Hardware Evaluation and
Selection
James D. Lehman
Educational Technology
Purdue University
Ideal Process

Go through the following steps:
– Assess your needs
– Select software that will meet your needs
– Purchase hardware that will operate the selected
software
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The ideal rarely occurs anymore. Most
schools and businesses already have an
established hardware base, so compatibility
with that base becomes an overriding
concern.
Major Educational Systems

Apple Macintosh family
– Represents about 30% of computers in
U.S. schools

IBM and compatibles (Wintel) family
– Represents about 70% of computers in
U.S. schools
System Selection Criteria
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Software availability
Screen display
Keyboard/mouse
External storage
Other peripherals
Service
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Processor
Sound capability
Internal memory
Printer
Expandability
Cost
We will look more closely at each of these criteria.
Software Availability

Educational software
– Both Wintel and Mac are widely represented in the
educational software market.

Tool applications
– Wintel family dominates the overall tool market,
although Mac is popular in niches such as graphic
design, video production, etc.

Systems software
– Mac pioneered the user friendly OS; the Wintel
family caught up with Windows 95 and beyond.
Processor
Both processor type and speed of
operation (MHz) determine overall
system speed.
 Wintel family

– Based on Intel chips up through the latest
dual-processor models
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Mac family
– Recently switched from PowerPC
processors to Intel processors.
Screen Display
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Screen display issues include:
– type of display
– size of the display (measured in inches
diagonally like TVs)
– resolution (number of pixels)
– color (number of available colors)

Capabilities depend both on the actual
display as well as the video card and
available video memory
Screen Display

Wintel family
– Evolved through CGA, EGA, mCGA, VGA, SVGA
and now XGA and SXGA standards.
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Mac family
– Evolved through B/W, 8 bit, 16 bit, and 24-32 bit
(true color) systems.
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32-128 M of video memory (VRAM) is
common today. The more VRAM the greater
the resolution and color display possible.
Games often use part of the capacity for
video rendering as well.
Sound
In today's multimedia computers, sound
is often a very important element.
 Wintel family
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– Digital sound sometimes must be added
via an optional board (e.g., Sound Blaster).

Mac family
– Digital sound input and output is built into
all Macintosh computers and has been
from their inception.
Keyboard and Mouse

Wintel family
– Pioneered the use of function keys, number pads,
and other useful features on keyboard. Two button
mouse and a scrolling wheel for added
functionality. Optical mouse eliminates many of the
problems with mechanical mice.

Mac family
– Some Mac systems have a smaller keyboard with
less functionality than typical Wintel desktop
machines. One button mouse is used for
simplicity.
Internal Memory

Memory is critically important for operating
systems and large applications. Most
computers now need 256-512M of main
memory for minimal functioning. More is
becoming increasingly necessary (1-2G is
recommended for Windows Vista). It is a
good idea to get plenty of memory when
purchasing a system; memory is usually
relatively inexpensive at purchase time.
External Storage

Floppy Disks
– 3 1/2" - 1.44M (Starting to disappear.
Apple no longer makes systems with floppy
drives)

Hard Disk
– Sizes start at about 20 G today and range
on up.
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Optical Drive
– CD-ROM or DVD-ROM, often with
“burning” capability
External Storage
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Removable Mid-Range Storage
– Flash drives use non-volatile memory,
connect to the USB port, and act like
another disk drive. Capacities range from
about 64M to several G.
Printers
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Ink Jet
– Low cost, good quality text and graphics.
But, relatively expensive to operate.
Excellent color printing capability available
at reasonable cost.
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Laser
– Best quality text and graphics, fastest
printing. But, more expensive to buy and
operate, especially for color.
Other Peripherals
USB ports – allow connectivity to
various peripherals (e.g., printer,
scanner, digital camera)
 IEEE-1394 (Firewire) port – connectivity
for digital video camcorder, external
hard drive
 Modem
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Expandability
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Expandability refers to the built-in capability
for upgrading a particular computer.
Most computers today allow features to be
added through the use of add-in boards
which go into expansion slots in the machine.
Memory can generally be expanded through
the addition of memory chips (e.g., DIMMs)
on the computer motherboard. Some
computers are designed to allow upgrades to
faster processors.
Service
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Service is an important consideration. Level
of selected service often depends on how
critical the system is.
On-site service — repair persons come to
your site to fix any problems. IBM is famous
for this type of service but it is expensive.
Carry in service — computer is dropped off at
vendor; most computer stores offer this.
Mail repair — in the worst case, the machine
must be shipped to the manufacturer
Cost
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Cost is always an important
consideration. Costs for systems the
"average" user might buy are now
around $1,000 or so. Inexpensive
systems can be purchased for under
$500. Some high end systems may go
for more than $3,000.
The End