When looking for or considering purchasing new PCs for a business there are many things that you need to consider. Here is a list of the top 10 things that will help you be a happy and more informed business shopper. 

1. First things first – You need to choose between a desktop PC or a Laptop. If you have many users who need to work remotely or who are always out of the office then it may be a better solution to choose laptops. However PCs have a better shelf life, and the ability to upgrade the hardware. This then means PCs have a longer shelf life and are more durable.  
2. An average small Business PC requires 2GB RAM. For those who need to run multiple applications like Sage, CRM, CAD or specialist software or for those with little patience 4GB RAM is preferable!
3. If you decide to buy a PC ensure it has the capacity to upgrade the hardware, specifically the ability to insert more RAM for the future. This will allow you to increase the performance speed as with time this tends to become slower.
4. Ensure it has Windows 7 Professional on it. This will allow you to connect your PC up to your server and or work in a work group environment.
5. Make sure you buy AV protection for your PC and remember that AVG does not permit its use for business purposes! A robust solution such as Symantec is recommended as it won’t hamper the PC/ Laptops performance.
6. Many businesses use Office on a day to day basis and Office 2010 can help boost your performance with easy to use tools. If you’re not sure, then most PC’s come with Office 2010 60 day trial. Or you can download a 60 day trial from Microsoft too. Please remember to get a professional version as this includes Outlook.
7. The processor in a PC also plays a key part in the speed and efficiency of a PC/Laptop ensure it is a Dual­Core processor and runs at 3.2 GHz. This will ensure your business applications run smoothly with little glitches. If you want something more powerful then consider a quad-core processor. 
8. Most PCs come with 500GB Storage capacity as standard as this is plenty if you plan on storing most data on your server. Most Laptops vary in storage capacity but it is suggested that you should have at least 250GB.
9. Also consider how you are going to back up or secure this data. If you have a server in place it is recommended that you get users to store data on this. This will then allow you to back up from one central location. If you do not have a server it is recommended that you back up data on to a external device like a hard drive.
10. Don’t forget to check that the PC includes a new keyboard mouse and of course a new screen if required!

These pointers were brought to you by Simple Sim! If you have any questions please feel free to contact me. If there is a topic of interest which you would like me to cover please let me know and I will do my best to cover it!