Ivana Profit, 42 / product manager, Nifty Widget Co.
Why Buy?
"Meetings with the marketing staff, strategic-planning sessions, ad-design consults, budget battles -- I've got precious little time at my desk. Who has time to futz with a poky, underpowered computer? It's time to upgrade so my computer can keep up with me."
Planned Computer Uses
Number crunching, creating and playing back multimedia presentations, report writing, project scheduling. Ivana often likes to run several applications concurrently. And who knows what new uses may arise? Next week, Ivana may need to jump into teleconferencing.
Purchase Constraints
It's a headache to navigate the capital-appropriations procedures for a new machine, so Ivana wants to make sure her new computer has plenty of room to grow. Her new Mac has to incorporate state-of-the-art technology and be easy to upgrade.
Recommended System
Apple Power Mac 7500/100
Why
Apple's Power Mac 7500 offers Ivana three things she prizes: speed, upgradability, and versatility. Her thousand-plus-cell spreadsheets recalc in an instant, and animated presentations run smoothly.
Three PCI slots put this machine on the technological cutting edge; the processor is what will become obsolete first, in a few years. She's covered there -- the processor's on a daughtercard, so upgrading will mean a simple card swap. Furthermore, the 7500's newly designed chassis makes its logic board and other innards extremely accessible. If Ivana's calendar weren't so full, she could see for herself that installing an add-in card in a Power Mac 7500 is actually enjoyable.
Plenty of RAM lets Ivana keep several applications open at once, making it easy to refer to detailed spreadsheet data while she cranks out weekly financial-status reports. The roomy hard disk is far from filled, even after Ivana loads her varied applications. Built-in video-in ports let her transfer snippets of proposed TV commercials to use in computer-based presentations. And, with Apple's optional QuickTime Conferencing Kit ($200), she'll be able to meet face-to-face with colleagues on other floors of her building -- without taking the elevator.
Drawbacks
The biggest minus of the 7500 is the price tag: about $1,000 above machines a tier lower. At press time, Apple was still tracking down printing bugs in the 7500's system software.
Ivana's loyal and efficient assistant, Bob, keeps her organized; manages her schedule with a calendar program; types her letters; sends and receives faxes; and updates and distributes Ivana's presentations and project schedules, accessing them over the office's Ethernet network.
Recommended System
Power Computing Power 100
Why
If Bob's computer slows him down, Ivana can miss important, timely information. That means Bob's computer must be speedy. But it doesn't need multimedia razzle-dazzle; as long as Bob can plug into the office network, he's all set. The Power 100 edges out its competition -- the Apple 7200 models -- by omitting a CD-ROM drive and delivering more processing power for less money.
Drawbacks
The Power 100 lacks PCI slots and instead packs older, slower NuBus expansion slots. The processor is attached to the motherboard, making processor upgrades trickier than for the 7500, for example.
Recommended System: Power Computing Power 100
* 100-MHz PowerPC 601 processor
* 8 MB of RAM
* 540-MB hard drive
* Keyboard
Price: $1,699
Recommended Add-Ons
* 15-inch color monitor
* Ethernet 10BASE-T connector
* Fax modem
Estimated price of add-ons: $775
Demanding Mucky-Muck / a system for an exec who craves power
Who
Ivana's boss's boss, Napoleon, has assigned Ivana the dubious honor of recommending his next Mac. From what she knows about his job, she's certain he doesn't need the AV features of Apple's 7500 and she knows that a 120-MHz processor will satisfy even Napoleon's craving for power. She's left, then, to debate whether to be frugal and get a NuBus system or ride the cutting edge by suggesting a costlier PCI box.
Recommended System
Power Computing PowerWave 604/120
Why
Ivana feels that the PowerWave 120 is an ideal executive-class computer. Its main processor is on a daughtercard, for easy upgrades; it comes equipped with a performance-boosting Level 2 cache; and it ships with Microsoft Office. She also decides to save $250 by forgoing the NuBus/PCI option and betting on PCI as solid, promising technology. When she explains this to Napoleon, he praises her foresight.
Drawback
The PCI/NuBus flexibility is untried technology.
Recommended System: Power Computing PowerWave 604/120
* 120-MHz PowerPC 604 processor
* 16 MB of RAM
* 1-GB hard drive
* ATI graphics card with 2 MB of VRAM
* Keyboard
* Three-PCI-slot configuration
Price: $3,150
Recommended Add-On
* 17-inch color monitor
Estimated price of add-on: $800
The Go-Between / straddling the Mac/PC divide
Who
Ivana's financial-planning manager, Jason, provides up-to-date profit-and-loss statements for Ivana's product-management team. He's also in charge of providing his team's profit estimates to the parent corporation and must use a custom-built, DOS-based application to do so. He spends about 30 percent of his time in DOS.
Recommended System
Apple Power Mac 7200/90
Why
Jason's day-to-day duties, which focus on dollars and cents, don't require enormous processing power. What he does need is zippy DOS performance, so Jason opts for a hardware approach rather than software-based PC emulation. PCI-based cards are speedier than NuBus cards, so Jason picks Orange Micro's 420 card, a PCI card sporting a 66-MHz 486 processor and 8 MB of RAM. Always the bean counter, he forgoes Apple's speediest PCI machine and settles for a more economical business-class system.
Drawback
Difficult to upgrade processor, since it's not on a daughtercard.
The Quadra 610 is a workhorse. It's no match for a PowerPC-based machine, but it is more than adequate for many business tasks. Built-in Ethernet provides an easy fit into most offices, and in case PowerPC power becomes necessary, a now-discontinued 6100/60 logic-board upgrade is still available from dealers (about $1,100).
Drawbacks
The processor is relatively slow. Room for just one expansion card (PDS or NuBus). Low-capacity hard drive.
Recommended System: Apple Quadra 610
* 25-MHz 68040 processor
* 8 MB of RAM
* 230-MB hard drive
* Keyboard
Used price: $700
Recommended Add-On
* 15-inch color monitor
Estimated price of used add-on: $150
Salesperson Unplugged / making a case on the road
Who
Wanda, the top salesperson in Ivana's division, uses any available tool to convey her message to her clients, including multimedia presentations with jazzy sound and snazzy animated graphics. She's on the road constantly, so she also relies on her computer for more-mundane tasks such as faxing and e-mailing and keeping a customer database.
Recommended System
Apple PowerBook 5300c
Why
The 5300 is a snappy business-productivity computer, and presentations will look terrific on its active-matrix color screen. Wanda could have saved $1,000 by opting for a dimmer passive-matrix screen, but she can't be sure every client will have a spare monitor impressive enough for her presentations. Many of her pitches are created in the Promotions Department, and -- thanks to the 5300's infrared transceiver and a desktop IR receiver -- she can transfer them to her PowerBook easily.
Drawbacks
The active-matrix screen hogs battery power; spare batteries are a must. Can't accommodate an internal CD-ROM drive.
Recommended System: Apple PowerBook 5300c
* 100-MHz PowerPC 603e processor
* 16 MB of RAM
* 750-MB hard drive
Price: $4,499
Recommended Add-On
* 28.8-kbps fax-modem card
Estimated price of add-on: $300
Convenience Unleashed / new business needs room to grow -- without hassle
Who
Ivana's younger sister, Maura, is launching an upscale dog-grooming business. She's no computer whiz -- she cares far more about bites than bytes -- but she needs a Mac for maintaining a customer list, performing accounting, producing invoices, and perhaps producing handbills to pass out at dog shows. She'll consider her computer purchase a success if the computer works out of the box and she doesn't have to think about new computer hardware or software for at least the next few years.
Recommended System
Apple Performa 6300CD
Why
The Performa 6300 was designed for home users, but its powerful 100-MHz processor and generous software bundle make it a fine first Mac for business. Convenience is the concept here. Nearly everything Maura needs -- hardware and software -- comes in a single package. Heck, she could go to her local computer reseller on her way back from the kennel, purchase the system, set it up, and produce her first memo in less than an hour. The 6300CD -- the most muscular Performa ever -- is powerful enough to handle her fairly predictable computing needs. Plenty of RAM, hard-disk space, and speed ensure that she won't have to worry about the care and feeding of her Mac for years to come.
Drawback
The processor is attached directly to the motherboard, so upgrading will be difficult, if not impossible.
Recommended System: Apple Performa 6300CD
* 100-MHz PowerPC 603e processor
* 16 MB of RAM
* 1.2-GB hard drive
* 4x CD-ROM drive
* 15-inch color monitor
* 28.8-kbps internal fax modem
Price: $2,799
Quantitative Quality / sophisticated number crunching demands processing muscle
Who
For assistance mapping out a strategic-marketing plan for her product, Ivana relies on her company's management-information director, Mark, who analyzes sales records, industry statistics, demographic data, and economic indicators to uncover potential sales.
Recommended System
Power Computing Power 120 minitower
Why
Serious number crunching needs serious power -- and a 120-MHz 601 processor offers plenty. Its speed will help when Mark's trying to analyze multivariable relationships while three product managers wait -- impatiently -- for information. A Zip drive is handy for archiving reports.
Drawbacks
No PCI. Minimal built-in color bit depth supported, although this shouldn't be a problem for data crunching.
Recommended System: Power Computing Power 120 minitower
* 120-MHz PowerPC 601 processor
* 16 MB of RAM
* 2-GB hard drive
* Internal Iomega Zip drive
* Keyboard
Price: $3,438
Recommended Add-Ons
* Accelerated-graphics card
* 17-inch color monitor
* 10BASE-T Ethernet connector
Estimated price of add-ons: $2,500
Used-Mac Option
Recommended System: Apple Power Mac 6100/60
* 60-MHz PowerPC 601 processor
* 8 MB of RAM
* 250-MB hard drive
* Keyboard
Used price: $950
Recommended Add-On
* 15-inch color monitor
Estimated price of used add-on: $150
Why
Getting a used 6100/60, the original entry-level Power Mac, is a great, inexpensive way to hop on the PowerPC bandwagon. Newer, faster models put strong downward pressure on the price, making this a terrific bargain.
Drawbacks
Older NuBus slots instead of newer, faster PCI slots. Upgrade prospects appear poor. Low-capacity hard drive.
