In the interest of aiding my quest, I'm forwarding a post I made on another forum. It was in response to a very good point made by another user.
Other user wrote:
> There's one very important factor you left out of your spec, which is your budget. There is a different "dream machine" at every price point.
My response:
Yes, I mistakenly left out my budget information. Sorry. Money is indeed a big issue for me.
I am hoping to spend less than $300, but I'm prepared to spend up to $450. Obviously, I can't afford any of the new Macs, even the Mini. However, I know I can build a new (or slightly used) Windows machine within that price range.
So, I should clarify that I am not so much looking for a dream machine. Rather, I need to understand how to best invest that limited amount of money. I don't have a handle on which computer components are most critical to the FileMaker development environment. Processor speed? Hard disk size/speed? Memory/RAM? All of the above? Something else? This is the part I most need to understand.
The reason I am limiting myself to a Windows machine is due to my budget constriants. And it is not just the cost of the computer itself. It is the software that I will need to do my other work. If I were to buy a Mac, I'd also have to put my money towards the Parallels application since I already own a set of Windows programs. Specifically, the Windows OS, the Microsoft Office suite, etc.
Again, a Mac remains on my wish list. But it is going to be a while before I can afford going down this road. I'd appreciate it if folks could explain which computer components (on a Windows box) are most important for FileMaker development. I want to stress that this machine will *not* act as an FM server at any point. It will primarily be used designing layouts, scripting, etc.
Thanks again.
Eric
