IMITATIONS
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Genuine IBM computers fall outside our nominal £1,000 budget, as do most models from the chief rivals, Compaq and Olivetti. Fortunately, at this level there is little practical difference between the "real thing" and the numerous imitations. You may not get much backup from mail-order suppliers, but software is getting easier to use as time goes on.
What you won't get in a budget computer — not yet, anyway — is one built to IBM's new PS/2 standard. This could be a problem in a few years' time, when software emerges that runs only on the new machines. At the moment it is insignifl cant; indeed, many of the big compatible manufacturers have eschewed the standard themselves. If you do upgrade your equipment the new standard should still run all your old software. In any case, the computer you get now can be linked up to others by a networking system.
Amstrad recently launched a package serving up to three computers for £459. A 286 unit would provide an ideal focus for such a system, which could allow users in different rooms or even buildings to have collective access to data, while still processing information independently.
Some operators adopt multi-user systems instead, involving a single, powerful micro (a 286 or 386) with several terminals accessing it simultaneously; but this is not so suitable for gradual expansion. 0 by Peter Rowlands