Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below What are the key ingredients in your home office?
your essentials for a home office><><><<<<
- Thread starter juiceddreadlocks
- Start date
computer
scanner
digital camera
office line
printer
shipping boxes
tape
scale
dry erase board
scanner
digital camera
office line
printer
shipping boxes
tape
scale
dry erase board
Internet Connection 3084 downstream, 384 upstreamjuicedpigtails said:
My tablet pc
Acer c303xmi
1gb ram
80 gb hd
1.7ghz centrino
bluetooth
b/g wi-fi
media bay for included DVD burner or second battery
PCMCIA sound card
http://reviews.cnet.com/Creative_So...Notebook_sound_card/4505-3022_7-31156120.html
Printer fax scanner copier http://reviews.cnet.com/HP_OfficeJet_7410/4505-3181_7-31130701.html
hp 7410
30ppm black
22ppm color
digital fax
fax from pc
built in wi-fi and network connectivity
internet printing
2 inch lcd display
memory card slots for photo printing
Router
D-Link DI-624 AirPlus Xtreme G router
http://reviews.cnet.com/D-Link_DI-624_AirPlus_Xtreme_G_router/4505-3319_7-20817312.html
Voice over IP (internet phone)
http://reviews.cnet.com/Vonage/4505-9238_7-30974765.html
VOIP adapter
http://reviews.cnet.com/Linksys_Phone_Adapter_PAP2_-_analog_telephone_adapter/4505-5_7-31113923.html
linksys PAP2 phone adapter for VOIP
Cable Modem
http://reviews.cnet.com/MOTOROLA_Surfboard_DOCSIS_20_Cable_Modem/4505-3004_7-30482516.html
External DVD/CD burner (so i dont have to swap optical drives on my tablet)
http://reviews.cnet.com/Memorex_Dua...BIEEE_1394_FireWire/4505-3206_7-31114623.html
memorex 16x dual layer external dvd burner (48X 32X ) CDR, RW USB, Firewire connection
telephone
http://reviews.cnet.com/Uniden_TRU-8885-2/4505-3499_7-30882094.html
Uniden TRU 8885 wireless 5.8ghz system
portable wireless optifcal mini mouse
http://reviews.cnet.com/Microsoft_Wireless_Notebook_Optical_Mouse_Slate/4505-3148_7-31107723.html
USB 2.0 hub (linking high speed USB devices together)
http://reviews.cnet.com/HI-SPEED_USB_20_4PORT_HUB/4505-3335_7-20281146.html
Essential Software
Mozilla Firefox browser
Adobe acrobat 7.0 Professional
Norton Internet Security 2005
Partition Magic
Microsoft Office 2003 (2003 edition has digital ink capabilities built in)
AD Aware SE Professional
Spybot Search and Destroy
System Mechanic (registry compacter and startup change guard)
WinRar Corporate Edition (rar file, iso file)
NERO 6.0 (burning DVD's, burning anything else)
IPSwitch FTP pro (hipaa compliant file transfer)
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If you have important files - a really good backup procedure.
I have a backup server on my network. Should everything on the network get fried by lightning, I have a USB 2.0 Hard Drive that is left unplugged with nothing attached. Should the whole place burn to the ground I have offsite DVD-R's that I can recover from. The frequency with which you update your backups like the offsite DVDRs and the USB 2.0 can be determined by the amount of work you do but you do not want to learn the backup lesson the hard way.
I also like to keep a complete drive image of my systems should my harddrives go down or become corrupted (it's a full day to reinstall from scratch and I've done that too many times). Right now I'm using Acronis True Image with my backups on the USB 2.0 HD. It offers good compression and works like a charm off an easy boot disc.
I'd also recommend a KVM switch [Keyboard, Video, Mouse] if you have more than one PC. I have a primary desktop for number crunching, a network server, and a laptop. A KVM switch allows me to use my single flat pannel and wireless Mouse/KB with all of them toggling between with the click of a button. Significantly cuts down on clutter.
Obviously fully updated firewall & antivirus.
A good laser printer and fax machine. Buy good quality here as having these go down can screw you and it's not like a large office where you can print to another printer or provide an alternative fax number.
I have a backup server on my network. Should everything on the network get fried by lightning, I have a USB 2.0 Hard Drive that is left unplugged with nothing attached. Should the whole place burn to the ground I have offsite DVD-R's that I can recover from. The frequency with which you update your backups like the offsite DVDRs and the USB 2.0 can be determined by the amount of work you do but you do not want to learn the backup lesson the hard way.
I also like to keep a complete drive image of my systems should my harddrives go down or become corrupted (it's a full day to reinstall from scratch and I've done that too many times). Right now I'm using Acronis True Image with my backups on the USB 2.0 HD. It offers good compression and works like a charm off an easy boot disc.
I'd also recommend a KVM switch [Keyboard, Video, Mouse] if you have more than one PC. I have a primary desktop for number crunching, a network server, and a laptop. A KVM switch allows me to use my single flat pannel and wireless Mouse/KB with all of them toggling between with the click of a button. Significantly cuts down on clutter.
Obviously fully updated firewall & antivirus.
A good laser printer and fax machine. Buy good quality here as having these go down can screw you and it's not like a large office where you can print to another printer or provide an alternative fax number.
S
Spartacus
Guest
nutrag
Madcow2 said:
hey great post. one of the things I accidentally left out of my ingredients for a home office was my backup harddrive. It is ethernet connected. It has a backup of all my documents.
Great ideas
http://reviews.cnet.com/Ximeta_NetDisk_250GB/4505-3186_7-30789093.html
Network attached storage
Ximeta NetDisk 250GB external HD. I have the 120GB version. Had it been available, I would have snagged the 250GB one.
Network attached storage
Ximeta NetDisk 250GB external HD. I have the 120GB version. Had it been available, I would have snagged the 250GB one.
rsnoble-im-back
Banned
the-short-one said:
same, +beer fridge and tv. Well, I dont have the erase board.
S
Spartacus
Guest
the beer takes care of thatrsnoble-im-back said:
Razorguns
Well-known member
don't forget ...
a good multi-line voice mail system. There a few companies (forget the url) which you can subscribe to which can pretty much simulate a office type of phone system.
Meaning "can i place you on hold" and "for a company directory" or a "if you have a question on this product dial 4". Completely fools callers. No one wants to hear "Hey this is Joe's company. I ain't here, so leave a msg".
I don't know if VOIP can do that, since I don't have it. But i think it costs like $40/month for that service.
Only necessary of course, if you're dealing with a lot of inter-personal communication with your clients and want to put on a full professional image of a solid full-blown company. If people know you're a small little company or mainly call your cell -- it probably isn't necessary.
a good multi-line voice mail system. There a few companies (forget the url) which you can subscribe to which can pretty much simulate a office type of phone system.
Meaning "can i place you on hold" and "for a company directory" or a "if you have a question on this product dial 4". Completely fools callers. No one wants to hear "Hey this is Joe's company. I ain't here, so leave a msg".
I don't know if VOIP can do that, since I don't have it. But i think it costs like $40/month for that service.
Only necessary of course, if you're dealing with a lot of inter-personal communication with your clients and want to put on a full professional image of a solid full-blown company. If people know you're a small little company or mainly call your cell -- it probably isn't necessary.
juicedmohawk said:
good list, i pretty much have most of that stuff for my home office
i like the idea of an external hard drive as a back up system, somethin i really need to purchase, and software that can automate that process.
also, a filing cabinet is pretty much a necessity for keeping track of paper stuff, and receipts, etc.
i would also add to that list a coffee pot
do you have experience with services like this using VOIP?jerkbox said:
lol, agreed on the coffee pot.jerkbox said:good list, i pretty much have most of that stuff for my home office
i like the idea of an external hard drive as a back up system, somethin i really need to purchase, and software that can automate that process.
also, a filing cabinet is pretty much a necessity for keeping track of paper stuff, and receipts, etc.
i would also add to that list a coffee pot
I would appreciate if you posted whatever software you found to use to keep a consistent backup. My external drive is connected via ethernet into our wireless network hub. It is nice to take files to and from wirelessly. I havent had any luch using any drive imaging. Backing things up regularly is really tedious.
Do you have any particular filing cabinet that looks somewhat stylish? (for if it has to be in plain sight)
juicedmohawk said:
i need to look into back up stuff.....Norton Ghost or maybe this
http://www.download.com/Genie-Backup-Manager-Home-Edition/3000-2242_4-10330178.html?tag=lst-0-10
filing cabinets....i have an old metal piece of crap, but ikea has some cool hanging file folder stuff for cheap.....lots of cool office stuff actually.
I will also just reiterate - if you have critical information, keep a copy unconnected to the network and preferably offsite. A major lightning hit, serious virus, or fire can take out everything on the network and besides the virus the whole house. If it really matters, you best get a copy the hell out of there. A set of burned CDs updated as necessary at a friend or relative's house can save you in a big way.
If i do tech work at home, the data is actually only on my cpu for about a week. there is a copy on our FTP site. The non attached backup is in the form of a CD. I would hate to go the way of the lightning.Madcow2 said:
Madcow2 said:
a good surge protector is also a worthwhile investment....
one that has rj-45, phone and coaxial ports as well
http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=12-120-406&depa=0
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