kep@ablnc.ATT.COM (Karl Parks) (07/23/88)
I would like to get recommendations of hardware configuration and
software for a computer to be used in the office of a church.
I am a member of a rather fast-gorwing new church. It is a year old and
we have an average attendance of 175. We expect to keep growing. The
need of a computer is apparent. We previously acquired at cost an
AMIGA. The main person who used it was the one who arranged the deal
and now he left the church. It is being underutilized due to lack of
knowledge of the present staff.
Since some members have XT MS/DOS systems at home, like the
church treasurer, we would better utilize an MS/DOS system so that
we could share files/data.
Possible uses might be:
Mailing Lists
Accounts Rec/Payable
Aver attendance/giving
Sermon Notes
Boys Scouts attendance/registration
Church ministry accounting
Games for the youth
Newsletter Publications
(Any other uses?)
How's this for a minimum config?
(Keeping our current OKIDATA printer)
Hardware: ($1000 - $1500)
XT 8088 clone w/ 640 meg
dual speed - switchable
slot for math co-processor
150 watts p/s
hardware reset switch
clock/calendar w/ battery backup
40 meg hard disk
1 5" 1.2MB floppy
1 serial port and 1 parallel port
5 slots or more
some mono graphics card
amber or white graphics monitor
surge protector
Software: (>$800)
MS/DOS and BASIC
Spreadsheet: EXCEL, Quattro or LOTUS 123
Word Processor/Publisher: Sprint or WORPERFECT 5.0
Please add to or subtract as you see fit. Fill in comments for
specific brands to look for (or stay away from) as you wish.
Possible additions/changes might be:
math co-processor
EGA card and color monitor
AT processor
AT style keyboard
200 watts p/s
additional memory
60 meg hard disks
3.5" floppy
Some Graphics Package w/ mouse
I would especially love to hear from anyone with experience on a system
dedicated for church use.
Am I on the right track?
If several of the staff uses the computer, would we better off with
several PC's or should I be looking at a reasonable multiuser system
like a low-cost UNIX processor? (We would then run into our current
compatibility problem again unless I got a UNIX System that runs
MSDOS under it.)
Any help, suggestions, etc muct appreciated. Thanks
Karl Parks
AT&T IMS
Maitland, Fl
ihnp4!ablnc
(407)660-6214cseric@mtsu.UUCP (cseric) (07/28/88)
In article <544@ablnc.ATT.COM>, kep@ablnc.ATT.COM (Karl Parks) writes: Mr. Park, > > I am a member of a rather fast-gorwing new church. It is a year old and > we have an average attendance of 175. We expect to keep growing. The > need of a computer is apparent. We previously acquired at cost an > AMIGA. The main person who used it was the one who arranged the deal > and now he left the church. It is being underutilized due to lack of > knowledge of the present staff. You said that you already owned an Amiga. If it is an Amiga 2000 then your best bet would be to stick with it and get a card for it called the BridgeBoard. It allows you to run MS-DOS programs at the same speed (4.77 mhz) as a PC. I think that the card is also available for the Amiga 1000 and maybe even the 500. I am not sure of the price but I think that it runs about $500. Hope this helps. Eric Buckner MTSU Murfreesboro, TN mtsu!cseric
netnews@akgua.ATT.COM (R. Brad Kummer) (08/07/88)
In article <544@ablnc.ATT.COM>, kep@ablnc.ATT.COM (Karl Parks) writes: > > I would like to get recommendations of hardware configuration and > software for a computer to be used in the office of a church. > ... > I would especially love to hear from anyone with experience on a system > dedicated for church use. ------------------------- I am posting this for a friend. Please mail any questions or responses to att!akguc!rbk, and I will forward them to the author: L. C. Hotchkiss AT&T Bell Laboratories - Atlanta, GA ------------------------- First of all, you are not alone. There are actually a large number of individuals and churches involved in the use of computers and in the search for the proper uses of computers in churches. There is now an annual convention of our types called CAMCON which stands for "Computer Aided Ministry CONvention". Many of us involved in this conference write software for our individual churches, and there are also many commercial packages available. I will not tout my own modest software packages here, but will rather refer you to Neil B. Houk, who edits a newsletter called "Church Bytes" and is very knowledgable about all of the software available for church use. In particular, he wrote a manual for the latest conference, CAMCON 3, which includes a section on how to select a computer system as well as a short description of many software packages which are on the market today. His address is: Neil B. Houk 562 Brightleaf Square #9 905 West Main Street Durham, NC 27701