Small Publishing: Computer

As H2NH Publishing expands, it needs a publishing platform. I do all my writing on an Asus EeePC netbook with Ubuntu using FocusWriter. I have Windows XP on the other partition, and it is from there that I do all the publishing, using Microsoft Office 2007 and GIMP, etc. I can theoretically do it all in Ubuntu, but I like Word better than LibreOffice. You can see the (mostly) current H2NH publishing workflow here.



But, as I move up the publishing ladder and contemplate going into POD, that's just getting ridiculous. It's a 10" screen, and you can't layout a book on a 10" screen. Not to mention that InDesign cannot actually run on my netbook without waiting a minute between each click. Horrifying. I need my eyes to read with, people. So, H2NH is currently in the medium-term planning for a Business computer. I'm OS agnostic, with some reservations, and I need the lifecycle to be at least five years. (I buy a netbook every two years and give the old one to a deserving case.) So, let's get into the nitty-gritty with a number:





Budget: $4500-$5000 (read: ~$1000/year)

Makes for three options. I'll put them in rough order of convenience: 




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Option 1: iMac 

Software - ~$1,500

Office for Mac Home and Student 2011 - $120

Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Design Standard - $1,300

Hardware - ~$3,000

iMac 27" with a solid state hard drive, and upgraded RAM.

Thoughts - 

This has the advantage of being incredibly easy to lug around a jungle, and it doesn't take up a lot of space. The disadvantage is that there's no Apple Store or anything, and I'd prefer to support my own damn self anyways. STILL, it's pretty, well-designed, and runs cool in my tropical existence. Software-wise, I'd have InDesign and Word and everything would just work. If it didn't, I could just reinstall from a base image. The main disadvantage is that I'd have to use Mac OS. If you can't dick around with your computer, what's the point of even having one?





Option 2: Built PC running Windows 

Software - ~$1,800

Microsoft Office Home and Business 2010 - $200

Adobe Creative Suite 5.5 Design Standard - $1,300

Windows 7 Ultimate - $320

Hardware - ~$3,000

A veritable beast of a machine, acquired of Newegg and assembled by myself - $2,000-$2,500

Display (touch-screen) - $500-$1000

Thoughts -

First off, yes: $320. Are you f*ckin' kidding me? I have a philosophical objection to paying that much for a mere operating system. Esp. one that isn't all that great. But, the advantage of a massive touch-screen makes this a viable option. Also, my hardware budget will go much farther than with Apple, so I could load this thing down with RAM and a sexy video card, and still have cash left over for a great display. The added benefit of knowing exactly where every component came from can't hurt for purposes of providing my own support, not to mention a robust cooling system for use in my tropical paradise. Put it all together and I'd have a beast. A sexy, sexy beast. Still...Windows...urgh.





Option 3, AKA the 'free option': Built PC running GNU/Linux

Software - $0

LibreOffice - Free

GIMP - Free

Scribus - Free

Ubuntu, some flavor thereof, or some other build entirely.

Hardware $2,500

A veritable beast of a machine, acquired of Newegg and assembled by myself - $2,000

Display - $500

Thoughts - 

If I were daring enough to go free software for this publishing adventure, this is what I'd do. It'd be the same machine as above, but without the fancy touch-screen. It'd run fast, smooth, and delicious. Like a penguin-flavored ice cream. The problem is that Scribus isn't InDesign, and LibreOffice isn't Word. Yet? I'm sure I could make it work, but do I want to?



So...yeah. At some point I'll just flip a coin. What do you use, small publishers?


-daB
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