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Printers, scanners, fax machines, CD-R/RW drives, monitors - what do all these have in common, other than they're computer peripherals?
They can also be a royal headache, especially if you're using the wrong equipment. Your teleworkers' needs differ from those of your typical employee, whose access to workgroup faxes and printers is a given. Teleworkers' duties may differ as well and may require specialized equipment.
Choosing the wrong equipment can double a system's price or even halve your teleworkers' productivity.
Separate styles
Thinking of buying a multifunction scanner/printer/fax? If your needs are light and you're willing to accept that a breakdown in one component may affect them all, go ahead. However, if you rely heavily on a laser printer or fax machine for daily activities consider buying separate devices.
The OfficeJet v40xi ($250) and the LaserJet 3200se ($600) are two good print/fax/scan/copy choices from Hewlett-Packard. Scanner-hounds should take a good look at Canon's CanoScan N1220U ($200). If you're in need of a serious printer, check out Lexmark's T520 ($700) for monochrome or the C720 ($2,100) for color.
Surround yourself with sound
With the rise of Internet telephony, your teleworkers will need a good sound card to use their computers to answer voice calls. I've found Creative Labs' SoundBlaster Live Value delivers the best sound at a good price.
The card has a digital output for clear sound when driving the two- or four-speaker Cambridge Soundworks Digital speakers and subwoofer. The card also has analog front and rear speaker outputs, so you can use a less expensive pair of speakers. When combined with an HS1 noise-canceling headset from Plantronics ($27, retail), your teleworkers will enjoy Internet telephony and high-fidelity stereo sound.
Visual acuity
Not all flat square tubes are flat - some, such as my Samsung SyncMaster 1100P, sport a slight curve. Even so, I've yet to see a LCD monitor come close to its resolution and contrast. But which is right for you - CRT or LCD? For comparison, let's consider two similarly priced monitors from Samsung.
The SyncMaster 770TFT 17-inch LCD monitor (around $850) has a resolution of 1280 by 1024 at 76 Hz, a pixel size of .264mm, a brightness of 170 candelas per square meter, and a contrast ratio of 200- to-1. The SyncMaster 1200NF "Natural Flat" CRT monitor ($780) has a 22-inch screen (20 inches viewable) with a resolution of 2048 by 1536 at 75Hz, and a pixel size of .24mm.
The CRT provides 10% greater pixel resolution, 140% greater resolution overall, and better brightness and contrast than its LCD cousin. Both monitors share the same maximum viewable image size (406.4mm by 304.8mm), but the CRT 1200NF costs $70 less.The big advantage of a LCD is that it weighs a lot less and takes up less space.
If portability is a factor or you really need the space, take advantage of recent price reductions on LCD monitors. Otherwise, you'll probably be happier with a flat-screen CRT.
Connection inspection
Before buying any peripheral, think about how you want to connect it. There are currently eight common connection protocols on the market.
With so many competing standards, what type of connection should you use for each peripheral?
First, skip USB for keyboards and mice - if your operating system ever burps, they're useless. Use the old PS2 ports instead. For scanners and digital cameras, USB is better. Firewire is the standard for digital video and can also be used for external hard drives, which is great if you need a portable, high-speed hard disk drive. Use SCSI-2 or SCSI-3 for your servers, and Fibre Channel for your server farms. Bluetooth is a good solution for connecting PDAs or when you need a portable keyboard/mouse combo that's physically separated from the computer. Finally, if you've got a laptop, chances are it has an IrDA port that you can use with many similarly equipped printers and other laptops.
Next story: Ergo, therefore, I am (ergonomic considerations for teleworkers).
Janss is the president of Jansys Information Systems, a consulting firm specializing in IS technologies for small businesses. He can be reached at bizcom@jansys.com.
