Fbrown%Micom@udel-relay@sri-unix.UUCP (10/05/83)
A couple of years ago I was in a graduate program where we had a task of developing a systems approach to the purchase of a micro computer. The methodology I used was a matrix. The characteristics which I felt I wanted to consider were listed on the left, with weight factors; the model machine was listed across the top. The type of characteristic which I listed was : cost of basic machine, cost of those peripherals which I felt I needed, screen characteristics (rows&columns,res), specific software, educational value. As you can see some of these characteristics required the assignment of some arbitrary value. After multiplying the values be the factors, and adding the columns you can identify which macine appears to most nearly fit your needs. Hope this little excercise helps with your effort. Frank Brown fbrown.micom@udel-relay