Monitors: Never buy another CRT monitor. Yes, CRT's (Cathode Ray Tubes) are cheaper to buy, but the true cost of a CRT is at least as high as an LCD flat panel monitor, and potentially much higher. CRT's use more electricity, generate more heat, take up more space on your desk, don't last as long, and produce eye-irritating screen-flicker. A good LCD monitor can get you through two or three computer upgrade cycles. We have two 15" Samsung's LCD's purchased in the late 1990's when flat panel monitors first hit the mass market that are still working fine. You stare at this thing all day (or a member of your staff does), so make it comfortable. Buy at least a 17" LCD. Consider a 19" if you like to have multiple programs open at one time and want to see everything. We directly interact with computers using the monitor, keyboard, and mouse. All three of these items should be well designed and selected with comfort in mind. Check out the Samsung SyncMaster line of LCD monitors. They are mid- priced and offer excellent quality. They are available at Best Buy and Sam’s Club at reasonable prices. Also, the LCD's monitors sold by Dell in packages with their computers have also been highly rated, especially the Dell Ultra Sharp series of LCD panels.

Printers: Don't buy an ink jet printer for use at the office. At best, have one connected to a computer at the office and share it over the network for the occasional need to print in color (charts, graphs, photos for your trial brief or mediation summary, etc.). Otherwise, a monochrome laser printer is the best value for a law office. Many people are lured to ink jet printers the same way they are lured to CRT monitors - low initial purchase prices. But the per page cost of operating an ink jet printer is huge compared to a laser printer, as is the huge productivity hit you take due to much slower performance. Just say "no" to office ink jets printers.

Now that we've resolved the laser v inkjet debate, which laser printer should you buy? Laser printers come in several size, speed, and price categories. What used to be the low-end "personal" laser market now has some terrific sub-$250 printers that produce high quality text output at 15 pages per minute or faster. A few years ago, this level of performance cost well over $1,000. The downside of the personal laser class of printers is that few will connect directly to your network. Instead, they are installed on one machine by connecting to a USB or (increasingly rarely) to a parallel port. The printer is then shared over the network, putting a drain on the host computer when multiple print jobs are sent to that printer over the network. Also, personal laser printers are not well-suited to large print jobs such as 50 page appellate briefs or monthly billing worksheets for all of your clients and matters. But for a lawyer's desk for small print jobs, a personal laser printer is ideal. Look at personal laser printers from HP, Brother, Samsung, or Dell. By the way, if you have a choice between using a parallel or USB connection, always select the USB connection; it is faster.

If you have more than a few computer users in your office, it is wise to have at least one "workgroup" laser printer that has an Ethernet port for direct connection to your network. Most workgroup lasers print at 25 to 45 pages per minute, have multiple paper trays for different types and sizes of paper, and may have optional envelope feeders. Being able to select paper type and size directly from Word or WordPerfect when you send your document to print is a great convenience. It can pay for the added printer cost in just a few months based on the increased productivity of not having to manually swap paper with every document. Expect to pay $500 - $2,000 for a workgroup laser depending on brand, speed, and options. Most optional paper trays cost $150 -$250 each. Again, the major players are HP, Samsung and Brother. You should also consider NEC, Minolta, and Panasonic.

There are now color laser printers. They have fallen in price to around $350 for the cheapest models. However, this is still a luxury item for a small law office, and print speeds are much lower than monochrome laser printers in the same price range. Consider one only if you have a regular need to print in color.

We generally don't recommend multifunction devices as your only printer in a law office. Putting all of your eggs in one basket seems unwise. If your printer breaks, there goes your scanner and fax machine (of course, no one should be faxing anymore, but that is another issue altogether). For a home office or satellite office, however, an MFP (multifunction printer) may be ideal. One of our consultants maintains a part-time appellate practice using a Brother laser- based MFP as his primary printer, scanner, copier, and fax machine. If you go this route, make sure you buy a laser-based model, not one with an ink jet printer (due to the high cost of consumables and slower performance). You can buy a laser-based MFP from HP, Brother, or Samsung starting at $300 and going up to about $500 If you do a lot of scanning, make sure the scanner portion of the device has both a flatbed for copying and an automatic document feed mechanism for scanning or faxing multi- page documents. Many of the less expensive MFP's have only a flatbed or a document feeder, but not both.

Networking: Don't buy cheap Realtek network cards. We've learned through experience that one bad network adapter anywhere on your network can create problems for your entire network, including corruption of practice management or time/billing/accounting data. The price difference between a quality 3Com or Linksys network adapter and a no-name piece of junk is minimal, so why buy junk? Beware that many consumer-grade computers, especially those from HP and Compaq, come with cheap Realtek network adapters.

Network cables can also go bad, causing crashes and data corruption. Check the cable from your PC to the network jack on the wall to be sure it is not cut or crimped. Replace it if necessary. Also, be sure that network cable in your ceiling is not routed too close to fluorescent lights. Electromagnetic interference from those lights can cause network data problems.

If you have an older network hub, consider upgrading to a network switch. Switches transmit data much more efficiently and faster than hubs. If you are buying today, opt for "Gigabit" networking components. They operate at 10 times the speed of a regular network at only a small additional cost. Most cabling installed since 2000 should be compatible with Gigabit networking hardware.

Wireless networking can be a huge convenience at the office, especially if you are a notebook computer user. It is important to make sure your wireless network is secure. The best value today is wireless "G" equipment. Some time next year the new "N" standard should be adopted. Until then, save your money and avoid the "pre-N" (sometimes called MIMO for multiple input, multiple output) wireless devices now on the market.

Internet access: No more dialup, no more AOL. With all the Internet has to offer lawyers and legal staff, you need a fast, reliable, always-on connection. That means spending $30+ per month for a DSL or cable Internet connection. We are in the midst of a speed and price war in high speed Internet service. Cable internet service, while not dropping much in price, is become significantly faster as the major players double or triple download speeds. DSL providers are trying to scoop-up the low end of the market by dropping prices to dial-up levels for their basic broadband connections. Without high speed Internet, it would be nearly impossible to do effective on-line research or keep up with the frequent security patches issued by Microsoft through its Windows Update service. And don't forget that AOL's email system is non- standard. We've had many reports of lost or corrupted email attachments sent to or received from AOL email accounts. Plus, having an email address that ends in "@aol.com" marks you as a tech neophyte and may be a disadvantage in attracting tech-savvy clients.

PDA's: The anytime, anywhere law office. It is hard to beat the convenience of having your calendar, contact list, and important documents with you at all times. A PDA (personal digital assistant), also sometimes called a handheld computer, is ideal for this purpose. PDA's using the intuitive Palm operating system will synchronize with your practice management and/or time/billing/accounting software at the office to keep your information current. The best buy of the current business-class PDA's is the Palm Tungsten E2 at about $250, but watch for frequent rebates of up to $50

Smart Phones: The "do everything" device. Smart phones are known as convergent devices because they combine the functions of several other devices. A smart phone like the Palm Treo 650 can perform the functions of a cell phone, PDA, computer, and pager. Engage in voice conversations, send and receive email and text messages, check and update your calendar, look up a telephone number or address, edit a document, take notes at a meeting or seminar, etc. The good news is that a smart phone costs about the same as a high-end PDA. You buy them from your wireless telephone carrier such as Verizon Wireless, Sprint PCS, Cingular, or T- Mobile.

Word Processing: Covering the basics. The Word vs. WordPerfect war is over, and Word won. The rest of the world uses it, so let's move on and learn to use it too. Word has gotten better, and with proper training, even die-hard WordPerfect loyalists can learn to use Word (even if they will never truly love it). Generic Microsoft Word training such as that offered by some high volume training centers or even community colleges is not adequate for you and your staff. You need Word training designed specifically for legal users. We offer such courses several times throughout the year. Keep in mind that Word approaches word processing from an entirely different place than does WordPerfect. Word is a Windows program with no ties to the old DOS world. WordPerfect, on the other hand, grew up in DOS and still retains the old DOS-based formatting codes (the Reveal Codes feature many know and love). But for a reasonable price, you can get "reveal codes" for Word. A nifty add-in program called CrossEyes is available from Levit & James for $50. Get a fully functional, but time- limited, free trial download here. This add-on alone will make Word more palatable to your WordPerfect-loving staff. The cheapest way to buy Word is to buy the entire Microsoft Office Suite bundled with a new computer. If you are really cheap, there is a free alternative to MS Office that does most the things Office can do. Click here to download the Open Office suite of programs. The Open Office word processor will open and save files in MS Word format. Open Office also included an Excel compatible spreadsheet program and a PowerPoint compatible presentation ("slide show") program.

Time/Billing/Accounting Software: Looking after the bottom line. Keeping track of the business end of your practice is the least exciting, but most important, function of law office software. Buy software designed especially for law firms. General accounting software such as QuickBooks, Money, or Peachtree are adequate for other types of business, but because of the special accounting needs of law firms, including the need to meet ethical requirements for trust accounting, they just don't work as well for us. And also avoid time/billing software that does not have integrated accounting functions. Many law firms make the mistake of using Timeslips for time/billing and QuickBooks for accounting. Because the dynamic link between these programs is problematic, it is usually necessary to separately enter the same data into each program, resulting in much wasted time and the possibility of data entry errors that we guarantee will frustrate and anger your clients. An excellent and affordable integrated time/billing/accounting program designed especially for law firms is PCLaw.

Practice Management: Everything you need, all in one place. Don't try to fit a square peg into a round hole. While some generic software can be truly useful in a law firm (word processing, spreadsheet, etc.), don't trust your practice management functions to Practice Management: Everything you need, all in one place. Don't try to fit a square peg into a round hole. While some generic software can be truly useful in a law firm (word processing, spreadsheet, etc.), don't trust your practice management functions to generic small business software. Contact managers such as ACT, Goldmine, or Outlook do not have any concept of the way attorneys organize information around clients and matters (aka files). Stop right now, go to your file cabinet, and look at how your paperwork is organized (or not, as the case may be). Attorneys base filing structure on matters, files, or cases, not contacts. That is why contact-based information managers like Outlook are simply inadequate for law practice management functions. They cannot organize information the way you need to see it. For case/practice management, consider Amicus Attorney for its intuitive interface and ease of use. A certified consultant such as Cooperative Network Integrators can show you how each program feature operates. Don't try to make this decision without help. You don't casually date practice management software. You marry it. If you make a mistake, the divorce will be extremely costly on many levels. such as ACT, Goldmine, or Outlook do not have any concept of the way attorneys organize information around clients and matters (aka files). Stop right now, go to your file cabinet, and look at how your paperwork is organized (or not, as the case may be). Attorneys base filing structure on matters, files, or cases, not contacts. That is why contact-based information managers like Outlook are simply inadequate for law practice management functions. They cannot organize information the way you need to see it. For case/practice management, consider Amicus Attorney for its intuitive interface and ease of use. A certified consultant such as Cooperative Network Integrators can show you how each program feature operates. Don't try to make this decision without help. You don't casually date practice management software. You marry it. If you make a mistake, the divorce will be extremely costly on many levels.