Small Business Computing Staff

by Robert J. Wagman Many businesses lease space in buildings and office parks where landlords require all tenants to sign up for high speed Internet access (and even phone service) through one Internet service or telecommunication provider. The Federal Communications Commission recently took action to ensure business tenants’ right to choose. The crackdown is part […]

by Jamie McAfee With information-on-the-go a high priority for professionals, we compiled a group of pens designed to scan information from consumer products to paper documents. All hold large amounts of data to be downloaded onto laptops, PCs and PDAs. As portable storage devices, they take up less space than a wallet and scan different […]

by John Frederick Moore E-mail is now an integral component of just about every type of small business. Once used for internal correspondence, e-mail has become essential to keeping in touch with customers and suppliers. In some cases, it is a primary means of communication. But because it’s so essential, managing it isn’t easy. Deciding […]

by Victoria Hall Smith Among the first wave of dot-coms that came along promising to change the business world forever, there was a small group pushing the concept of group buying. Some of these were not much more than electronic co-ops, while others introduced more complex systems (such as the reverse auction) and hoped that […]

by Chris Sandlund Dave Muma faced a problem familiar to many small business owners: How could he keep the company, a family-owned insurance firm, profitable in an era of increasing competition? Dave, whose father, Jack co-founded the Royal Oak, Mich.-based Hudson & Muma over 40 years ago, decided the solution was specialization. The company, which […]

by David Haskin The truth hurts. And the truth is, businesses and employees are paying an awful price for the technology on which they’ve become so dependent. They pay in aches, pains, doctor’s bills, missed days, decreased productivity, and, of course, dollars. They’re all the result of accidents. They occur from typing at a computer […]

by Matt Lake HP Laserjet 3200 Printer/Fax/Copier/ScannerRating 90 Want to print, photocopy, fax, and scan? Either pony up $250 for a color multifunction device or spend more on Hewlett-Packard’s LaserJet 3200. With a 1200dpi laser print engine that cranks out 9 pages per minute, this multifunction office assistant knocks the socks off the color inkjet […]

by Steve Bennett IBM MicrodriveRating 98 A penny for your thoughts? How about a quarter for your data? That’s the internal size of IBM’s incredible Microdrive removable hard disk, which now boasts a capacity of one gigabyte. This marvel of miniaturization is designed to fit into an industry-standard CF+ Type II slot, making it ideal […]

by Liz Levy Apple G4 CubeRating 95 These days, most work hours are spent sitting at a computer, so having a powerful workstation that’s also aesthetically pleasing makes perfect sense. Apple’s Power Mac G4 Cube offers a refreshing design with diligent performance. Put this baby on employees desks and they’re guaranteed to love it. Setting […]

by Angela R. Garber Pda and cell phone users may be getting nervous about all those reports of viruses attacking handheld devices. Businesses that have protected desktops and networks with anti-virus software for years now wonder if the same precautions are necessary for their mobile tools. With the number of Internet-ready devices increasing, and users […]

by Steve Bennett NORTON ANTIVIRUS 2001Rating 98 The stakes are too high to question whether to update or not, as new viruses sprout up faster than dot-coms go under. Each year anti-virus software gets better at doing its job, and gets easier to use. That’s certainly true for Norton AntiVirus 2001. Designed to run on […]

by Jennifer Doran ROYAL DAVINCI 3Rating 80 With the bells and whistles that accompany the latest handhelds, it’s tough to remember the original purpose of the digital PDA was to eliminate those bulky Filofaxes. The Royal daVinci 3 was created to provide the necessities professionals can’t live without, encased in a convenient palm-sized package. The […]