Specifications

[Nicola]

We have just had a quote from RM for work stations and they suggest a mininum Spec of
Processor-800MHz (or faster)
RAM-256MB(or more)
Hard drive 20GB(or more)
Sound- any
CD/DVD-any
Network CArd 100Mbit (or faster)
Monitor 800x600x16 bit ( or better)

They have had a consultation with the management and know we are to run programs such as Sibelius,Adobe ,Photoshop,Pageplus,Drawplus,Prodesktop,Autocad/desk
They were also advised that we wish to try to future proof our IT dept as best we can.
I am now trying to convince my managers that what is in writing from this company is not really what we are wanting for our school but who am I against such professionals, being a network manager is irrelevant. Your thoughts/ comments would be much appreciated Thank You Nik

[machin05]

Aren't those the Windows 98SE minimum specs?

[plexer]

80mhz? even if they meant 800mhz those specs are about 10 years out of date.

Ben

[CPLTD]

Originally Posted by Nicola

We have just had a quote from RM for work stations and they suggest a mininum Spec of
Processor-800MHz (or faster)
RAM-256MB(or more)
Hard drive 20GB(or more)
Sound- any
CD/DVD-any
Network CArd 100Mbit (or faster)
Monitor 800x600x16 bit ( or better)

They have had a consultation with the management and know we are to run programs such as Sibelius,Adobe ,Photoshop,Pageplus,Drawplus,Prodesktop,Autocad/desk
They were also advised that we wish to try to future proof our IT dept as best we can.
I am now trying to convince my managers that what is in writing from this company is not really what we are wanting for our school but who am I against such professionals, being a network manager is irrelevant. Your thoughts/ comments would be much appreciated Thank You Nik

Hi Nicola,

Was great to speak with you yesterday regarding the all in one machines, Ive pasted your details on Dan from SCL online another sponsor here as these guys specialise in the All In One PC similar to what RM have quoted for you and Im sure he can advise you best on spec and availability,

Simon

[alan-d]

We've thrown out better spec PCs than that

[MYK-IT]

I agree with alan-d, the specifications of the computers we've replaced under our technology refresh are well above those specs given to you from RM! that includes computers replaced that are over 5 years old.

You'd want some power to run AutoCAD and Sibellius.

We have a suite of computers that have Cubase 4 & Sibellius installed and they have Intel Core 2 Duo 3GHZ, 4GB RAM, 256MB Video, Audigy XiFi Platinum Soundcards along with nice 22" WideScreen monitors which is great to show the music sheets & controls etc
and 5 Year NBD Warranty.

[broc]

Originally Posted by Nicola

We have just had a quote from RM for work stations and they suggest a mininum Spec of
Processor-800MHz (or faster)
RAM-256MB(or more)
Hard drive 20GB(or more)
Sound- any
CD/DVD-any
Network CArd 100Mbit (or faster)
Monitor 800x600x16 bit ( or better)

They have had a consultation with the management and know we are to run programs such as Sibelius,Adobe ,Photoshop,Pageplus,Drawplus,Prodesktop,Autocad/desk
They were also advised that we wish to try to future proof our IT dept as best we can.
I am now trying to convince my managers that what is in writing from this company is not really what we are wanting for our school but who am I against such professionals, being a network manager is irrelevant. Your thoughts/ comments would be much appreciated Thank You Nik

Ask your Management to get RM to provide you with a loan machine specified as per their documentation. Have them (or you) install the appropriate software you intend running on it, and then demonstrate it to them.

That should kill off any further hopes of doing business with them

[Jamman960]

I'd ask them to clarify their recommendations... did they not provide a recommended spec at the same time? They'd have trouble sourcing parts for a computer that low powered

When they can't provide a pc close enough to that spec just say you'll use ebay instead they'll soon come up with some sensible suggestions.

James

[yabbadabba]

The school I work at have recently had a large amount of new PC's and 2 x servers installed by RM.

This is my personal opinion and not the schools or my employers.

RM hardware is over priced, under spec and generally not that impressive.

I would not touch it, even with some one else's money

Dont even get me started on softare and support

[dhicks]

Originally Posted by Nicola

We have just had a quote from RM for work stations and they suggest a mininum Spec

As in their network management system requires that minimum specification of hardware. I doubt they are offering to sell you hardware like that - they are trying to sell you their network management system too. Check on the forums here for "RM networks" - personally I can't see the point in buying extra network management software to manage your Windows client machines when, after all, that's what Windows Server is for, but some people seem to like it.

RM could well be offering decent hardware for sale at a decent price (they're the ones who first brought in the EeePC last year, they simply re-badged it and sold it at £200 a go, which was pretty reasonable), you might like to look at just buying hardware off them without the extra management stuff.

--
David Hicks

[sammy]

Hi Nicola,

if your looking to use the programs that you are stating above i would be looking at base level workstations or high end desktops, something like MYK-IT mentioned above.

The specs they have shown are a joke and will make the machines horrible to use , thats assuming you manage to install those apps. Definitely get them to supply a loan machine.

Regards

Sam

[witch]

In order to future proof your systems you need to look at the more up to date versions of your software as you are likely to upgrade as time goes on. Show them this:
AutoCAD System Requirements


For 32-bit AutoCAD 2009:

* Intel® Pentium® 4 processor or AMD Athlon®, 2.2 GHz or greater
or
Intel or AMD Dual Core processor, 1.6 GHz or greater
* Microsoft® Windows Vista™, Windows® XP SP2 operating systems

For Microsoft Windows XP SP2:

* 1 GB RAM
* 750 MB free disk space for installation
* 1024x768 VGA with true color
* Microsoft® Internet Explorer® 6.0 (SP1 or higher)

For Microsoft Windows Vista or 3D modeling:

* Intel Pentium 4 processor or AMD Athlon, 3.0 GHz or greater
or
Intel or AMD Dual Core processor, 2.0 GHz or greater
* 2 GB RAM or greater
* 2 GB free hard disk available not including installation
* 1,280 x 1,024 32-bit color video display adapter (true color) 128 MB or greater, OpenGL®, or Direct3D® capable workstation class graphics card. For Windows Vista, a Direct3D capable workstation class graphics card with 128 MB or greater is required.

So if they go with the spec they have, they wont be able to update AutoCad
I'm sure you could do this with other software, and also investigate anything new that people might want that is not on the system yet but will be soon

[Andie]

I would have thought the back of any software box for the type of things you want to install will have a higher spec. And if you run Sophos as your AV software, you will be very slow at startup with 256Mb RAM each time the updates run. Our old Viglens have this kind of RAM and they are just about useable, but they are also Pentium 4 and we're not running Photoshop. And they are well over 5 years old!

We asked a local secondary school network manager for help when we were kitting out a new ICT Suite a few years back. I am attaching the recommended specs for hardware. Bear in mind that these were produced back in November 2005! We then sent the spec out with our tender, and anyone who didn't meet the spec (after our initial "why have you quoted this when we wanted this?") got taken off the list. In your case, as you have specific high-demand software that you need to run, take your recommendations from these and don't go for less.