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Bryley Basics: Current PC configuration for office use

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Recommended configuration

We recommend brand-name PCs (HP is our preference, but Dell is also a US-based company with good products) with Intel processors and these minimum features:

  • 8Gb (or more) of RAM
  • A 250Gb (or larger) fixed-disk drive
  • DisplayPort video with two monitors

We typically deploy Windows 8.1 (or downgrade to Windows 7 upon request), but Windows 10 is slated to be released this summer.  Microsoft Office 2013 is the current version; Microsoft Office 2016 will be available in late 2015.

Favored options

We like these options:

  • SSDs (Solid State Drives) – SSDs are memory-only drives with no moving parts, which makes them durable and fast. They speed-up the boot process and work well for those that store large files.  Though they have dropped in price, they still add about $100 to the price of most PCs, but pay-off for high-end users.  (We don’t always quote these because of their higher price, but the boot-up speed is significantly faster.)
  • Ultrabook – Ultrabook is a thin, light, durable, high-end sub-notebook with reasonable battery life. Combined with a docking station, it’s a great, mobile alternative to a desktop computer.  Due to their sleek physique, most do not have internal DVD drives and have few external ports.

Most of our staff have an Ultrabook with a docking station, which works well for the field technicians and account executives.  Many of our newer PCs have SSD drives.

PC Refresh Schedule:  We recommend developing a PC-refresh schedule, one that meets the budget and objectives of the organization.  For example: Bryley Systems replaces at least one PC each quarter, which gives us a maximum replacement-PC cycle of about four-and-½ years for our 18 employees.