The ultimate office - furniture, equipment and accessories for the home office - Cover Story

Home Office Computing, August, 1995 by Chris Sandlund, Victoria Spencer

It's almost the end of summer. The year's nearly two-thirds gone, and you haven't managed to cross off that big to-do item from your New Year's resolution list. You know, livening up that office where you spend more time than you'd prefer to admit.

* Yeah, sure. There's a presentation to prepare. There are bills to pay. You've got new business letters to send out. Who's got the time?

* Consider us your personal shoppers. We want to help you get rid of that door lying across the two filing cabinets. Sure, this combo has held up for a number of years, but it's time to upgrade your image--and your computer equipment. We're talking about self-esteem, about making your office reflect your business: well put together, reliable, and classy.

* Of course, although the economy's continuing to grow, you might not have met your financial goals yet this year. Maybe one of your clients is late in paying his bills. We've made it easy. We set out to find complete offices for three ballpark budgets. That's furniture, hardware, and software for around $3,500, $6,000, and $10,000.

* What we learned was a lesson in controlling our desires. Our ultimate offices include great design and plenty of computer firepower, but you may find better desks, computers, phones, or software out there. Even keeping within budget, we still were able to pull together offices that will impress your clients and keep you productive.

* We also came away with a new appreciation for computers. You think getting all the plugs in the right sockets is hard? Each of the furniture selections requires some assembly. Wait till you spend a steamy afternoon putting together a desk, chair, and bookshelf.

* It's hot. You need to go someplace cool, someplace air-conditioned. Try your local retail outlets.

High Powered: $10,000

Furniture

1 The Turnstone Interactive Desk in sleek black melamine has a smooth keyboard shelf and two small drawers for all that everyday debris. $442

2 Turnstone's Docker Desk has a secret--its melamine fliptop conceals ingenious file storage, and its work surface is perfect for hardware overflow. $427

3 Long hours of labor are well accommodated by the Turnstone Poundcake Desk Chair with its innovative body-conforming cushions and witty loop arms. $569

4 & 5 The Turnstone Stackable Storage options: A doored cabinet and shelf module create a unit with open shelves and a cupboard to hide the things you'd rather not deal with just now. $541 ($296 + $229 + $16 for stacking bracket)

6 The light is everywhere you want it to be with Details's IOS Lamp; it swivels, tilts 360 degrees, and casts just the right light from its fluorescent bulb. $226

Hardware

7 Multitasking like a demon, you need the Pentium power of Dell's 120MHz Dimension XPS P 120c with 16MB of RAM, 1GB hard drive, quad-speed CD-ROM drive, and tape backup. $2,783

8 Speed data along at 28.8Kbps with Spectrum's OfficeF/Xfax/modem that also answers your phone. $330

9 Is it a speakerphone? ViewSonic's 17-inch 17GA PerfectSound Monitor houses both speakers and a microphone within its bezel. $900

10 Don't whistle while you work. Sing along to the Muriel's Wedding soundtrack over your Altec Lansing speakers. $71

11 Okidata's 600dpi OL810e laser printer makes your marketing materials stand out. And at eight pages per minute, it won't keep you waiting. $749

12 Leave black and white to Okidata and let Canon's BJC-600e ink-jet printer take care of your color overheads. $499

13 Zip a newspaper article off with a fax from your word processor by scanning it in first with Visioneer's PaperPort. $300

14 Instead of leaving your computer on, let the Hewlett-Packard Fax-750 plainpaper fax receive your faxes. $599

15 When your employees take lunch, field all incoming calls with TMC's four-line m4010 SOHO Phone. $260

Software

Stay productive with Microsoft Office Professional. $639

Delrina's Communications Suite 2.1 sends faxes out to customers and logs you on to BBSs or clients' computers. $119

Using CompuServe is easier with the WinCIM CD-ROM and all its extras. $50

Prowl the World Wide Web with Netscape's Navigator, the best browser available. $40

With flexibility and ease of use, the powerful Lotus Organizer 2.0 keeps track of your appointments, contacts, and calls. $79

Want to face the IRS prepared? Keep your bills in Peachtree Accounting for Windows rather than your spreadsheet. $109

When your hard disk fails, there's nothing like Norton Utilities 8.0 to get you back on track. $125

Hunt down remnants of unused applications with MicroHelp's UnInstaller. $50

Furniture

1 Don't want a high-tech look? Antique's not your thing? Try a reproduction such as The Bombay Company's Country House Collection Desk with fruitwood veneer over Asian hardwood. $499

2 Making a matching set, The Bombay Company's Country House Collection Desk Chair is height adjustable and solidly comfortable. $299

3 Files don't have to go in a metal cabinet. After all, it's your office. Try a Rattan File Basket from Hold Everything. $79 (letter size)

4 Bask in the glow of Zona's handcrafted Banker's Lamp with an owl shell shade. A good old-fashioned gooseneck directs light wherever you want it. $345