What Type of Computer Should I Buy to Run the POS? What’s Vista All About?
I’m not much of a techi but I needed to buy all new computers for the store. I realized most computers are now equipped with Microsoft’s new operating system—Windows Vista not Windows XP. I don’t know much about computers so here is a break down in layman’s terms of what you should look for when buying a new computer…my apologies to all the techi’s out there.
I started to look for the most important things:
- How much memory does the computer have—this is what’s called RAM? RAM known as, Random Access Memory, in layman’s terms is equivalent to the computers short term memory. This is where the Windows Vista information comes in handy—Vista takes 512MB of memory so you’ll need a computer with at least 1GB of memory. Some will argue; to get maximum performance out of Window’s Vista you’ll need 2GB of memory. I just purchased a laptop with 1GB of RAM to be used to run the Point of Sale System and Vista is running fine—the computer is not slow at all.
- How much hard drive space? In layman’s terms this is the computers long term memory? I recommend 80GB—unless you’re using your system for something other than aPOS.
- What type of processor does the computer have or what type of brain?
- What type of Video Card does the computer come with—if you need the computer for more than just running the POS—such as for video editing, creation, or viewing then you need to start looking at how much RAM your video card comes with. We jewelers wouldn’t need a great video card unless running CAD/CAM programs.
Buying a computer these days is much tougher and the salespeople at the store’s I visited weren’t much help to me—they kept using acronyms for everything…like military talk and I was totally lost. The gist of it is if you buy a new computer it’s most likely that it will come with Windows Vista so your best bet is to buy a computer with at least 1GB of RAM when running Vista.
John2007 commented:
As a closet ‘techie”, I would like to make the
following observations: 1. Computers for business – these
should be purchased based on the task to be performed; i.e., the
software you want to use. POS systems can have very specific
hardware AND software requirements. Make sure your hardware
purchase order is based on what is required to run the software.
Vista is a relatively new platform and may not be compatible with
your planned software purchase. Same goes for the peripheral
hardware; page printers, label printers, bar code scanners and
printers, etc… “I bought a computer that has Vista but
my (fill in the blank) isn’t compatible! Now what do I
do?” 2. The computer is only one piece of the puzzle –
How do you handle daily backups? What is your business interruption
procedure as it relates to recreating your computer system? How
will you handle component failures? File encryption? Q. What
happens if the POS Laptop in stolen in a robbery? Q. What happens
if the sprinkler system triggers and floods the laptop? Q. What
happens when your POS receipt printer fails? Q. What hardware and
software resources are you committing to defend against viruses,
Trojan horses, and other assorted nasties? Answers to these
questions should inform your buying plans before you contemplate
memory capacity, processor speeds or operating systems.
