For most of you, this article won’t be important as if you are reading this then you very likely have your computer needs already sorted out, but I’d be amiss if I failed to include this article as you’d be amazed at how often people ask me what are the minimum computer requirements needed to start an adult oriented website/company–just this past week alone I’ve received two calls from two different people as each were standing in a computer stores and wanted my advice about what to get.  If you already have a computer, odds are that your present computer is sufficient to get started and you can skip this article.

I’ve ran large photo studios in which I had staff coming and going all day, and small operations like now in which it’s usually just me sitting in my underwear in some distant hotel room.  I have found that with a smaller operation a better computer is more important since that one computer will have to do any job you might need done, yet even then nothing all that powerful is needed–I don’t mind waiting an hour for a video to encode instead of 30 minutes, but maybe you will.  In contrast, at the last studio I ran we had many computers, but each were only used for certain specialized tasks so each didn’t need to be that powerful or expensive.  For example, we’d have models coming in from out of town most weekends who’d stay at the studio, so I had one computer in the model’s bedroom which I knew would only be used for e-mail and webcaming as I knew from experience that’s what they’d be doing a lot of in their spare time.  So I set up a computer to do those things, but I didn’t have to worry about it being able to do much else as no one else would be using that particular computer and that’s about all the models would be using it for.  I had another computer which was only used for editing and it did that very well, but you wouldn’t be able to check your email on it or surf the net with it as it was optimized just for editing which it did better than any other computer we had, but that’s about all it did.  Anything that does everything, does nothing well.

The good thing is that today computers are generally much more powerful than you’ll need to do most things.  Most computers are capable of doing just about anything you’d need done, and yet powerful enough to do each of those tasks well beyond what you’ll be needing.  I have friends who continue to update their computers to the latest and greatest each year and they like bragging to me as I’m suppose to be “the computer guy” since I use my computers for work, yet they are amazed when I tell them I’m still happily using my same machines I purchased several years ago with no plans of upgrading anytime soon.  That’s especially amazing when you figure that I use my machines for work and they only use theirs for fun.

No two companies are alike, so without knowing what specific things you’ll be doing it’ll be impossible for me to suggest what computer equipment you’ll need, but I can suggest that you try your best not to spend much until you are making money with your adult venture as I believe that most people overdo the equipment they need.  If you already have a machine, it’ll probably work for now.  If you are using a friends computer to read this then maybe you need a computer, but maybe your friend will also allow you to use their computer until you get some money coming in.  I believe in not spending money until you have made it, so don’t go spending money for this project until this project has earned you the money first.

At the present time my main computer is a 4 year old Macbook.  It’s more computer than I need.  Yes I do have other computers both PCs and Macs which are newer and more powerful, but I find myself using my Macbook most the time.  It’s especially convenient for me as I travel a lot and can just grab it and go.  However, I also have a Mac Mini which I paid half the price for, yet is more powerful and small enough that I have thrown it into a backpack along with a flat screen monitor and ran out the door with it at times.

I have two rules which I’ve learned over the years.  (1) Always have a backup for your important equipment.  Sometimes this backup is the exact same device, but it doesn’t have to be as long as it’s a device that can do the job almost as well and in this case I’m using the Mac Mini as a backup for my MacBook which is beyond a satisfactory backup since the mini is actually more powerful than my laptop, although the mini is much less expensive.  (2) Have another computer for other people to use and don’t let anyone touch your main computer.  I don’t mind sharing stuff as I’m not a stingy type of guy, but this is business and if you let other people touch your machine they’ll be changing settings and messing things up which will prevent you from getting your work done.  Thus if I’m traveling somewhere and know I’ll be spending time with a model or someone who won’t have a computer and will want to use mine, I just bring my mini.  The Mac Mini isn’t exactly a portable machine, but it’s so small that you can easily travel with it and plug it in when you get into your hotel room.

Laptops are convenient, but you will pay a premium for the portability.  If you are on a budget it’s probably best to go with a desktop as desktops are generally less expensive and if any two are the same price then the desktop you are comparing is most certainly much more powerful.  Desktops are also more future proof as a laptop you will be limited in the amount of RAM you can upgrade and while you can now generally upgrade the hard-drives of most laptops without too much effort, that’s about all you’ll be able to upgrade.  Just about everything on a desktop is easily upgradable so if you ever need more of something, a better something, or even to replace something that’s no longer working it’s very easy to do with a desktop.  So a desktop you could probably keep using for many many years as you simply upgrade parts when needed.  Laptops in general will start to show age in about 2 years and probably be fairly outdated in less than 5 years, and true to form my 4 year old laptop is most certainly showing signs that it’s on it’s last leg.

PCs are also less expensive in general than Macs.  I like Macs for their ease of use.  I’m fairly computer knowledgeable, but time is money and if I have to spend lots of time figuring out something or maintaining something then it’s not worth it in the end.  Apple does make a Mini which is fairly inexpensive and a decent machine and I highly recommend those to anyone wanting a Mac, but not wanting to spend much.  In general, the Mac Mini is more powerful or at least as powerful as many of their laptops, but at half the price or less.  Yet, don’t mistake the mini for an easily upgradable and cheap to maintain PC desktop as I recently had to get my mini repaired and a simple repair job of replacing the mother board which I could have done myself for $50 on a PC desktop, ended up costing me $350 for the mini!  Ouch!  Just a little more and I could have purchased a new mini, but I thought about it for a few days and justified it as I was happy with “that” machine and didn’t need a new one as the newer models weren’t significantly better than that model.  Thus I felt it was better to save a little by “not” buying a new machine to replace it, and use the money I saved on bitches and booze.

Here’s my list I go over when people ask me for my advice about which computer to get: (1) If buying new realize that for most things, new computers are much more power than needed so start your browsing at the least expensive computers in the store.  When it comes to PCs, don’t fall into the name game of what brand the computer is as when you open them up, the parts inside are generally the same.

(2) Make a list of thing you need and make sure to get a computer that has those features.  There probably isn’t much you need that won’t come standard these days though.  Do you plan to burn DVDs to sell?  Then you might be wise to get a computer with a DVD burner although these are fairly standard now and you could also just get an external DVD burner.  Will you be using a video camera with firewire output?  Then maybe you’d be wise to get a computer with firewire input or at least plan on having that added to your desktop.  Will you be using dual monitors which is a very useful feature I use but most desktops don’t automatically have (at least not when I last purchased a desktop).  Although most desktops can be easily upgraded to do this.  Most laptops do have a video out port which can be used for another monitor which would serve as your second monitor.  If you are shooting content and your still camera uses SD cards you might think it’s wise to have a computer with a built in SD card reader, although actually not that important as you can buy a USB card reader for about $3 which will allow you to read the SD card on any computer with a USB port.  So, make a list of the basic things you need or want and make sure to get a computer that has those things or can be upgraded.

What things will you need?  Probably not much and when you get your business going and discover a feature you need, you can probably have it added.  So walk into the store, find the cheapest computers in the store, pull out your list of features you’d like and work your way up finding the least expensive computer that has all the features you need.  That about sums it all up and it only took me just over 1800 words to say that!