With so many computers advertised, what should one look for? That depends on what one wants to do. Since I am a graphic artist, I will address what one needs in this day and age.

I have read many articles on the "Dream" graphic home system. Some have unfortunately made me shudder because the computers described were so poorly balanced. The following example shows a poorly balanced computer: A Pentium III 1.5 Mhz with a 8 MB graphic card and 256 MB of RAM. If one needs 256 MB of RAM coupled with such a fast machine, one is probably doing graphics. If so, an 8 MB video card is very inadequate. But I have seen people with similar configurations who cannot get the performance from their machines that they thought they would.

At this point in time, I consider the following to be a good system for intensive graphics. By intensive, I mean using programs like Adobe Photoshop, Macromedia Flash, Right Hemisphere Deep Paint and others.

• A Pentium III 700 and higher
• Windows 98 second edition or windows 2000. Not all graphic programs can be run on ME.
• At least 250 MB of RAM with 500 recommended. Photoshop and Deep Paint, for example, are RAM intensive and so are animation programs.
• A 32 MB video card. Forget the fancy stuff for TV Input, etc. This is for graphics.
• If possible SCSI drives. They are faster than IDE drives if.

The rest is up to the individual. I have a CD burner and a regular CD and a zip drive. I have two scsi cards, one for my drives and the other for my scanner. The cards work faster if they are independent of each other (all scsi based peripherals on one card and all scsi drives on the other). I do not use USB ports only because they have never been practical with my system configuration. I cannot comment on them.

My peripheral recommendations are a digitizing tablet. I like the Wacom products. I honestly do not know the latest makes. But one can find them in all catalogs and on the Wacom web site. Also, a film scanner. Once again, like my digitizing tablet, mine is an older model and I do not know the new ones. But you pay for what you get. Do not be fooled by a cheap flatbed scanner which claims it can do negatives or slides. A good combination scanner, and there are a number on the market are about $800. However, inexpensive flatbed scanners can be good. I have been very surprised with results obtained from scanners under $150.

The last item, I will discuss is the printer. Until recently, prints could not be kept a long time before they faded although I have some under glass that are more than five years old. I recommend Epson printers. Two that have been tried and true are the 870 and 1270. Specific Epson papers can last up to 20 years. For more details, see the Epson web site. They do have a printer, the 2000p that retails for about $900 whose combination of Epson paper and inks can last well over one hundred years. I personally have not seen actual results from it. Unless one is going to sell work and needs to promise that type of longevity, I do not believe one needs to run out and buy it.

Lastly, if one is purchasing a computer through the mail, make sure that the warrantee is not invalidated if you personally add on hardware after you receive it.