Neither question should be all that hard to answer. As a rule, the computers you need for your business are the very same machines you’ve seen displayed at big office supply stores, computer superstores, and in the mail-order ads in any computer magazine.

Unless you’re committed to buying Apple’s Macintosh computers — which isn’t a bad choice, but does limit your ability to shop for the best price — or unless you have very exacting technical requirements for specific high-end equipment, you won’t have to look any further.

In general, you want to look for the most widely displayed models, not the most prominently displayed ones. The most prominent new PCs — the ones that occupy two-page spreads in the computer magazines, or the biggest, least-crowded tables in the superstores — are for big spenders and speed demons only. That is, they’re for people willing to pay a significant premium over what the same product will cost in a few months, just to have the fastest, most advanced machine around. Of course, it’s never long before some other shiny new box claims the title of the fastest PC ever. http://digitalvar.com/includes/alias/