Updated September 2009. The following recommendations serve as a guide if you are purchasing or upgrading your office equipment. Computers with these specs will support most business applications and Internet uses. Tip: You can never have too much memory (RAM) - it is inexpensive and can improve your PC's performance.

• Intel Core 2 Duo processor (2.6 GHz or higher) or AMD Athlon Athlon or Phenom(2.6 GHz or higher)
• 4 GB RAM or higher
• 250 GB hard disk
• DVD +/- RW burner (they can read and write DVDs and CDs)
• Video card with 512 MB video memory
• 20-inch flat panel LCD Monitor
• Multimedia capability: sound card, speakers (small, inexpensive speakers are adequate for most users)
• External hard drive (or other backup storage device) at least as large as the hard drive in your computer
• Ethernet card for network connection
• Latest version of Windows

Apple

• Intel Core 2 Duo (2.66 GHz)
• 2 GB RAM or higher
• 320 GB hard disk
• DVD +/- RW burner (they can read and write DVDs and CDs)
• 20-inch flat panel LCD monitor
• Multimedia capability: speakers (sound capability is built in)
• External hard drive (or other backup storage device) at least as large as the hard drive in your computer
• Ethernet card for network connection
• Latest Mac operating system

• Intel Core 2 Duo (2.66 GHz or higher) or AMD Turino 64 X2 (2.6 GHz or higher)
• 4 GB RAM or higher
• 320-500 GB Hard Drive
• DVD +/- RW burner (they can read and write DVDs and CDs)
• 14.1-inch or larger WXGA+ LCD
• Video card with 512 MB video memory
• Built-in wireless card (802.11 b/g)
• Built-in ethernet connection
• 4.5-6 pounds

Low Cost/Best Value:

• Intel Core 2 Duo (2.4 GHz or higher) or AMD Turino 64 X2 (2.2 GHz or higher)
• 3 GB RAM or higher
• 250-320 GB hard disk
• DVD +/- RW burner (they can read and write DVDs and CDs)
• 14.1-inch wide screen XGA
• Video card with 256 MB video memory
• Built-in wireless card (802.11 b/g)
• Built-in ethernet connection
• 6-8 pounds
  

• Operating system Microsoft Windows Vista is the latest version in the popular Windows family, VISTA and XP Professional (Vista‘s precedessor) are recommended for law firms—especially those in a networked environment. Vista comes in many editions; either the Business or Ultimate is best for the professional environment. Check the Microsoft Web site to make sure Vista will run okay on your equipment and to determine which edition best meets your needs.
• Office suite (Microsoft Office and Corel Office are the most popular and include word processing, spreadsheets, presentation software, and file management tools). Both packages offer many enhancements designed for law firms and have proved to be very stable, popular editions with lawyers.
• Timekeeping and billing (Sage North America‘s Timeslips; LexisNexis PCLaw; and Software Technology, Inc.‘s Tabs3 are the major products in use in smaller law firms)
• Accounting and checkwriting software (Intuit‘s QuickBooks is the most popular program in use by law firms)
• Case management software (LexisNexis‘s Time Matters; Gavel & Gown Software, Inc.‘s Amicus Attorney; Abacus Data Systems, Inc.‘s AbacusLaw; and Software Technology Inc‘s PracticeMaster are the main products for smaller firms; each works well with Microsoft Word and Corel WordPerfect as well as the LexisNexis HotDocs document assembly software)
• Internet software, typically a Web browser (Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or later; Netscape Navigator 8 or later; Mozilla Firefox 2.0 or later) and an e-mail program (Microsoft Outlook/Outlook Express; Mozilla Thunderbird; and Qualcomm Eudora are the most popular e-mail packages)
• Virus protection (leading products are Symantec‘s Norton AntiVirus and McAfee VirusScan)

• Scanner (flat-bed scanner with optional document feeder for large documents; single-sheet-fed unit for limited occasional use)
• Printer (a fast laser printer is recommended; Hewlett-Packard is a top choice)
• Smartphone (leading devices are Blackberry, Palm, and iPhone)