trade journals. Microsoft continues to tout their latest operating system and points to the number of Vista licenses which have been sold, a figure in excess of 100 million licences.

Now, with over 1 year to assess Windows Vista, and following the recent release of Vista Service Pack I on February 4th, 2008, it is clear that many of the problems which initially plagued vista have been resolved, particularly driver and hardware compatibility issues. However, this does not mean that Vista is ready for business at this time, and indications are that many professional IT people are waiting for the release of the next client operating system from Microsoft. The debate rages on in Tech forums online and trade publications.

If you purchase an new computer in a retail outlet today, it will have Windows Vista pre-installed, meaning that you can stick with Vista or or try to load XP on it. Online, manufacturers such as Dell.com and others allow one to purchase a workstation which comes with a Windows Vista license but has Windows XP pre-installed. If you are in a business, I recommend that you contact your IT professional if you are not sure which operation system to purchase and use.