What's New in Computers

With prices low and technology high, now's the best time to invest in new high-power equipment. If ever there was a time to upgrade computers, it's now. Not only do today's machines perform with record power and speed, but their prices have been cut ... and cut ... and cut again as recession-burdened manufacturers try to stimulate sluggish sales. The good news for CPAs in companies and accounting firms is the recession has slowed the introduction of more advanced computer technology, and a result some of the best buys are for the top-of-the-line present technology - 386 and 486 personal computers (for a description of what these numbers mean, see the sidebar, page 53). Even Compaq and IBM, the two giant computer makers that had resisted price concessions as a marketing tactic, trimmed prices to meet the competition. Some accountants are using this opportunity to trade their old 286 and their even older 8088 computers for 386 machines. When high power is critical - such as when a computer controls a network - they are turning to 486 designs. In addition, bargain prices are convincing some firms that computer sharing among employees is no longer economical; they are providing a computer or a terminal for practically every employee. WHAT TO BUY In considering new computers, CPAs would be wise not to skimp random-access memory (RAM). Memory size is the key factor in whether and how well some applications can be run. Prices for memory have dropped so sharply it's actually economical to buy more RAM than a user currently needs. That's because any excess memory certainly will be used eventually and installing extra RAM at the outset is more convenient and cheaper than adding it later. Some consultants advise clients to figure out what current memory need is and double it. Computers that run Windows, for example, need a minimum of 2 megabytes (Mb) of RAM, but they run much better with at least 4Mb and even better yet with 8Mb or 16Mb. Buy for cache (pronounced cash). There's another reason to buy extra RAM. One of the easiest ways to spend up almost any computer - by 50% or more - is to add an inexpensive cache program. Cache is a technique for turning a portion of RAM into a data-storage buffer; the cache program identifies the most frequently used data, storing as much as it can in the buffer. And since data stored in RAM are almost instantly available - because the computer does not have to access it from the relatively slow hard disk - an application that uses that data proceeds at blinding speed. Although some computers are sold with built-in caches, they can be added to any machines with sufficient RAM. Software utilities such as Norton Utilities, PC Tools and Super PC-Kwik provide easy-to-install cache programs. Hard bargains. Accountants also should not skimp hard-disk drives - the component that stores data permanently. Like RAM, prices of hard disks have dropped sharply and it's far cheaper to buy a larger-than-needed drive initially than to replace it later. A prudent buyer will order a drive with at least double or even quadruple current needs. Crunch it. Another way to get more hard-disk storage space is to compress the data already there. Several software programs squeeze both application programs and data files to about half size. Thus, a 100Mb hard disk containing compressed data in effect is doubled in size to a 200Mb storage medium. Many accountants may balk at data compressing because they remember the old data-zipping programs. Although those programs could squeeze files down as small as the new programs, they were slow. And that's because, if users wanted to compress files, they first had to stop whatever they were doing and call up the compressing program to do its job. Then when the compressed files were needed, they again had to repeat the process to unzip the files. The new data-compressing programs do their job on the fly - without leaving whatever application programs they are in. …