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So, you’ve decided to buy a computer

A guide to avoiding costly mistakes

Introduction

I have had a few clients ask me recently about buying computers on their own. They are almost exclusively looking for a better deal. They see an advertisement for a super sweet deal at a brick and mortar big box store or found a special offer on the web. My answer to them is almost always to go for it, but you have to be very careful as some exquisitely hidden pitfalls may make the offer no deal at all.

Why this guide?

You may be wondering, why on earth would we be writing a guide on buying computers from a competitor. The answer is fairly straightforward: there is little to no profit margin on selling a computer. For most IT companies, computers offer little to no profit, and it does not make sense to spend hours customizing quotes if it means continuing to lose money. That’s why we’re creating this guide so that if you do choose to buy a computer from a competitor, you can at least make sure that you are not making it more difficult for yourself over the life of the new computer. There are definite advantages to buying your computer from us, your IT provider, but it makes no difference to us where you buy your computer. Negotiating the price of your computer purchase, making multiple configuration changes, picking apart quotes, and asking for quotes as only a means to compare pricing only serves to create a negative return for us, hence the guide.

The actual cost of a computer

Several components factor into the cost of a computer: Computer hardware, accessories, labor for set up, delivery, and installation, warranty, and computer software. So, when you buy a computer the price may vary dramatically based on how you configure each. The bulk of the expense is the computer hardware and software. There is a big difference between the home version software and hardware. This difference is intentional, and should not be disregarded.

The life of the computer and how that relates to the cost

The overall price of the computer hardware and software directly correlates to both the speed of the computer and the computer’s useful life. This guide will not explain Moore’s law and how it relates to computing power (you’ve got Google for that), but the takeaway is that the less you spend on the computer the shorter the lifespan. The $450 computer you found online may need replacing in 12 to 18 months, where a $1,200 computer may perform for 48 months. Our experience has shown that this is the most difficult hurdle to overcome when purchasing a computer. With every software release, Windows update, and new software service, the longevity of the computer drops and with most software now, there is no longer a choice. The best advice we can give is that you should plan on obsolescence in three years. You don’t need to buy cutting edge technology, and we’re begging you not to buy already obsolete technology (reference the $450 computer above). You are looking for the sweet spot - somewhere in the middle. Think Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Warranty

Since you’re looking for a computer with a three-year life span, make sure the warranty covers all three years. You should also make sure that the warranty is an on-site warranty, and sets out a maximum response time of next-business-day. There is no point in even having a warranty if you have to ship your entire machine back to the manufacturer to have it repaired. We have spent years (20+) dealing with manufacturers and their fulfillment of warranty services. Dealing with most is an enormous pain even under the best of circumstances. It takes an average of five hours of IT service labor to take a computer from determination of a warranty issue to resolution and that’s over multiple days. When buying your computer from us, we handle that for you. When you buy the computer directly from the manufacturer or from a competitor, just understand that it will be you that has to parlay with the manufacturer. They will not deal with us directly (here’s looking at you Lenovo) and all large manufacturers require end-user interaction with the purchaser. It usually only takes a single warranty issue that you end up having to deal with personally that will forever cure you of buying a computer from any other person than us.

The right specifications

Having the right specifications is critical to making the right decision when buying a computer. For business-class machines the specifications are fairly simple:

  • Windows 10 Pro 64.

  • Intel i3, i5, or i9 processor depending on the amount and purpose of use and expected lifespan.

  • 8-16 GB RAM depending on longevity and the speed of operation required.

  • 128-512 GB SSD hard drive depending on how much data you need to store on your local computer. For most, the 128GB drive will be sufficient for desktops and 256GB for laptops.

  • Wired gigabit network card – there is NO argument for anything less than this.

If you deviate from these basic specifications, you have already made a critical mistake. This is what works for most businesses and cutting costs at this level will likely prevent your new computer from working with your network, force premature obsolescence, or increase the amount of labor required to make the machine work on your network.

The must-haves and gotchas

We like to say that there are five “gotcha” components.

  • Trusted Platform Module (TPM) – if you are doing any type of drive encryption, and if you are using a laptop you had better be, you need to make sure the computer is enabled for TPM. The option usually only runs about $10, but if you forget it, or the computer you purchase is not capable of it, it will mean years of multiple password entries, wasted time, and general misery.

  • SSD vs. rotational hard drives – if you’re buying a computer, and it has a rotational hard drive, it is already obsolete. Rotational drives run at about 10% of the speed of an SSD drive. The hard drive is usually the slowest component on a computer, so make sure that the drive you’re purchasing doesn’t make your computer unusably slow. Don’t even bother with the hybrid drives. They use a combination of rotational drive technology with an SSD component to give quick access to some files, but large amounts of storage for archiving. Our experience has been that they do both equally poorly.

  • Windows 10 Pro 64 – the pro part of the operating system is super important. That’s what makes the operating system work with all the need tools required to operate your network. If it doesn’t say pro, you’re just wasting your money. The 64 denotes the native chip architecture of the processor of your computer. At this point, everyone should be using a 64-bit operating system. Apple, for example, just dropped support for 32-bit architecture. If the operating system doesn’t say pro, you are purchasing the home class operating system. It is limited in functionality, and you don’t want it.

  • Interfaces/connectors – less expensive computers also have fewer connectors, and limited expansion for accessories because there are fewer outputs. So, you will need to make sure that all the connectors and outputs on the computer match all of the inputs on your accessories. In case you were wondering, this is an incredibly time-consuming process. If you plan on reusing your monitor (not recommended – see below), keyboard, mouse, UPS, etc., then you will need to note all of the connections for each and make sure that they are available on your new computer. If you are not planning on reusing any of your old accessories, you will need to make sure that the new accessories will be compatible with the new interfaces.

  • Monitors – so, you want to reuse your monitor. This is probably a mistake unless you have a large or ultra-high-resolution monitor. Most older monitors have older VGA connectors, proprietary connectors, or other older technology connectors. Catchy that poses a problem, and usually means a converter has to be purchased to make the new computer compatible with the old monitor. A few years ago, we started noticing that older monitors connected to newer computers both couldn’t support the new video resolutions, but the failure rate shot through the roof as well. You may get more life out of that old motor, but our stats show that you should probably expect monitor failure on an old monitor within a year of replacing the computer.

Home class computers, sigh

You won’t believe the deal I found online for this computer! We hear this all the time. It only takes a few minutes and a cursory examination to determine that the computer doesn’t meet basic specifications, and most likely is a home class computer. If I’m a small business, why is a home class computer a bad idea? It all boils down to two primary reasons: security, and the ability to do stuff. Average home class computers cost about $200 less than their business counterparts. The majority of that cost is the operating system itself (the software that drives the computer). The major difference in the operating system is that all the business class security tools are not there. The ability to join Microsoft Azure is not there. The ability to share resources is limited. And most importantly, if you are using a cloud-based service like Microsoft Office 365, it means entering in your password multiple times a day. From a business perspective, it is a no-go. We let customers know that if you purchase a home class OS, you will need to wipe the computer clean and rebuild it with the Pro version. That adds approximately $200 in cost for the software and $300 or more for the labor to do it. So, the $200 in savings is, in reality, a $300 extra expense. There are also other features that you just don’t find on home class machines, like TPM (see above), Wake-on-Lan, and others that make it more difficult to manage, usually translating into higher maintenance costs for you and potentially loss of functionality.

Labor Costs

Labor costs for delivery, set up, configuration, and installation usually range between 10 and 20% of the cost of the computer. They are unavoidable. New computers must be joined to security domains, users set up and configured, software installed, settings tested. Replacement computers require moving data from one computer to another, in addition to a new computer configuration. The further out of spec the computer is, the longer this process takes, and thus the more expensive the installation. For new computers purchased through us, for example, we charge a fixed fee to do all of the above. On average, we spend three hours setting up a new computer. If we are replacing a computer, it can sometimes take up to five hours. For computers that we don’t sell, we only bill hourly. There is no way for us to control all the variables that affect the installation time; thus, we can’t offer a fixed fee. What that means for you is yet another cost that must be considered when buying a computer competitor. If you buy something out of spec, the computer is missing hardware, or software, or forgetting a converter can dramatically affect the installation price.

Other Accessories

Don’t forget:

  • Monitor – the higher the resolution the easier it will be on your eyes. For some of us, the size matters.

  • Speakers/Soundbar/Microphone – some of the best innovations in office productivity is the corporate adoption of instant messaging. We use it for video meetings, as well as replacing our phone handsets. If you have ever had to join a webinar or dial a number and enter a passcode you know how annoying it can be. Having a Webcam and microphone allows a face-to-face meeting with virtually anyone in the United States at no cost. And better yet, no commute.

  • Cables –we all love opening the box and finding all the hardware we need except for the cable that makes it all work, so don’t forget to buy whatever cables you’re going to need with the computer. It’s even worse when we show up to install everything and cannot because we don’t have a single cable. Save yourself the frustration.

  • Converters-if you need a converter now is the time. This is an extraordinarily time-consuming process, but unfortunately necessary. If you are reusing old equipment, you should unplug the old equipment, document the connectors, then plug the equipment back in. You will need to make sure the computer has the same connector.

  • UPS-so you’re about to spend $1200 on a computer, but don’t want to buy a new uninterruptible power supply for $60? Many a computer has been saved, simply because the lightning storm took out the power supply instead of the computer. It’s effectively $60 worth of insurance. These things go bad, quite often. So, depending on the power coming into your building, you might need to replace this annually. We recommend replacing them at the time you are buying the computer or replacing an existing one at a minimum.

Capital Expense vs. Lease / Cash flow vs. depreciation

You may be asking yourself, why should I buy a machine that I know is going to be obsolete in three years. That is an excellent question. The most innovative development in our modern economy has been the adoption of subscription-based hardware services. By coupling hardware, software, and services into a monthly fixed cost, you are converting what would normally be a capital expense into an expense that comes directly out of net income. That means that you don’t have to amortize the deduction over multiple years (check with your CPA). We have a catalog if you’re interested. It even has pricing.

Let go of the hate

We get it. You want your computer to last 100 years. Let’s keep that thing working until it falls completely apart, right? The problem is that every study that has been done regarding the utility of a computer, shows that after three years the cost of maintenance increases dramatically. To combat this, most IT companies add a premium to maintenance contracts for maintaining machines older than three years. Besides, there is the cost of downtime, productivity, and employee frustration for having to work on a machine that is nine years old. Let go of this notion that your computer should last you until it falls apart. Unlike a car that you can maintain for a lifetime (just kidding Ford owners), it is a diminishing asset that loses value and costs productivity the moment you buy it until the moment you get rid of it. And at some point, it is an asset that will no longer function. Just repeat to yourself - 3 years. This is for 3 years.