The Essential SMB Technology Gift Guide for the 2017 Holiday Season
As we usher in the holiday season, and close out 2016, it’s time for small-to-medium-sized businesses to examine their technology needs and utilize their remaining budgets to take full advantage of enhanced offerings and upgrades. This is the perfect time of year to put new hardware in place to ensure businesses are running smoothly and efficiently in 2017.
Jennifer Pruitt, eCommerce Specialist and resident technology product expert at Aventis Systems, Inc., has compiled an essential technology gift guide for SMBs this holiday season. Aventis Systems offers custom IT solutions to build and operate complete physical and virtual infrastructures and helps small and medium-sized organizations Get IT Done.
For organizations looking to maximize their remaining 2016 budgets with personal computing solutions, Pruitt recommends looking to the Dell OptiPlex 7010 as a money-saving refurbished option, or the Dell OptiPlex 7040 as a new option. The Dell 7000 series is best-in-class among the OptiPlex desktops, and is one of the world’s most secure, manageable, reliable and space-saving desktops for business.
1. Dell OptiPlex 7010 (refurbished)
Product Details:
- Aventis Systems Certified Reconditioned
- Intel Core i3-3220 Dual-Core 3.3GHz 3MB CPU
- 4GB DDR3 PC3-12800 1600MHz Memory
- 250GB 7.2K 3Gb/s SATA 3.5" HDD
- Onboard Video Card
- DVD-ROM
- Single Power Supply
- Onboard Single Intel GbE NIC
- Microsoft Windows 7 Professional - 64 Bit Installed
Why It Made the List: Specifically designed for high business productivity by delivering performance, security and manageability. This desktop is an excellent way to get more for less out of your PC purchase.
Aventis Systems Pricing: Starts at $359 with a one-year comprehensive warranty.
2. Dell OptiPlex 7040 (new)
Product Details:
- Brand New
- Intel Core i3-6300 Dual-Core 3.8GHz 4MB CPU
- 4GB DDR4 PC4-17000 2133MHz Registered Memory
- 250GB 7.2K 3Gb/s SATA 3.5" HDD
- Onboard Video Card
- DVD-ROM
- Single Power Supply
- Onboard Single Intel GbE NIC
- Microsoft Windows 7 Professional - 64 Bit
Why It Made the List: The compact design and robust performance of this highly configurable desktop makes it a solid pick for SMBs.
Aventis Systems Pricing: Starts at $889 with a one-year comprehensive warranty.
Pruitt has also suggested several components and peripherals, including monitors, solid-state drives and video cards, as add-ons to help complete and enhance desktop solutions.
Best Value: Monitors
While there are a multitude of monitors to choose from, the following have the most robust features SMBs require, at an affordable price point.
23 to 26 Inch Recommendations:
1. HP V241P 23.6" LED LCD Monitor
Product Details:
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Contrast Ratio: 5,000,000:1
- Maximum Resolution: 1920 x 1080
- Response Time: 8 ms
- Interfaces Supported: VGA, DVI
- Screen Mode: Full HD
- Brightness: 250 Nit
- Features: Widescreen, Tilt, VESA Mount Compatible, HDCP Support
- Color Supported: 16.7 Million Colors
- Standard Refresh Rate: 76Hz
Why it Made the List: A best value for the under 27” category, this monitor offers crisp, sharp images, widescreen for viewing two documents side by side, and a quick response time
Aventis Systems Pricing: Starts at $149 with a one-year comprehensive warranty.
2. Viewsonic VA2349s 23" LED LCD Monitor
Product Details:
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Contrast Ratio: 2000:1
- Maximum Resolution: 1920 x 1080
- Response Time: 5 ms
- Interfaces Supported: VGA, DVI
- Screen Mode: Full HD
- Brightness: 250 Nit
- Features: Widescreen, Tilt, VESA Mount Compatible
- Color Supported: 16.7 Million Colors
- Standard Refresh Rate: 75Hz
Why it Made the List: This high-performance, wide-angle display delivers true color performance and consistent image quality.
Aventis Systems Pricing: Starts at $179 with a one-year comprehensive warranty.
27 Inch Recommendations:
1. HP V272 27" LED LCD Monitor
Product Details:
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Contrast Ratio: 10,000,000:1
- Maximum Resolution: 1920 x 1080
- Response Time: 7 ms
- Interfaces Supported: VGA, DVI, HDMI
- Screen Mode: Full HD
- Brightness: 250 Nit
- Features: Widescreen, Tilt, VESA Mount Compatible, HDCP Support
- Color Supported: 16.7 Million Colors
Why it Made the List: Even though this monitor features a massive 27” diagonal screen, it occupies minimal space creating an efficient and easy-to-use workspace. Also, to note, this HP monitor provides amazing angles allowing users to share consistent high-color fidelity with In-Plane Switching (IPS) technology.
Aventis Systems Pricing: Starts at $219 with a one-year comprehensive warranty.
2. ViewSonic VA2746M-LED 27" LED LCD Monitor
Product Details:
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Contrast Ratio: 20,000,000:1
- Maximum Resolution: 1920 x 1080
- Response Time: 3.40 ms
- Interfaces Supported: VGA
- Screen Mode: Full HD
- Brightness: 300 Nit
- Features: Widescreen, Built-In Speakers, VESA Mount Compatible
- Color Supported: 16.7 Million Colors
- Standard Refresh Rate: 75Hz
Why it Made the List: Industry-leading resolution delivers stunning brightness and contrast, and as a complete multimedia package, the display also includes a pair of integrated speakers.
Aventis Systems Pricing: Starts at $249 with a one-year comprehensive warranty.
Best Value: Solid-State Hard Drives
Solid-state drives (SSDs) are the perfect way to gain an incredible boost in performance to your PC. SSDs, unlike spinning disks, rely on flash memory as their storage, and therefore deliver better speed, long term performance, and reliability to the SMBs that depend on them.
While SSDs come in many flavors and capacities, the below are the best balance of speed and savings for any SMB to maximize their user performance.
3.5 Inch SSDs
Product Details (Recommended Capacities):
- 256GB, 500GB, and 960GB
- Max Sequential Read: Up to 500 MB/s (SATA 6Gb/s)
- Max Sequential Write: Up to 540 MB/s (SATA 6Gb/s)
Why it Made the List: SSDs provide exceptional performance, fast boot times, and better power efficiency than traditional spinning hard drives, and help accelerate data center performance.
Best Value: Video Graphics Cards
An upgrade to a dual monitor card enables a system to connect to two monitors simultaneously, allowing you more productivity on your desktop station. Here are a few recommendations that provide a lot of bang for your buck:
Why They Made the List: They can support up to two monitors, work with a variety of computer systems (not just Dell), and allow for a variety of connections for users that need to connect to a multitude of display interfaces.
Aventis Systems Pricing: Start at $49 with a one-year comprehensive warranty.
