Buying A Corel Draw Platform BY DONALD JENNER SPECIAL TO COREL MAGAZINE If you haven't done it already, and regardless of which Corel Draw you are running, this is probably a very good time to buy a new PC. Making that purchase is never easy; we just did it here and we learned some things that might be helpful. The most surprising discovery is the degree of price-spread that still survives; the second most surprising discovery was the fashion vendors seek to create the impression of significant competitive difference. Let's look at that last item first. Here's the general thesis: Intel processor based, PC-family machines are generic commodities. Sure, there are differences. Some engineering designs squeeze marginally more performance out of the generic design. Some take approaches that make some kinds of upgrading potentially easier -- maybe.... But by and large, a PC-family computer mixes one of three basic architectures, with one of three basic processors, and a limited number of possible display systems, mass storage systems and so on. If the designs weren't pretty much generic, compatibility with software standards would suffer (as was the case in days gone by). If one high-end 486-based system is pretty much the same as the next, there simply isn't a lot of sense in paying a great deal more for one company's product than for another's. What does make a difference in that case is the price paid and the reliability of the source. But you wouldn't guess this is so, from the price spread on comparable systems. Take our "high-end" specification: EISA buss, 486/DX2/66mHz processor, 16mb of RAM, SCSI-2 controller and a big (500mb) SCSI hard disk (and let's leave out the very dicey issue of display systems for the moment). You can pay anywhere from $3,200. to $5,000. for this kind of s system. What's the difference? The less costly box will probably come from a local system builder, using generic parts from a range of Far Eastern suppliers. The half-way point in that spread will be essentially the same box, from a major mail order firm. The highest quotes offered were for name-brand systems (of different industry "tiers"), and were more or less the same when quoted direct from the vendor, large computer stores and mail order firms. Differences? Definitely. For example, AST rightly says its Premium EISA system is easier to upgrade down the road. The processor and its memory sit together on one card; pull the card and pop in the next generation processor. The local system builder's comment: When the time comes, simply replace the entire motherboard, and get not only the latest processor, but all the advantages of advancing archetecture, at a fairly comparable price. Guess what: The local builder -- it was Charles J. ("CJ") Wang of Syosset, NY-based Accutron, Inc. -- has a good point. And for $1,300, the difference between his made-to-measure box and the AST system as offered by Computer Discount Warehouse, one can well afford that upgrade down the road. As to peace of mind, the fact that a local system builder like Accutron is right around the corner (well, nearly...) is a lot more comforting than the thought that help is a matter of a phone call and a FedEx shipment away. As the saying goes, "I know where you live...." So much for the odyssey of making a choice of source -- and you have a good idea, from the system description above, what I think represents the general characteristics of a "high end" graphics-capable PC-family machine. Not everyone needs a superbox like that. Here's a "mid-range" solution: ISA buss (that's essentially the same archetecture IBM introduced in its 1985 PC/AT -- a very successful design), 486DX/33mHz, 8mb or 16mb of RAM (more is better, but here we are being more cost- conscious), and a 250mb IDE hard drive. The spread on this system is roughly $1,800. to $2,600., with the same intermediate points, depending on source and whose name is on the box. Again, Accutron became the source of choice; this really is a commodity item, so utterly generic that, so long as the local builder has a reasonably good reputation (Accutron has that reputation) there is no good reason to pay one dollar more than the minimum. Actually, on the mid-range system, I added an unusual stipulation: I want this box in a very compact, low-profile case. This is another instance where the local system-builder offers an advantage: Just about every system is custom-built. Since the vendor is local, you can visit, and see just what the options are -- and the liabilities as well as advantages to a particular choice. In this instance, the case will take up a lot less room in a crowded space, but will result in fewer available slots for expansion down the road; on the other hand, the slots are there, just not accessible, so a $100 case change will solve the problem.... With a local system builder, I can do that in half a day. EISA/486/66mHz with lots of memory and a gigantic hard disk -- that's the current "best" system. ISA/486/33mHz with a goodly amount of memory and a generous hard disk represents our "reading" on a decent mid-range graphics system -- in retail parlance, the "better" model. We define a "good" system as a 386-based system -- and we include the Cyrix 486SLC in this category, based on its performance. Given at least 8mb of RAM and a big enough hard disk, a 386-based machine can be a bargain-price "second seat" or utility machine in a graphics shop. Networked peer-to-peer with other machines, it is a good station for controlling printers and scanners. It can do yeoman service supporting part-time staff. It is a backup box when the "big system" proves troublesome (inevitably, just when there is a deadline...). And since many of us already have one of these, and can't get much for them used, finding a good way to keep that box paying for itself is not a bad thing. The key to making a 386 "sow's ear" (apologies to folks who have pet pigs) into at least a rayon purse is RAM. It is axiomatic that Windows loves RAM, and that graphics programs run better, the more RAM they have. The other thing that helps these systems is a fast display system -- off-loading display chores from the less-able 386 processor. Will Corel Draw run on a 386? Absolutely -- and it will even run well. But don't take my word for this; Microsoft commonly uses upper-end 386 systems to show off some of its Windows products, as reasonable proof that Windows and the software that runs under it work with common- denominator systems. That covers "good/better/best" systems today. The question floating around a lot of shops is, what about the next generation -- Pentiums and RISC chips and the like? What do I buy today to avoid being caught using something slower than need be? The answer is not simple: Some system builders are offering designs that will accommodate the Pentium "Overdrive" chip Intel has promised for 1994. This hybrid chip will deliver many of the Pentium features while preserving 486 compatibility -- neat, but the pop-in-a- new-motherboard line above applies. Moreover, to get anything like the performance Intel promises for the Pentium, programs have to be processed anew to take advantage of special Pentium characteristics. This will happen -- but don't hold your breath. At this point, being Pentium-ready adds a premium to the price of the system, the advantages of which are far from obvious for some two years. Much the same goes for other hardware foundations: The IBM/Apple/Motorola combine will surely produce a PowerPC chip which will offer significant advantages -- down the road and after a lot of agony over operating system choices. Current offerings -- MIPS RISC processors in elegantly purple Silicon Graphics boxes, for example -- run under Unix: wonderful for many things, but not offering the wealth of software choices at bargain prices available for DOS/Windows -- and supporting only a very limited 2.1-level version of Corel Draw. Bottom-line time: If you want to run Corel Draw 4.0, you have a wide range of choices at attractive prices. A system that a year and a half ago would have set you back $7,000-$8,000 (absent a display system) might cost you only $3,500 -- maybe a bit less -- today. That is a reasonable business expense. The glory of the DOS/Windows platform and Corel Draw is that you can make that move, and the legacy systems you are using now will remain useful as a second seat or auxiliary system. Approximately 1500 words Press contact: Accutron Charles J. Wang (CEO) 1-516-921-0977