Q

I want to buy a computer for my club. Will I have to spend a fortune?

A

Almost certainly not. A few hundred pounds should be enough to buy a brand new, good quality PC. Of course you need to ask yourself what you are going to use it for. Most PC’s are supplied without software other than the operating system so you need to decide what you’re going to do, what software you’ll need and include software costs in your budget too. And while you’re about it it’s worth budgeting for a printer too. There are lots of magazines doing product reviews, one of them is sure to be reviewing PC’s and printers when you are ready to buy. Don’t be fooled into thinking you need a high spec PC for business use. Unless you’re working with video editing or the latest PC games, chances are that even the bottom of the range machines will be more than powerful enough for your needs.

Q

I want a computer but I’m worried about viruses.

A

And so you should be. However, being on your guard is a very important first step, others are:

• Get a good firewall if you are going to connect to the internet. The one with Win XP is adequate but there are loads of others to choose from and you don’t necessarily have to pay. A popular choice is ZoneAlarm which you are allowed to download free for personal use.
• Get anti-virus software and keep it up to date. Again there are a number of suppliers and you don’t necessarily have to pay - there are some free versions for personal use. It is important to stay up to date - there is no point having anti-virus software if it can’t detect the latest viruses.
• Keep your computer up to date. A computer operating system is exceptionally complex under the covers. When flaws are discovered fixes are released. The best known update mechanism is Microsoft’s Online Update which regularly distributes fixes via the internet. As an alternative you could wait for major updates such as that recently released for Windows XP which come on a CD.
• If you use email then never, ever, ever open attachments from senders you don’t recognise - even if they claim to offer compromising pictures of tennis players. OK, especially if they offer compromising pictures of tennis players.
• Don’t ever reply to spam. It just comfirms that your address is real. Remember people, don’t send spam, machines do, and machines won’t be put off by your finely turned insult. They will simply add you to the ‘more spam’ list. If you can, use an email program with spam filters and learn how to use them to stop those irksome messages arriving in the first place.

Q

Do I need a laptop?

A

In terms of new machines then both laptops and desktop PC’s have more than adequate performance. About the only caveat is to avoid running a modern operating system like Windows XP with less than 256MB of ram. Laptops typically trade performance for portability. That means that if you buy computers of equivalent specification then a laptop will cost more. And the more performance you buy then the greater the additional cost. When talking about performance it means storage space on the hard disk, the amount of memory and processor speed. The central question is whether you will use the computer in more than one place. In the kitchen? While watching TV? At home and at your club? If the answer is no then a better use of your budget would be to buy a desktop PC with a good monitor. It’s worth adding that laptops take up less space than a typical desktop. So if space is tight then that would favour a laptop.

Q

Should I run Linux? I’ve been told you can get all the software you need free.

A

At the risk of offending Linux enthusiasts I would suggest that if you’re asking the question then the answer is no. There is no doubt that Linux offers a valid alternative to Microsoft products but equally you need more skills to install and maintain a Linux machine. If you are an enthusiast yourself then of course you probably already know whether you’re up to the job.

Q

I have a broadband internet connection. Can I host a website for my club on my home computer.

A

Technically it’s possible - if your provider gives you a fixed IP address. Probably still not an ideal solution though. Are you going to leave your PC on 24 hours a day 365 days a year? If you don’t then when your machine goes off then your site goes off. You would need to check also that you weren’t breaking the terms of your broadband supply agreement by hosting a site. Add in the fact that broadband is optimised for receiving pages rather than serving them and I would suggest that a third party hosting package is a better bet.

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