Differences In Buying Consumer Vs Business Class Computers
With so many choices and pricing on computers, how can you navigate the best computers for your business?
Computer purchasing is no longer as simple as buying the one machine a company offers. Long gone are the days when you might have put in your order for desktop computers the same way you’d put your order in for other appliances. There simply are so many options, prices and features that it’s hard to compare apples to apples and even harder to make a sound decision for your business investment.
The biggest question I’ve been getting this year on computer purchasing is: why can’t I just get a consumer-grade computer (i.e., that machine you pick up at Best Buy or Walmart) instead of a business-class computer.
The hard fact is that consumer-grade computers are meant for a different purpose than work computers.
If you owned a laundry mat, would you buy the discount washing machine at your local appliance store?
In all likelihood, you’d only consider a handful of brands that specialized in industrial-grade washing machines.
Why?
Those machines were specifically designed for a your specific needs. When engineers design industrial-grade washing machines, they take into consideration a whole bunch of scenarios that would likely never be needed for a typical household. These machines are probably used ALL the time—running day in and day out. They are probably holding much larger loads of laundry. They probably can spin dry at a faster rate and might even allow for hotter water temps.
The average household washing machine would probably break down or be incapable of meeting your long day demands that an industrial machine would be able to do without a hitch.
Computers are no different from washing machines.
There is a time and a place for your consumer-grade computers (we’d liken these to that household washing machine). They run okay, can perform basics—maybe email or word processing well—but are probably not going to be able to get through countless long days of work, running multiple software packages at once. And these computers might even not be compatible with all software a business may need.
Just like that household washing machine, if you were to run your consumer-grade over the counter computer to the bone all day, every day, it would probably break down and you may have no recourse than to replace it.
Today, I want to walk you through 10 reasons why you probably should be considering using business-class computers for work rather than opting for an off-the-shelf option:
Long life spans—because you’re probably anticipating needing to hold onto the computers you use for your business for years, you probably need machines that either will be able to replace specific parts on or upgrade if needed. If you purchase a “out of the box” consumer-grade computer, you’ll probably have a hard time finding replacement parts after a year and if you need to add memory or upgrade your hardware at all to make it compatible to run your business software, you might be out of luck. On the other hand, most mainstream business-class machines are capable of being upgraded—for storage or memory—and have replacement parts available much longer in the future than consumer-grade counterparts.
They’re built to last—business computers were designed with workers in mind. They are built with higher quality components that are tested more rigorously. Because of this, they can withstand more wear and tear than the average consumer models. If you’re thinking your out-of-the-box option ends up a hundred bucks cheaper than a comparable business model, likely a big portion of that cost differential is related to its long-term durability.
We’re able to repair them—as I mentioned above, consumer models tend to have short shelf lives. If a consumer-grade computer stays on store shelves for a year, that’s a long time. This means that if you have a part break on your computer, you may be out of luck with consumer-grade machines. Your only resolution may be to replace the entire computer.
They’re more powerful—overall, business-class computers use far more powerful processors and graphics units, have better cooling solutions and batteries than consumer counterparts. If you were to upgrade that consumer model to have all of the same exact specs as the business model, you likely wouldn’t see that cheap price tag any longer! One simple question to ask yourself regarding power: If your users are on their machines all day, could you settle for lower processing power and speed?
Longer warranties—this often slips the radar when purchasing your computer. You certainly don’t want to think about if something were to break. But in a business environment, computers almost always need to running. If something were to break? Not only will you be out a computer, but precious time lost waiting for a replacement or a computer to be fixed, along with costs of computer repairs.
Consumer-grade computers likely come with a one-year limited warranty, with no option to extend the warranty. On the other hand, business-class warranties last between three and five years—likely the life of the machine at your business.
Your software may not be compatible—your business computers are running a professional or business-class operating system, right? Not so when it comes to consumer-grade computers. If you look closely, instead of a Pro version of Windows, you’ll find a Home version—which has many of the much needed security and networking features stripped from it (because the computer isn’t expected to handle the capacity of running a Pro version.
And if you wanted to upgrade to Pro? That might be another $200 line item not originally anticipated to your retail cost!
Bloatware-free—your consumer-grade computer is also packed to the brim with trial versions of all sorts of software your business doesn’t use. What’s the harm in this? These programs are running in the background, popping up recommendations for you to upgrade to a subscription or license for software. Software companies are actually helping to keep consumer computer costs low by getting their billboard popup ads installed on the machine. You may need to spend more time or money getting the garbage off of your computer so that it runs even remotely the way you want it to.
Easier remote management—instead of having to deal with expensive onsite visits from your IT Support (or having to wait for an onsite guy to help you with an issue), many businesses prefer having the option of remote management to deal with issues quickly and get workers back to work fast. The problem with many consumer models is that they lack the technologies—or at least make it hard—to facilitate remote management. If you opted for a consumer-grade computer, you are already at risk for things not to run as smoothly. On top of that, you’re risking even remote support? Sounds like a deal breaker for most businesses!
Standardize equipment to transfer to other team members—if you’re relying on out-of-the-box solutions, your office probably isn’t using standardized equipment across the office. The problem with this is that in the event one team member leaves or you no longer need a specific role, that computer may be obsolete for other roles. You may end up with an excess of computer inventory that no longer meets your business’ demands or lag times to order new machines when new team members with specific requirements join your ranks. With a standardized business solution, you could trade computers across team members relatively quickly and painlessly without the lag time.
Prepare your machine in 48 hours—we guarantee a 48 hour turnaround time to set up your machines if you opt for business-class standards. Since consumer computers may come with other unexpected issues, such as additional bloatware or incompatibility issues, set up times on them may vary. If you’re like most businesses and need consistency, opting for a computer that meets expectations and has a track record to deploy to your team seamlessly might be a deciding factor towards opting for a business-class option.
Have any more questions on what computers to buy for your team? Contact us TODAY to talk through what would work best for your business.
