Hardware requirements for a tech doc laptop?

[Al Geist]

Barry Campbell wrote:

... spreading the cost over the useful life of the machine
(three years minimum) and considering that it can also be amortized
and depreciated on Form 4562 on your taxes (assuming that you file
taxes in the US), I am sure that the cost is actually pretty
reasonable, too.


You can amortize a computer system if you want to, but why not deduct the
entire cost of a computer system in the year you bought it by using a
Schedule 179 deduction.

I'm not a tax expert, so I would check www.irs.gov first, or talk to your
tax preparer.  

Al Geist
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-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+al.geist=geistassociates.com at lists.techwr-l.com
[mailto:techwr-l-bounces+al.geist=geistassociates.com at lists.techwr-l.com] On
Behalf Of Barry Campbell
Sent: Thursday, March 01, 2007 4:35 AM
To: Mike Starr
Cc: techwr-l at lists.techwr-l.com
Subject: Re: Hardware requirements for a tech doc laptop?

On 3/1/07, Mike Starr <mike at writestarr.com> wrote:

> In light of an exceptional tax refund, I just spec'd one out... it's
> horribly expensive and I haven't decided to pull the trigger just yet but
> it's definitely a dream machine for me:

Mike, the specs of the machine look entirely reasonable for a power
user, and 

Always buy good tools.

Two observations.

(1) MacBooks (especially the Pro series) are pretty nice machines, and
they run any Windows OS you like. :-)  My power-user tech docs laptop
is an Intel MacBook; though I spend much of my time running OS X apps,
I also run Windows XP Pro in a virtualization window -- and I'm
running Office 2003, Office 2007, and Framemaker 7.2, among others,
without a hitch, for the times when I have to collaborate with Windows
users (often) :-)  (See:
http://campbell-online.com/blog/2006/07/02/geeking-out-with-a-new-laptop/)

(2) Whatever brand you buy, it's definitely smart to get the extended
service plan on a laptop.  If the ESP does not cover accidental
damage, and especially if you're going to be traveling with the laptop
a lot, consider a supplementary insurance policy that will cover
accidental damage and theft; Safeware sells one that's reasonably
priced.

- bc

-- 
Barry Campbell -- <barry.campbell at gmail.com> --  <barry at campbell-online.com>
Blog: http://campbell-online.com
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